Tom Hanks wrote 'Crowne' role just for Julia Roberts
May 16th, 2011
05:07 PM ET

Tom Hanks wrote 'Crowne' role just for Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks are going back to school in the upcoming comedy "Larry Crowne."

The film stars Hanks as a middle-aged man who loses his job and enrolls in junior college, where he meets cranky instructor Roberts. The Oscar-winning actress admits she wasn't quite sure she would make the grade as a professor.

"This was my first college experience," Roberts tells the June issue of W magazine. "And the first time I had to speak in front of a classroom, I was apoplectic. All these faces looking up at me, thinking, What is she going to teach us? I needed to find my composure. It was very hard—it was terrible, in fact."

Read the full interview with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in W

Hanks, who scripted and directed the movie, tells W he wrote the part specifically for Roberts. "I had some teachers who looked like Julia. I would see them and think, I love you," he says. "So there was never anyone but Julia. Still, even after she said yes, I was the boss. That meant I got to say, 'You don’t wear this dress, you wear that dress.'"

Besides telling Roberts what to wear, Hanks also told her what to drink.

Photos: More shots from Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks' W photo shoot

“I spend a lot of the movie woozy," she says. "Why did Tom Hanks think of me when he thought of a drunken schoolteacher? What does that mean? He has me chugging margaritas. It’s hard to chug a margarita! I asked why it couldn’t be straight liquor, and he said it was funnier if it was a drink made in a blender."

"Larry Crowne" arrives in theaters July 1. The June issue of W hits newsstands May 24.

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Filed under: Celebrities • movies • Tom Hanks

soundoff (22 Responses)
  1. Tol Trunks

    Tom Hanks is dead, he just died in spiritual conflict. 2-3-2012.

    May 18, 2011 at 2:30 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  2. jillmarie

    I'm a fan of them both, will make sure to watch this!

    May 17, 2011 at 11:32 am | Report abuse | Reply
  3. HeyCarrieAnn

    Holly is right, Julia did play an art professor in Mon Lisa Smile. Tom Hanks has become a talented writer and director, so this has possibilities.

    May 17, 2011 at 9:12 am | Report abuse | Reply
  4. Jen

    Who cares

    May 17, 2011 at 6:59 am | Report abuse | Reply
  5. Sunshine Girl *

    Never wouldve thought those 2 would make a movie together. Interesting. Plot sound like it could be pretty funny. Probably better than anything else Hollywood has been putting out lately.

    May 17, 2011 at 1:28 am | Report abuse | Reply
    • srcjd

      they did do a movie together...Charlie Wilson's War.

      May 17, 2011 at 8:45 am | Report abuse |
  6. 50lb Stool

    So doo I.. it was an honor! to double for her... .

    May 17, 2011 at 12:15 am | Report abuse | Reply
  7. "blow me"

    I love her. 50lb stool

    May 16, 2011 at 11:47 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  8. 50lb Stool

    I've stunt doubled as her lips.

    May 16, 2011 at 10:44 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  9. holly

    didn't she play a professor in Mona Lisa Smile?

    May 16, 2011 at 10:38 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • A

      Yeah, that's what I said.

      May 17, 2011 at 11:55 am | Report abuse |
  10. Donald McRonald

    @N; well if you like it, it will suck.

    May 16, 2011 at 10:13 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  11. @N

    u guys are gonna go with peace?really?

    May 16, 2011 at 9:03 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  12. Javier Bartholomew

    Me either. If Peace says its ok then I bet it is.

    May 16, 2011 at 8:25 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  13. JIMBO

    If Peace said it will be ok i wont say bad things about it. She is a super nice person.

    May 16, 2011 at 5:40 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • Kukla Fran and Ollie

      Hanks just wants to plug her rump.

      May 17, 2011 at 9:19 am | Report abuse |
    • helen

      Hanks enjoys walking around with a lump of butt chocolate in his drawers.

      May 17, 2011 at 11:11 am | Report abuse |
  14. Peace

    I like Tom Hanks, this will probably be ok.

    May 16, 2011 at 5:11 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • wink

      Is her husband Eric Roberts gonna be in the movie also?

      May 17, 2011 at 9:17 am | Report abuse |
    • Chucklehead

      Hey Wink? Eric Roberts is her brother. Get a clue before you open your piehole.

      May 17, 2011 at 11:33 am | Report abuse |
    • bertha

      I thought Eric was her cousin.

      May 17, 2011 at 11:58 am | Report abuse |
    • Chucklehead

      Eric Roberts is her older brother. Emma Roberts is his daugher.

      May 18, 2011 at 11:09 am | Report abuse |

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