Tom Hanks has played his share of real-life icons, but he’s about to add a U.S. President to the list. The actor is set to portray Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln in the Bardo — the historical figure who, wait for it, Hanks is reportedly related to!
Backed by Starburns Industries, the project is described as a live-action/stop-motion animation hybrid, adapting George Saunders’ acclaimed 2017 novel of the same name. Rather than going for the familiar “great man in great times” framing, this one leans into something more intimate, stranger, and shaped by grief.
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According to Deadline, the outlet that broke the news, Hanks will also produce via his Playtone banner alongside longtime partner Gary Goetzman, with production set to take place in London. It also reports that the film will “employ a unique blend of stop-motion animation and live action to explore one of the most intimate moments of Lincoln’s life, centering on his relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son,” and will explore “themes of love, empathy and human capacity in the face of grief.”
A President in the Bardo
Lincoln’s presidency has been tackled on screen before, but Lincoln in the Bardo isn’t chasing the greatest-hits version of his life. The story centres on Lincoln’s relationship with his young son, unfolding through an ensemble of characters described as both living and dead, historical and invented.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Duke Johnson (Anomalisa) is attached to direct and produce, with Saunders adapting his own novel for the screen. The hybrid approach also sits neatly in Johnson’s wheelhouse, given his background in stop-motion storytelling.
The Tom Hanks–Abraham Lincoln connection
The casting has an extra wrinkle beyond the usual “movie star plays historical giant” appeal: Hanks is related to Lincoln through Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks. Highlighting the lineage, Ancestry.com notes that Hanks has spoken publicly about the connection, revealing that his branch of the Hanks family traces back to Lincoln’s maternal side.
Nancy Hanks, Lincoln’s mother, was orphaned young and later married Thomas Lincoln in 1806. Their second child, Abraham, was born in 1809. Nancy died when Lincoln was just nine years old, a formative loss that would shape his early life. Though Lincoln’s direct line eventually ended — his last direct descendant died in 1985 — more distant relatives on the Hanks side remain, including, reportedly, the Oscar-winning actor now set to portray him.
The family tie has come up before in Hanks’ career. When he narrated National Geographic’s Killing Lincoln, he later acknowledged that the story was, in part, personal history. As he once put it, “the members of my branch of the family are either cousins or in-laws or poor relations. So, when I was at school, guess which president I was always doing essays on.”
Hanks and Historical Figures
While this is Hanks’ first time playing a U.S. President, he’s no stranger to portraying real people on screen, with roles ranging from pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in Sully to Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips, Colonel Tom Parker in Elvis, and Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Here, though, the hook isn’t Lincoln-as-legend so much as Lincoln-as-father.
Johnson, Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz are producing for Starburns Industries, with Steven Shareshian, Aaron Mitchell and Saunders serving as executive producers.
