Hanks Forswears Elected Role

More than half the country may feel their favorite candidate didn't get the highest political office, and now they will never get to see a favorite actor in any political office, either.

One of Hollywood's biggest stars, Tom Hanks, says he won't run for public office. He makes this vow in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft.

Rumors of the star's political future were fueled by Hanks' very public push for a World War II memorial in Washington, coupled with his starring role as a war hero in the popular film Saving Private Ryan. But it's not to be.

"Please! Let me take the time on 60 Minutes right now to say," he tells Kroft, "I would not want to live in a country that would have me as a leader in any sort of political bent."

In the 60 Minutes profile, Hanks talks about his single-parent upbringing in Northern California, the difference between today's stars and the screen greats of years ago, such as Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis, and shows his love for baseball in a batting practice session with Kroft taped in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Hanks stars in the upcoming Cast Away, a role for which The New York Film Critics Circle just voted him Best Actor. In it, he plays a Federal Express employee who crash lands on a desert island and is stuck there alone for four years, going through physical and emotional changes to survive. Helen Hunt plays the fiancee he leaves behind.

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is composed of critics from the city's daily and weekly publications. The group will present its awards on Jan. 14.

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