Irrfan beats me as the coolest guy in the room: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks rejoiced in being the “coolest guy” on the sets of Hollywood film Inferno. But he says it lasted only until Indian actor Irrfan Khan walked in. 

Hanks said,“Here’s what I hate about Irrfan Khan... I always think I’m the coolest guy in the room, and everybody’s hanging on to every word I say and everybody’s a little intimidated to be in my presence. And then Irrfan Khan walks into the room. And he’s the coolest guy in the room. 

“And everybody’s intimidated to be in his presence and everybody’s hanging on to his every word.”

Irrfan, who has worked in a number of international critically-acclaimed works like The Namesake and Life of Pi will be seen in Inferno with  Hanks, who is known worldwide for his effortless acting. 

In the film, based on the eponymous 2013 novel, Hanks will be seen reprising the role of Robert Langdon, a professor of symbology at Harvard University. Irrfan plays Harry “The Provost” Sims, head of The Consortium. 

The film will present a trail of clues tied to the great Dante himself. When Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memory. They race across Europe and against the clock to foil a deadly global plot, and Irrfan joins their mission to save the world.

Hanks, known for films like Saving Private Ryan and Sully, asserted that the worst thing about Inferno is “that I am only in a couple of scenes with Irrfan. It was heartbreaking”. 

Hanks  says it is a pleasant experience to get Brown’s vision on the silver screen. Hanks said that they “get together and discover whether or not it’s worth going after or not”. “I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to say no to something that’s going to go, that is really good”.