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By Theo Burman
Live News Reporter
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Tom Hanks issued a stark word of advice to world leaders at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
The Hollywood A-lister, known for his work with Steven Spielberg on the World War II film Saving Private Ryan, said that D-Day and the events of the war were events that the world could never let happen again. The star reunited with Spielberg, alongside several world leaders of Allied nations, in France for the ceremony, which marks the 80th year since the Battle of Normandy.
While speaking to French broadcaster BFMTV, Hanks discussed the impact of media related to World War II, saying: "If you took together all the inspirational stories that go on... Don't let that happen again. Isn't it funny? It's all just taking a few steps forward, taking a few steps back and if you keep going forward, you get to the future."
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"We were trying to load it up with as much authenticity and verisimilitude as we can. That's our job a filmmakers. It's also our job as lay historians, because for good or for bad, that movie is a document that has to accurately reflect the tenor of that day, and I think we did it.
"I think we captured it and to Steven's credit, and the audience's credit as well, they were willing to suspend whatever disbelief of it. If you've ever wondered what it was like, that's as close as someone in Davenport, Iowa or Oakland, California or Minneapolis, Minnesota is going to get today."
Saving Private Ryan remains one of the most successful World War II movies ever made, winning five Oscars, including Best Director for Spielberg and a Best Actor nomination for Hanks. The opening scene, which is dedicated entirely to the Allied forces landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy, has been widely praised for historical accuracy and emotional impact.
Despite political differences, Hanks and Spielberg met with Republican Senator Ted Cruz at the ceremony, who posted on Twitter: "In Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ran into Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks, two master story-tellers who have done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the Greatest Generation."
The D-Day ceremony saw attendance from the U.K.'s King Charles III, President Joe Biden, and Emmanuel Macron, the president of host nation France. All three gave speeches commemorating the operation, representing the three most significant actors in the Allied Forces 80 years after the event. For King Charles, the ceremony marked his first major speech since his cancer diagnosis was revealed in February earlier this year.
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