10 Greatest Ever Tom Hanks Movie Performances

Nowhere has Hanks' ability to play the likeable everyman paid off more than The Green Mile. As death row prison warden Paul Edgecomb, he is our entry point to the world and - partially because he is Tom Hanks - we trust him and his judgement throughout the entirety of the film.

Despite playing the protagonist, Hanks essentially plays second fiddle to the extraordinary and powerful prisoner John Coffey in a career defining performance from Michael Clarke Duncan. While other actors might be hesitant to accept a role which looks seemingly bland on paper, Hanks manages to make the ordinary man as compelling as the extraordinarily gifted and tragically wronged Coffey.

As we follow Edgecomb around the Green Mile we soon discover that Coffey is not the killer of two young girls but an innocent man who tried to help prevent the murder. This only makes it harder when Edgecomb is forced to give the order to execute Coffey, a man he knows to be innocent. Blinking back tears as he gives the fatal order, "roll on two," it is hard to imagine another actor with whom the audience connects to more and feels the same surge of emotion he displays.