![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Tom-Hanks-2019-Actor-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
Wed 14 January 2026 19:45, UK <\/p>\n
Not to state the obvious, but the easiest way for an actor to not play a role they hate at first sight is not to play it. However, Tom Hanks<\/a> had already thrown himself in at the deep end, and after some persuasion, he ended up with a cult hero on his hands.<\/p>\n The way the movie business works is that scripts are offered to performers, who read them and decide whether or not they want to accept the part. If they liked the idea of it but think there are improvements to be made, they can offer improvements, especially if they\u2019re an industry A-lister.<\/p>\n As a two-time Academy Award winner, beloved figure, and father to all of America, Hanks fits the bill. He wasn\u2019t afforded the same leeway, though, because it had nothing to do with motion pictures. Instead, it was another place that he\u2019s regularly called home over the years: Saturday Night Live.<\/p>\n Since first hosting the long-running series in December 1984, the Forrest Gump favourite has become an SNL staple<\/a>. He was welcomed into the \u2018Five-Timers Club\u2019 in December 1990, he\u2019s hosted a further five times since then, and he\u2019s made over a dozen cameo appearances in various episodes.<\/p>\n Ask anyone even remotely familiar with the show to name the definitive character he\u2019s played, and most of them would only have one answer. In October 2016, David S Pumpkins was introduced to the world, and within a matter of weeks, Halloween costumes replicating his signature pumpkin-decorated suit and perm were flying off the shelves.<\/p>\n It was a stupid idea, born from a stupid idea. Bobby Moynihan knew there was a Halloween episode coming up, and when he realised that the spooky season didn\u2019t have a Santa Claus equivalent, his mind started racing. \u201cWe started joking around, saying, \u2018What if it was just a guy named David Pumpkins?’\u201d he recalled to Entertainment Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n The cast member and writer also knew that one of the biggest names in cinema was lined up to host a couple of weeks before Halloween, so he shot his shot. \u201cTom Hanks hated it and asked us to give it to somebody else,\u201d he admitted. \u201cAnd we said no. And then in between dress rehearsal and air, Tom Hanks went like, \u2018I\u2019m just going to be weird\u2019. And we were like, \u2018Yeah, great.’\u201d<\/p>\n Hanks didn\u2019t only not want to be the man to bring David S Pumpkins to the screen for the first time, but he even suggested a replacement to try and weasel his way out of it. \u201cHe thought it was very bizarre, and was like, \u2018Hey, I think Chris Hemsworth would make a great David Pumpkins,\u201d Moynihan added, with the actor trying to pass the buck to an upcoming host.<\/p>\n