‘Elvis:’ Tom Hanks gets candid about playing 'mercurial' manager Tom Parker

Veteran Hollywood star Tom Hanks recently got candid about playing the infamous role of Colonel Tom Parker in the upcoming biopic Elvis.

On Thursday, during the Elvis panel at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar-winning actor, 65, shared why he decided to portray an unlikeable character like Parker.

The Cast Away actor also discussed how director Baz Luhrmann convinced him to play the character, who discovered Elvis Presley and launched his career.

"I'm not interested in playing a bad guy just for the sake of, 'Before I kill you Mr. Bond, perhaps you'd like a tour of my installations.' That's okay, I get it, but that's for other stuff," said the Forrest Gump actor.

"What Luhrmann tantalized me with was, here was a guy who saw an opportunity to manifest a once-in-a-lifetime talent into a cultural force," he added.

The star described Parker as a "mercurial and brilliant man who at the same time made sure he lined his own pockets."

Parker and Presley got together in 1955. The pair worked together up until the singer’s death in 1977. Parker died in 1997 at the age of 87.

The highly-anticipated biopic Elvis will hit the theaters on June 24.