Watch Tom Hanks ad-lib as Falstaff for 5 minutes during a production of Henry IV
Part of the magic of live theater is that anything can happen. A performer could flub their line. A prop may not function the way it’s supposed to. An Academy Award-winning actor may scream at you in character for five minutes. While that last one may seem pretty unlikely, it’s exactly what happened to the audience that went to see Tom Hanks in Henry IV last month in Los Angeles, when the actor was forced to ad-lib for five minutes on stage.
According to Deadline, a medical emergency involving an audience member forced the production to stop down momentarily and caused some theatergoers to get a little restless. In order to quell the audience’s boredom—and stop them from leaving their seats—Hanks rushed on stage in character as Falstaff and essentially did the Shakespearian version of crowd work. The consummate entertainer, Hanks is perfectly suited for this kind of improvised, crowd-pleasing entertainment, but so is his character. Falstaff, the blustery, boastful, rotund knight is the play’s major comic relief, who seemingly never tires of hearing his own voice.