As the 1990s drew to a close, Hanks began a fruitful and long-lasting collaboration with director Steven Spielberg. Their first project together was the World War II epic Saving Private Ryan (1998), a visceral and harrowing portrayal of the Normandy invasion and its aftermath. Hanks played Captain John Miller, a weary but principled officer tasked with finding and bringing home a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. The film's opening sequence, depicting the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach, is widely considered one of the most realistic and brutal war scenes ever put on film. Hanks's performance was restrained and powerful, earning him another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Hanks's filmography throughout the late 1990s and 2000s was a remarkable mix of commercial and critical hits. In 1998, he reunited with Meg Ryan for You've Got Mail, a charming romantic comedy about two bookstore owners who fall in love online while being business rivals in real life. The film was a box-office success and solidified Hanks's reputation as a master of the romantic-comedy genre. In 1999, he starred in The Green Mile, a prison drama based on a Stephen King novel, playing a death row guard who witnesses supernatural events. The film was critically acclaimed and earned Hanks still more praise for his ability to convey deep empathy and moral complexity.
Perhaps one of his most physically demanding roles came in 2000 with Cast Away, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Hanks played Chuck Noland, a FedEx executive who becomes stranded on a remote desert island after a plane crash. The film required Hanks to lose a dramatic amount of weight—more than 50 pounds—during the production to depict his character's physical deterioration over four years. He also spent months preparing for the role, learning survival skills and working with a trainer. His performance, which relied heavily on physical expression and minimal dialogue, was nothing short of extraordinary. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film was both a critical and commercial success, grossing over $429 million worldwide.
In 2002, Hanks achieved another milestone when he became the youngest person ever to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. The honor recognized his immense contributions to cinema and his status as one of the most respected actors of his generation. That same year, he starred in two major films: Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg, in which he played an FBI agent hunting a young con artist; and Road to Perdition, a crime drama directed by Sam Mendes in which he played a mob hitman seeking redemption. Both films showcased Hanks's versatility and his ability to play morally complex characters.
In 2006, Hanks took on a different kind of challenge when he portrayed symbologist Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code, an adaptation of Dan Brown's blockbuster novel. The film was a massive commercial success, despite receiving mixed reviews, and it spawned two sequels: Angels & Demons (2009) and Inferno (2016). Hanks brought intellectual gravitas to the role, anchoring the franchise with his dependable presence.
Behind the camera, Hanks continued to build his reputation as a producer. Playtone produced the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), which Hanks co-executive-produced with Steven Spielberg. The series, which followed the experiences of Easy Company from training through the end of World War II, was a monumental achievement in television, winning numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards. Hanks and Spielberg collaborated again on The Pacific (2010), another HBO miniseries that explored the Pacific theater of the war. Playtone also produced John Adams (2008), an Emmy-winning miniseries about the Founding Father, and Big Love (2006-2011), a critically acclaimed drama series about a polygamous family.