When Tom Hanks called Irrfan Khan ‘coolest guy in the room’, wrote him a personal note

Tom Hanks couldn’t hide his admiration for his Inferno co-star Irrfan Khan during the publicity tour for the film. He said that he was accustomed to being the coolest person in the room, but that was before he met Irrfan.

Irrfan died on Wednesday, after a two-year-long battle with cancer. He was 53.

Hanks had told IANS in an interview, “Here’s what I hate about Irrfan Khan… I always think I’m the coolest guy in the room, and everybody’s hanging on to every word I say and everybody’s a little intimidated to be in my presence. And then Irrfan Khan walks into the room. And he’s the coolest guy in the room.”

Also read: When Irrfan Khan revealed why he never moved to Hollywood: ‘My people are here and so are my stories’

Irrfan played Harry ‘The Provost’ Sims in the film, directed by Ron Howard. Inferno was the third instalment in a series of films based on Brown’s Robert Langdon mystery novels. Tom Hanks played Langdon in the film, which also starred Felicity Jones, Omar Sy and Ben Foster. Inferno made over $200 million worldwide against a reported $65 million budget.

Before filming began, Hanks sent Irrfan a handwritten note. The message read: “This will be most pleasant movie to make, I think, provided you and I have a few more scenes together! If not, we will just have to save the world as is!”

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Inferno writer Dan Brown took to Facebook to condole Irrfan’s death. Sharing a picture of the actor, he wrote, “Sending love today to all who knew and admired the incomparable Irrfan Khan. Peace.” Inferno was just one of the many Hollywood blockbusters Irrfan had appeared in. The actor played supporting roles in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, 2013’s Life of Pi, and 2015’s Jurassic World.

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