Tom Hanks cried off-camera to help 12-year-old co-star prepare for emotional News of the World scene

Hanks stars alongside German actor Helena Zengel in forthcoming Western drama

Tom Hanks cried off-camera to help his 12-year-old News of the World co-star prepare for an emotional scene.

The actor stars in the forthcoming Western drama as a US Civil War veteran who sets out to return a young girl (Helena Zengel) to the family she was stolen from as an infant.

Speaking about her experience working with Hanks, German actor Helena Zengel, 12, recalled how the pair formed a bond on set, with the Forrest Gump star helping Zengel tap into her emotions behind the scenes.

“He was literally crying in every scene, even when it wasn’t shot on him — it was my close-up,” she said at a digital screening (via Page Six).

“He cried in every scene [so] that I should get emotional… Doing it again and again for your partner when you don’t even see yourself in the movie was really amazing and great.”

News of the World is directed by Paul Greengrass, who Hanks previously worked with in 2013 on the Oscar-nominated drama Captain Phillips.

Speaking about the role, Hanks said: “I love listening to a great story as much as I like telling one, and that's why I was so excited about playing Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd.

“He is a storyteller, he is driven, emotional, he is noble, and he is moved by the pursuit of the truth. Kidd wanted to communicate an authentic worldview to his audiences because he knew that, along with education and entertainment, the powers of enlightenment could be exchanged in the news readings that he gave.”

News of the World will be released on Netflix in 2021.