Billy Joel's two-parted documentary, And So It Goes, co-executive producer Steve Cohen opened up about Tom Hanks' approach towards the film.
The HBO project follows Joel’s story, marking the first time he has truly opened up about his life as a musician and how he reached where he is today.
From details of his first marriage to Elizabeth Weber to saying goodbye to Hollywood, the documentary probes all aspects of Joel’s life and career.
In conversation with Parade, Cohen talking about Hanks involvement, said, "The movie industry is all weighted around people with experiences."
"And I think Tom’s curiosity about Billy Joel was kind of on par with [director] Susan [Lacy‘s] in the initial thing," he added.
Cohen said that Hanks already knew the top line story of Joel, but his most important contribution was regarding Susan Lacy as director.
"He’s got a great deal of history with her," and his selection carried a significant impact.
"If he recommended the person to tell that story, that’s just about as big a brush stroke as you can do in a situation like this. So, I’m very grateful," he added.
Once his curiosity of Joel, peaked, Hanks used his connections to help get the wheels of the project in motion.
"Tom had a great relationship with HBO," Cohen explains. “Susan, of course, had a wall-to-wall deal with HBO, so we knew that if we joined forces with these people, we would have a very high bar critically, because we all love the quality of the work that comes out on HBO."
"So that really was Tom’s basic involvement," he concluded.
Part 2 of Billy Joel: And So It Goes will be available to stream on July 25.
