Tom Hanks had more than one reason to play host and narrator for the upcoming TV movie “Killing Lincoln,” based on Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling book.
Turns out Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln, according to several biographies of the Oscar-winning actor.
He is a third cousin, four generations removed, of the former president through Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks.
“Killing Lincoln” finished filming last week, according to the National Geographic Channel, which plans to air the two-hour movie early next year.
O’Reilly’s book — described as “how one gunshot changed the country forever” — was optioned by movie director Ridley Scott in 2010, who said he saw it as a “thriller” as much as a piece of history.
The movie will be a combination of re-enactments — with ”Once and Again” star Billy Campbell portraying Lincoln — and historical documents, according to the network, with Hanks as the narrator.