Perdition Motors Into Venice

Director Sam Mendes says he thought of Tom Hanks for Road To Perdition from the "first time" he read the script.

The gangster thriller, in which multi Oscar winner Hanks sheds his 'nice guy' image to play a hardened hitman, is a heavy contender for the top Lion D'Or trophy at the Venice film festival.

But Hanks, in Venice with Mendes and co-star Daniel Craig for the film's premiere, was critical of the way his role has been seen as a 'breakaway' role.

"I didn't see this as wanting to break out of any mould or image," he said.

Mendes, who also made the Oscar-winning American Beauty, said he knew Hanks was right for the part from the start.

"He was in my mind from the first time I read the script," he said.

"Like in American Beauty, the one thing better than having great actors is having actors do something they've never done before."

Perdition, set in 1920s Chicago, also stars Paul Newman, Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh.