It is hard to believe that a movie about a plastic fortune-telling machine and a giant floor piano changed the trajectory of Hollywood comedy forever. But it did. When we talk about the cast of Big the movie, we aren't just listing names on a call sheet. We are looking at a lightning-in-a-bottle moment where a future two-time Oscar winner met a director who actually understood how kids think.
Penny Marshall wasn't the first choice to direct. Tom Hanks wasn't even the first choice to play Josh Baskin. Imagine a world where Robert De Niro played the lead. It almost happened. But the chemistry of the group we eventually got—Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, and John Heard—created something that feels less like a 1988 period piece and more like a permanent part of the American psyche.
The Man Who Made Us Believe: Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin
Tom Hanks was already a star by 1988, but he wasn't "Tom Hanks" yet. He was the guy from Splash and Bachelor Party. Big was the pivot point. His performance as a twelve-year-old trapped in a thirty-year-old’s body is a masterclass because it avoids the easy "stupid adult" tropes. He didn't play a caricature. He played the sincerity of a kid who just wants a soda and a comic book.
Think about the "shimmy shimmy coco puff" scene. That wasn't just scripted dialogue; it was a rhythmic pulse of childhood. Hanks spent days watching David Moscow—the actor who played young Josh—to mimic his specific physical tics. He noticed how kids don't sit still. They slouch. They fidget. They wear suits like they’re wearing itchy costumes.
Hanks’ salary for the film was reportedly around $2 million, a massive sum at the time, but the investment paid off when he landed his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He lost to Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, but the industry finally saw him as a heavyweight.
The Unsung Anchor: Elizabeth Perkins as Susan
If Elizabeth Perkins doesn't nail the role of Susan Lawrence, the movie falls apart. It becomes creepy. Instead, she plays Susan with a weary, corporate cynicism that slowly melts away. She is the audience's surrogate. When she starts jumping on the trampoline or tasting the "baby corn" at the party, we see the transformation through her eyes.
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Perkins has been vocal in interviews about how the set felt. She once mentioned that Marshall was tough, demanding take after take to strip away the "acting" and find the "being." It worked. Susan isn't a villain for being an adult; she's just someone who forgot how to have fun.
Robert Loggia and the Piano Scene
You can’t discuss the cast of Big the movie without mentioning the late, great Robert Loggia. Before Big, Loggia was known for playing terrifying mobsters and hard-nosed detectives. Seeing him as MacMillan, the toy company mogul who still has a soul, was a revelation.
The walking piano scene at FAO Schwarz is the most iconic sequence in 80s cinema. Here’s a bit of trivia people often miss: that wasn't a stunt double. That was actually Loggia and Hanks. They practiced the choreography for weeks. The piano itself was a custom-built creation by Remo Saraceni, and the actors had to literally jump to trigger the sensors.
Loggia’s joy in that scene feels unscripted because, in many ways, it was. He was a veteran actor getting to play like a child.
The Kid Who Started It All: David Moscow
David Moscow had the impossible task of setting the tone for Tom Hanks. If the audience didn't buy Moscow as Josh Baskin in the first fifteen minutes, they wouldn't care about the rest of the film.
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Moscow actually had to deal with some weird production hurdles. He was originally cast, then let go when De Niro was circling the project, then re-hired when Hanks signed on. He looked enough like a young Tom Hanks to make the transition believable, but more importantly, he captured the specific heartbreak of being "not big enough" to ride the coaster or talk to the girl.
Other Key Players in the Ensemble
The supporting cast is a "who's who" of character actors who went on to define the 90s:
- John Heard (Paul): He played the corporate rival with just enough jerkiness to be annoying but enough reality to stay grounded. Most people know him as the dad from Home Alone, but his work here is much more nuanced.
- Jared Rushton (Billy): The best friend. Every kid in 1988 wanted a friend like Billy. He was the tether to reality. Rushton’s delivery of "Who's the guy in the limo?" is a perfect comedic beat.
- Mercedes Ruehl (Mrs. Baskin): She had the hardest job. She had to play a grieving mother who thinks her son has been kidnapped by the very man standing in her kitchen. Her performance provides the emotional stakes that prevent the movie from becoming too whimsical.
Why the Casting Worked (When Others Failed)
In the late 80s, there was a weird trend of "body swap" or "age-up" movies. We had Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, and 18 Again!. Most are forgotten. Big survived because Penny Marshall prioritized the ensemble's reaction to the absurdity.
The movie treats the toy business as a serious, boring industry. That contrast makes the cast of Big the movie pop. When Josh suggests that a building turning into a robot "isn't a toy," he's the only one speaking the truth. The actors play it straight. They don't wink at the camera.
Behind the Scenes Dynamics
Penny Marshall was the first woman to direct a movie that grossed over $100 million. That's a staggering fact. She ran the set with a specific vision of "casualness." She wanted the actors to overlap their lines. She wanted messiness.
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If you watch the scenes in Josh’s apartment—the one with the soda machine and the bunk beds—the interaction between Hanks and Rushton feels like two kids in a fort. That’s not just good writing by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg; it’s a director allowing the cast to find their own rhythm.
The Legacy of the Performances
The film’s influence stretches into the modern era. You can see DNA of Big in everything from 13 Going on 30 to the career trajectory of actors like Paul Rudd or Chris Pratt. They all owe a debt to the "man-child" archetype that Hanks perfected.
But it’s the quiet moments that stick. The scene where Josh realizes he misses his mom. The way Susan looks at him when she realizes he’s actually "innocent" and not just playing a game. These aren't "comedy" beats. They are human beats.
The cast of Big the movie succeeded because they didn't treat it as a high-concept gimmick. They treated it as a story about the loss of wonder.
Insights for the Modern Viewer
If you are revisiting the film today, keep an eye on these specific details that showcase the cast's brilliance:
- The Physicality: Watch Hanks’ feet. He almost never stands flat-footed. He’s always shifting weight, just like a middle-schooler in the back of a classroom.
- The Wardrobe: Notice how the clothes get progressively "younger" as Josh gets more successful. By the end, he’s wearing bright colors and sneakers in the boardroom, while everyone else is in grey.
- The Ending: Pay close attention to Elizabeth Perkins’ face in the final car ride. She knows she can't go with him. It’s one of the most heartbreaking "goodbyes" in cinema, played entirely through subtext.
To truly appreciate the film's impact, look at the careers that followed. Hanks became an icon, Marshall became a powerhouse producer, and the movie itself became a blueprint for how to blend heart with a commercial hook.
What to do next
If you're a fan of this ensemble, your next move should be tracking down the Extended Version of the film. It contains about 20 minutes of additional footage, including more scenes of Josh navigating the corporate world and a deeper look at his relationship with Billy. It changes the pacing significantly but offers a much richer look at the supporting characters. You can also visit the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, which has occasionally hosted exhibits featuring props from the film, including pieces of the original Zoltar machine. Finally, if you ever find yourself in NYC, the current FAO Schwarz (though in a different location than the 1988 version) still maintains a giant floor piano as a permanent tribute to the scene that defined a generation.