Hanks beaten to British comedy role

Tom Hanks has lost the battle to land the role of British comedy legend Tommy Cooper in a big-budget biopic of his life.

The Oscar winner was beaten to the part by UK actor Jerome Flynn, who was selected to star as the fez-wearing funnyman.

However, the news shouldn't come as too much of a shock to Hanks. He paid a special visit to London's Garrick Theatre last year to watch Flynn star in his Jus' Like That! one-man tribute to Cooper.

A movie insider says: "Hanks looks nothing like Cooper and is much slighter, and hasn't exactly got a record of playing British roles."

Flynn also bears a physical similarity to Cooper, who died after collapsing onstage in 1984.