Tom Hanks says he will boycott books that are rewritten to avoid offending “modern sensitivities”.

The American film star appeared on BBC to discuss his debut novel and was asked whether he supports the censorship of works by authors such as Roald Dahl and Agatha Christie.

Hanks said he was “of the opinion that we’re all grown-ups here” and that he would be “against reading any book from any era that says ‘abridged due to modern sensitivities’”.

His remarks follow revelations by The Daily Telegraph that the publishers of books by Dahl and Christie made significant changes to their work, redacting language that they deemed unsuitable for modern readers.

Appearing in a pre-recorded interview on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday morning, the interviewer asked Hanks: “Now you’re a published author, Tom, I do have one other question.

“We talk at a time when publishers feel the need to censor problematic references or language — should we be retroactively changing the words of dead authors like, for example, Roal Dahl and Agatha Christie?”

Hanks responded: “Well, I’m of the opinion that we’re all grown-ups here. And we understand the time and the place and when these things were written. And it’s not very hard at all to say: that doesn’t quite fly right now, does it?

“Let’s have faith in our own sensibilities here, instead of having somebody decide what we may or may not be offended by. Let me decide what I am offended by and not offended by. I would be against reading any book from any era that says ‘abridged due to modern sensitivities’.”

The actor was asked by Rebecca Jones, the BBC’s arts correspondent, if he plans to write another novel, but he gave no indication if one was forthcoming.

“It never stops. That would be nice, but you’d have to talk to me in another three or four years. But the wanting to sit down and create — it’s just the best way to spend one’s time outside of being with those you love and [who] make you laugh.”

Following The Daily Telegraph’s exclusive coverage of the censoring of classic works of fiction such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Puffin UK, the publisher of Roald Dahl, announced it would produce uncensored versions of his stories. The publisher said it would release The Roald Dahl Classic Collection to keep the author’s “classic texts in print”.

New York Times News Service