[audience applause] man: curtain! bring the curtain down. james mccollom: mr. booth. john wilkes booth: why, mr. mccollom! james mccollom: mr. booth, i, i am so very sorry. john wilkes booth: come, come, old fellow. you look as if you had lost the blood. not another word. now, if you'd had gotten my eye, that would have been bad. but you didn't. and it was, well, it was splendid! james mccollom: thank you, sir. tom hanks: that is john wilkes booth. born and raised in maryland, a border state, a slave state that did not secede from the union. john wilkes booth is also a southern zealot, whose hatred of abraham lincoln is nothing less than fanatical. in october of 1864, booth makes contact with the confederate secret service. and shortly after lincoln's reelection, he determines to kidnap the president.