When Tom Hanks tested positive for coronavirus six weeks ago, the world collectively thought: Why Tom Hanks? Anyone but Tom Hanks!
There are few people in Hollywood — or on the planet, for that matter — as beloved as the 63-year-old star.
He’s relatable, positive and unbelievably nice… to everyone.
And it’s not just us who feel this way. No, if you delve into the Twitter-sphere, film critic-sphere, fellow actors-sphere, they’ll all back up that claim.
Watch Tom Hanks 2020 Golden Globes acceptance speech. Post continues after video.
A lot of us have grown up with Hanks on our screens. From Big, to Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan, to Cast Away and Toy Story. Hanks is one of those actors whose career transcends the decades.
But it’s not just his work that’s impressive.
Let’s start with his social media profiles, shall we? On there he’s just your average ‘kewl’ dad.
His Instagram is mainly full of pictures of lost gloves and shoes, and awkwardly framed selfies with people/things/posters.
If you stumbled across him, and didn’t glance at the nine-million-follower-thing, you’d probably mistake him as Terry from the ‘burbs whose kids set him up on the internets. It’s the best.
But we digress.
Hanks’ humble social media existence is nothing in comparison to the stories that emerge of his kindness and good-hearted nature, if you do a bit of digging.
Go on, type “Tom Hanks good guy” into Google. There’s 30,700,000 entries.
Also interesting (and further proving our point) there are multiple trending topics asking the question: “is Tom Hanks related to Mr Rogers,” referring of course to Hanks playing the role of Rogers for A Beautiful Day.
IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE BOTH SUCH GOOD GUYS. (They are also apparently sixth cousins.) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Still not convinced?
Here are 11 times Tom Hanks proved he's the nicest guy in Hollywood.
1. He wrote a letter to a bullied Australian boy.
A few days ago, Hanks wrote a beautiful, heartfelt letter to an eight-year-old Australian boy who was bullied over his name: Corona.
The boy, Corona De Vries from Gold Coast, Queensland, was ridiculed by other children amid the coronavirus outbreak.
But of course, being the lovely man he is, Hanks not only wrote to the young boy, but also gifted him a 'Corona' typewriter (he collects vintage typewriters. Naturally.).
The boy had previously written to Hanks to check on him and Rita Wilson after they were both diagnosed with COVID-19 here in Queensland, Australia. He said, "I heard on the news you and your wife had caught the coronavirus. Are you OK?"
And then, alongside his loved typewriter that he gifted the Queensland boy, he penned a thoughtful letter back.
“Your letter made my wife and I feel so wonderful!” Hanks replied in a letter typed on a Corona typewriter.
“You know, you are the only person I’ve ever known to have the name Corona – like the ring around the sun, a crown.
“I thought this typewriter would suit you. Ask a grown-up how it works. And use it to write me back.”
Hanks ended the letter by handwriting, “P.S. You got a friend in ME!”
6. He even befriends his fans.
A megastar like Hanks has a hell of a lot of fans.
But his years in the spotlight haven't gone to his head - he's the opposite of pretentious or "annoyed" by people recognising him in the street, like some of his A-list colleagues.
In 2014, a New York cabbie told a story about Hanks as part of the Humans of New York project.
The driver explained that when Hanks got in his cab he turned around, looked him in the eye and yelled: "WILSONNNNNNN" (a reference of course to Hanks' movie Cast Away.)
"That really got him. He started laughing hard. He sees that I've got this Ferrari hat on, and a Ferrari shirt too, so he starts calling me 'Mr. Ferrari.' The whole ride, he keeps calling me 'Mr. Ferrari.' So after we get to his destination, we snap a quick photo, and he goes on his way," the driver explained.
“Over the next few weeks, I just happen to randomly pick up people that know him. People who have acted with him before, people who work with him," the cabbie continued. "And every time, I tell them: 'Tell Mr. Hanks that Mr. Ferrari says "hello".' Every time I say that. Then one day I'm driving, and I get a text from one of the people that I'd driven, and it says: 'Mr. Hanks wants to invite you to see his Broadway show.' ”
The driver and his partner received tickets for the Broadway show, and met the star backstage.
“After the show, we're waiting for him in his dressing room, and he walks in and screams: 'Mr. Ferrari!'" the driver said. "And you wanna know the craziest thing? The name of his show was Lucky Guy. How crazy is that? Cause that was me. A lucky guy!”
7. He is everything we wish we were.
Do you ever just wake up in the morning and think, hmmmm, how can I make the world a better place today?
Hanks does.
In a 2019 interview with NPR, Hanks told the reporter: "I wake up in the morning thinking: How can I make something better today?
"I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m a nice guy, because people have suffered my wrath — and anybody who has tried to take advantage of my good nature has suffered horribly… but I feel as though I am a joyful person. And I think if I’m nice, it’s because I am trying to share a sense of joy that I find a natural commodity.
"And why not? Why not have a good time? Why not bring a little bit of joy from anything from a long plane ride, to a short elevator ride, to an exchange over an extra-large, venti-sized latte in line at your local coffee place? To me, it's the natural order of things, the natural state of things."
8. He's been looking after the White House press coffee needs, for literal years.
In 2004, Hanks visited the White House with his family and discovered the working journalists in the press area didn't even have a coffee pot.
So he had an espresso machine delivered to their offices, and continued to update it over the years.
In 2010, he was at the White House again with director Steven Spielberg and went back to the press quarters to check on his machine. He discovered the staff weren't using it correctly and according to a quote in CNN, told the journos: "You know you are supposed to clean this after every use. You are supposed to wipe that off. Look at the buildup there!"
In 2017, Hanks sent a third machine to the White House with the note: "To the White House press corps, keep up the good fight for truth, justice and the American way. Especially for the truth part."
Might we add, he wrote it on his typewriter.
9. He helped a little girl sell her cookies.
In 2015, Hanks and his son were on their way to a typewriter shop (of course), when they came across a group of girl scouts selling cookies.
Hanks bought four boxes and then donated an extra $20 on top.
When a passerby stopped after spotting him to ask for a photo, he told them "only if you buy cookies from these young ladies".
10. He helped Lauren get her card back.
Also in 2015, Hanks came across a student's ID card in a park and took to Twitter to let her know.
"Lauren! I found your Student ID in the park. If you still need it my office will get it to you. Hanx," he wrote alongside a photo of the card.
Lauren didn't have Twitter but found our via her uni professor that Hanks was looking for her.
After tracking her down, Hanks mailed the ID back to her.
It then emerged that just a few months prior, Hanks had come across a lost credit card and had that too mailed back to the owner.
11. The fact he takes selfies on other people's phones.
There's something very endearing about this.
Maybe it's because he's a huge Hollywood actor still pulling out the dad jokes? We can't quite put our finger on it.
Maura Tierney, who co-starred with Hanks in Broadway’s Lucky Guy, explained during an interview with PEOPLE that she'd often find “like, five selfies of Tom making goofy faces on my phone,” she recalls. “He would take selfies if anyone left their phone lying around.”
But it's not just his colleagues he does this to. It's... everyone.
"A number of years ago I left my iPhone unattended in the same room as Tom Hanks. The next day, I found this photo in my camera roll. To be clear: I've never met him," reads one Twitter post.
He's also happy to play into fan's jokes, happily posing with Reddit user groucho29 for "pretend wasted" photos.
Have you (if so we're extremely jealous) had a run-in with Hanks? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature image: Instagram.
This article was originally published on January 16, 2020, and has been updated.