LionsgateTo quote legendary actor and human bean bag Marlon Brando: ‘Most of the successful people in Hollywood are failures as human beings’.
Yes, in a moment of blinding self-awareness, one of the titans of Tinseltown realised, for all their fame, money and power, a lot of celebrities are to put it plainly, w*nkers.
All you have to do is peruse the web and you’ll find countless horror stories from people who’ve learned first hand why you shouldn’t always meet your heroes.
But this isn’t about the litany of ars*holes who think pretending to be other people for a living makes them better than the rest of us, this is about those who rise above the rest.
Specifically one actor, Tom Hanks, a man with a reputation for being the nicest guy in Hollywood.
Or, to give him just a few of his salubrious titles, the ‘Most Trusted Person in America’ (Reader’s Digest) and the ‘Most Likeable Man in Hollywood’ (iHeartRadio poll).
Of course, if winning the popular vote was of any significance, Hillary would be President instead of Donny so we have to ask ourselves ‘is Mr Hanks actually as nice as people seem to say he is’?
The Graham Norton Show - BBCWell, I’ve scoured the web, got in contact with his co-stars and even the man himself (or at least his publicist) to find out if the myth surrounding Hanks is true.
And I can safely say two things. The first, neither Tom Hanks nor his co-stars respond to unsolicited emails from journalists asking if they’re nice (shocker) and two, Hanks isn’t the nicest man in Hollywood.
He’s the nicest man in the world.
Don’t take my word for it though, take the word of those people who did respond to me, the everyday heroes of this world, the silent Batmen, leading unremarkable, remarkable lives.
The Redditor Jbibby, for example, met Hanks in Las Vegas while attending a friend’s wedding, or to be accurate, Tom kind of crashed the wedding photos.
Jbibby explained to UNILAD:
The ceremony had taken place and we moved into the atrium entrance to take group photographs.
With nearly [all] of our photographs complete, the photographer moved the group in front of a pair of double doors for a few last shots. I was near the rear of the group when one of the doors behind us opened.
I was busy smiling at the camera when a few feet away from me, a man in a blue ball cap emerged from the double doors behind us and approached the rear of the group.
‘Oh is this a wedding?’ he began asking, ‘Can I be in the pictures?’ I didn’t look at him initially as we were trying to be still for the shots. And being Las Vegas, I assumed it was just some drunk party-goer stumbling into the event space.
As you can imagine ‘some drunk party-goer’ crashing the wedding photos went down with the wedding party like a lead balloon – or a particularly clumsy elephant with aspirations of being a ballerina – until they realised who it was.
Jbibby added:
Glancing over at the man, he looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t quite place. I leaned forward and suddenly his face seemed to crystallize into familiarity.
It was Tom Hanks! He began shaking hands and greeting the wedding party as he moved towards the front of the group where he generously posed with the bridge and groom.
He stayed for a few more moments and chatted with us before saying his goodbyes and continuing on his way. It was the perfect punctuation to an already wonderful event!
After that, Tom Hanks apparently hung about for photos and was a genuinely cool guy – which is good to know. Interestingly though, this isn’t the first wedding the Big star’s crashed.
Back in 2016 the two-time Academy Award winner was jogging through Central Park in New York City when he ran into a young couple having their wedding photos taken.
Hanks being Hanks agreed to pose for a few snaps with the happy couple and, according to The Guardian, joked he’d officiate the ceremony if the ‘other guy cancels’ because, as well as being one of the most talented actors of his generation, he’s an ordained minister.
GettyJbibby isn’t the only Redditor to confirm Hanks is a swell guy.
Shellshoq, a Redditor who claims to have worked as a nanny for a number of high-profile Hollywood families, has apparently met lots of celebrities – including Tom Hanks.
Shellshoq says while most celebs are nothing but ‘self-obsessed wAnkers’ Tom Hanks is the nicest guy, explaining:
Tom Hanks doesn’t just seem like the nicest guy. I was a nanny for a Hollywood family, met hundreds of A-listers.
Most of them were self-obsessed w*nkers, but Tom took the time to shake my hand and made sure he learned my name. He never forgot it.
Also, he would always say ‘There’s a snake in my boot!’ for the youngest of my charges, which obviously made him laugh hysterically.
PABut Tom’s decency goes a step above just being nice to people he randomly bumps into, he’s a thoroughly decent guy to his fans as well.
Back in 2013, Hanks met with Sarah Moretti – a fan with autism who’d spent years collecting pictures, news-cuttings and all sorts of Tom Hanks’ related memorabilia to put into a scrapbook, People magazine reports.
Hanks took the time to meet with Sarah backstage at his Broadway show, Lucky Guy, and took the time to look through the book.
Best of all, he seemed to be genuinely humbled how he’s the subject of someone’s affection.
Tom doesn’t just spend his time crashing weddings and basking in the admiration of his fans though, he seems to be well aware his profile gives him a voice which others don’t have.
The Toy Story star was a vocal opponent of Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined heteronormative marriage as the only legal marriage.
Fox News reports Hanks claimed discrimination codified by a piece of paper was fundamentally un-American and campaigned against the bill to ban same-sex marriage.
Not only this, but Hanks supports a lot of charities, including UNICEF, American Foundation for AIDS Research, Cancer Research Institute, Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center and many, many, many more.
In fact, Hank’s charity work saw him honoured with an Arts for Humanity Award at the New York Public Library.
At the ceremony, the BBC reports he said his acting career gave him the opportunity to ‘make the world a better place’.
Hank’s work was also recognised by the White House (not the current one obviously, that would be FAKE NEWS!) who gave him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 for his great work.
Paramount PicturesFor those who don’t know, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is basically the US equivalent of a Knighthood, and the highest civilian honour you can get.
We could go on about all the amazing things Hanks has done and still does do, like reimbursing fans who don’t like his films, cataloguing the lost gloves of New York and making a taxi driver famous, but there’s not enough time in the world.
So instead just accept it. Tom Hanks is the nicest guy ever!
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected].
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.