1Tom Hanks as Flash
Tom Hanks wanted to be in a superhero movie but was never offered any roles. He specifically wanted to be the Flash.
2. Tom Hanks is related to Abraham Lincoln. Tom Hanks is a third cousin, four generations removed, of former President Abraham Lincoln. Their common ancestor is John Hanks (1680 - 1740), who was the great-great-grandfather of Lincoln and the six-time great-grandfather of Tom Hanks.
3. Tom Hanks personally paid to shoot some ‘Forrest Gump’ scenes, including the famous run across America. When the movie hit financial roadblocks, Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis had to dig into their own pockets to pay for some scenes to be shot.
4. Tom Hanks agreed to play Mario in the 'now infamous' live-action movie "Super Mario Bros". However, studio executives turned him down because they were worried he couldn't handle the film's more dramatic elements.
5. Tom Hanks' character in A League of Their Own was based on Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx. Foxx, one of the greatest power hitters of his day, suffered from injuries and alcoholism and eventually died from choking on dinner.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
6'In and Out' Inspiration
In his Oscar acceptance speech for “Philadelphia”, Tom Hanks inadvertently outed his old high school drama teacher as being gay, and this speech became the inspiration for the 1997 Kevin Kline movie “In and Out.”
7. In Tom Hanks' first movie, "He Knows You're Alone", his character was supposed to be killed off, but the crew liked him so much they decided not to film the scene, meaning his character survived.
8. Tom Hanks got the inspiration for the movie ‘Cast Away’ after he read an article about Fed Ex. He realized there were multiple 747’s flying across the ocean every day and thought “What happens if that goes down?” It took 6 years to get everything in place to make that story into a movie.
9. Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd filmed a rap song called “City of Crime” to promote their movie Dragnet. Paula Abdul choreographed the music video.
10. Tom Hanks' first starring movie role was in a 1982 anti-Dungeons & Dragons propaganda film called Mazes and Monsters.
11Hanks as Walt Disney
Tom Hanks in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ was the first-ever actor to play Walt Disney in a mainstream film.
12. Tom Hanks collects typewriters. He has over 50 in his collection and uses them for correspondence.
13. A town in Poland named Bielsko-Biala gifted Tom Hanks a refurbished Fiat 126p car in 2017 after the town was smitten with his twitter posts. When he visited Hungary he came across a few random Fiat 126p cars just parked along the streets and took photos with them. He would jokingly lean up against the cars and caption the photos with “I am so excited about my new car!”
14. Tom Hanks, who played Mr. Rogers in “ A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”, is Mr. Rogers’ sixth cousin.
15. In 2015, Tom Hanks started using his official Twitter feed as a lost and found (posting photos and locations of lost items such gloves, shoes, socks, etc.). This resulted in at least one item being successfully returned to its owner, a lost student ID card.
16'The Terminal' Movie Inspiration
The character of Tom Hanks in The Terminal (2004) was inspired by the real-life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian national who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles de Gaulle Airport from 26 August 1988 until July 2006.
17. Tom Hanks' daughter, Elizabeth Hanks appeared in the film, Forrest Gump. She was the little girl on the school bus that refused to let Forrest sit next to her.
18. Tom Hanks stole his mannerisms for Forrest Gump, for which he won an oscar for best actor in 1995, from his younger brother Jim Hank's performance in the low-budget film Buford's Beach Bunnies.
19. While shooting The Green Mile, Tom Hanks was flown to West Hollywood for his handprint ceremony, and instead of staying home as was expected, he flew back out just to read lines off-camera for the actors that were shooting.
20. In 2003, an arbitration board ordered Tom Hanks to pay his Idaho home builder the unpaid balance for the construction, plus interest and attorney fees. The total was $2 million. Hanks sued the builder in 2007 and again lost. He had to pay for the cost of the arbitration, $167,623.
21Rapper Chet Haze
Tom Hanks has a son named Chet who is a rapper and goes by the name Chet Haze.
22. Tom Hanks experienced "love at first sight" when he saw his future wife, Rita Wilson, on The Brady Bunch in 1972. They were married 16 years later.
23. Tom Hanks' character Mr. White in That Thing You Do! was intended to be gay and in a relationship with a character played by Howie Long of the NFL and Fox NFL Sunday.
24. Tom Hanks, Martin Short, and Steve Martin have regular ‘colonoscopy parties’ where they prep together overnight and share one car on the ride to get their colonoscopies the next day.
25. Tom Hanks has an asteroid named after him, it is called "12818 Tomhanks."
