“But look, I was born in 1956, the peak year for births in US history. I think I'm very representative of many of the thought processes my generation have been through and, by and large, people of my age have had their imprint planted on the consciousness of western society for a long time.”
— Tom Hanks
Age
“I do not want to admit to the world that I can be a bad person. It is just that I don't want anyone to have false expectations. Moviemaking is a harsh, volatile business, and unless you can be ruthless, too, there's a good chance that you are going to disappear off the scene pretty quickly.”
— Tom Hanks
Business
“As a young man, even if I was going to see a play or a film by myself, I didn't feel like I was alone. There was something that was unfolding up there that brought me into it. And I recognised that. For those two hours, it made me feel like I belonged to something really good.”
— Tom Hanks
Alone
“My kid could get a bad X-ray and I could get a call from the doctor saying I have something growing in my bum and that would change my perspective on everything instantaneously, on what is and what is not important.”
— Tom Hanks
Change
“That's what's nice about directing a film and having it done: There's nothing more I can do about it. It's done. That's it. All I can do is let it go and hope that people are kind to it.”
— Tom Hanks
Hope
“Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about me. Humans are by nature too complicated to be understood fully. So, we can choose either to approach our fellow human beings with suspicion or to approach them with an open mind, a dash of optimism and a great deal of candour.”
— Tom Hanks
Great
“The year I was born, 1956, was the peak year for babies being born, and there are more people essentially our age than anybody else. We could crush these new generations if we decided too.”
— Tom Hanks
Age
“Reading a script is usually as exciting as reading a boilerplate legal document, so when you read one that makes you feel as if you're seeing the movie, you know it's something different.”
— Tom Hanks
Legal
“The nature of the movies is different than it was five years ago, and they're all driven by the possibilities of CGI, which means you can make anything happen on screen that you can possibly desire.”
— Tom Hanks
Movies
“I've made over 20 movies, and 5 of them are good.”
— Tom Hanks
Movies
“Movie-making is telling a story with the best technology at your disposal.”
— Tom Hanks
Technology
“Tweeting is like sending out cool telegrams to your friends once a week.”
— Tom Hanks
Cool
“If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great.”
— Tom Hanks
Great
“You cannot look up at the night sky on the Planet Earth and not wonder what it's like to be up there amongst the stars. And I always look up at the moon and see it as the single most romantic place within the cosmos.”
— Tom Hanks
Romantic
“No journalist has ever been in my house and no photographs have ever been taken of where I live. I don't parade my family out for display, which is the way it will stay.”
— Tom Hanks
Family
“The nature of motion capture is only going to work for certain films. It's not going to put any other type of movies out of business.”
— Tom Hanks
Business
“My favorite traditional Christmas movie that I like to watch is All Quiet on the Western Front. It's just not December without that movie in my house.”
— Tom Hanks
Christmas
“From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle we just decided to go.”
— Tom Hanks
Science
“It's just as hard... staying happily married as it is doing movies.”
— Tom Hanks
Movies
“Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness. The cinema has the power to make you not feel lonely, even when you are.”
— Tom Hanks
Power