In addition to individually being beloved and critically acclaimed entertainers,
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks are one of Hollywood's longest-lasting pairings.
Their lives together seem full of love and happiness with their children and numerous awards,
but how much do you know about this A-list couple's love story?
It wasn't back-to-back Oscars right out of the gate for Tom Hanks. The actor, writer, director,
and producer studied theater at California State University in Sacramento in the mid-1970s. His
big break came with a co-starring role in the 1984 ABC sitcom "Bosom Buddies," about two advertising
execs who decide to dress up in drag to save money and live in a female-only apartment building.
Though the show lasted for only two seasons, it's become a bit of a cult classic in recent years
and has the distinction of being the real-life meet-cute location for Hanks and Rita Wilson,
who guested on the series. The two also co-starred in the 1985 film
"Volunteers." For Hanks, though he was married at the time,
he knew there was something special about Wilson right from the start, telling GQ -
"Rita and I just looked at each other and — kaboing — that was that."
Wilson shared with Kelly Clarkson that it's her
husband's storytelling skills that initially drew her to him, saying -
"We just got along instantly. [...] First of all,
I love a good storyteller. So anybody who could tell a good story,
I'm down with that. [...] He makes me laugh all the time. He's a really good storyteller."
The couple didn't marry until 1988, after Hanks' divorce from his first wife,
Samantha Lewes, was finalized. Hanks and Lewes had son Colin in 1977
and got married in 1978, with daughter Elizabeth arriving in 1982.
In 2013, Hanks told Britain's Express that his first marriage ended because he wasn't
ready for it. With divorced parents himself, Hanks said -
"I was looking for something I had not found as a kid. [...] I was just too young and insecure
for marriage. I was 23, and my son Colin was already two when I married for the first time.
I was not really ready to take on those responsibilities."
On April 30, 1988, Tom and Wilson made their union official in L.A. At the time of the wedding,
Tom also joined the Greek Orthodox Church, in a nod to Wilson's Greek heritage.
In the years since "Bosom Buddies," Hanks and Wilson have frequently appeared onscreen together.
Wilson memorably played the role of Suzy, a close friend of Hanks' lead character and "An
Affair to Remember" aficionado, in Nora Ephron's classic 1993 rom-com "Sleepless in Seattle."
Wilson spoke to Entertainment Weekly about how thrilled she still is to have been a part of
the movie and the freedom that Ephron gave her to put her own spin on the character's standout scene
after she'd watched the movie "An Affair to Remember" before shooting, saying:
"I noticed that Cary Grant goes into the room and he sees [Deborah Kerr] on the couch,
and then he looks at her and she looks at him, so I just went in and I did that bit."
"And he comes out and he looks at her,
and he kinda just - they know and then they hug and it's (cries).'
"That's a chick's movie."
Wilson has also appeared in some of Hanks' directorial efforts,
including 1996's "That Thing You Do!" and 2011's "Larry Crowne." In addition to their
work in front of the camera, Wilson and Hanks have produced a number of films together,
including "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Mamma Mia!"
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tom Hanks starred in a number of both
critical and commercial hits at the box office, including "Big" and "A League of
Their Own." But beginning in 1993, his roles over the next handful of years resulted in
not only modern film classics but also awards love that hadn't been seen in half a century.
Hanks won his first Academy Award for Best Actor for 1993's "Philadelphia," a groundbreaking
portrayal of a gay man fighting against not only AIDS but the inequality facing him.
In his moving acceptance speech, Hanks first thanked his wife, Rita Wilson, saying -
"I could not be standing here without that undying love that was just sung about by,
not Bruce [Springsteen], but Neil Young. And I have that in a lover that is so close to fine,
we should all be able to experience such heaven right here on earth."
The next year, Hanks became the first actor since Spencer Tracy in the 1930s to win a
second consecutive Best Actor Oscar, for playing the titular character in 1994's "Forrest Gump."
As the camera panned to a teary-eyed Wilson in the audience, the equally teary Hanks said -
"I am standing here because the woman I share my life with has taught me
and demonstrates for me every day just what love is."
Tom had Colin and his sister, Elizabeth Hanks, with his first wife, Samantha Lewes.
He and Rita Wilson share sons Chester and Truman Hanks.
Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at 2020's Golden Globes,
Hanks expressed his love for Wilson and their children, saying -
"A man is blessed with a family sitting down front like that.
A wife who is fantastic in every way, who has taught me what love is.
Five kids who are braver and stronger and wiser than their old man is. And a loving
group of people who have put [up] with me being away months and months and months at a time."
While Colin is following in his famous father's footsteps, Elizabeth is a writer
and news editor. Truman, the youngest, works in film production. Like Colin, Chet has also acted.
And with three grandchildren now, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are reveling in their new roles.
Tom Hanks has reached the highest heights of Hollywood as a performer and filmmaker. While he's
refreshingly frank about his success, he says he's still motivated by his craft, telling People -
"I'm not in this for power, although I have some.
I'm not in this for money, although man am I rich. I can go to Greece any time I want,
so that's how comfortable I am, but there's no substitute for [my love of acting]."
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hanks and his wife have a combined net worth of approximately
$400 million. And though he may vacation with the Obamas, Bruce Springsteen, and Oprah -
"There was a couple of times and we said 'hey what about the thing with the stuff and the thing like
that mr. president?' and he said 'You know I'd like to share that with you but it's classified.'"
Yet, Hanks insists he still gets butterflies before the start of every new job, saying -
"I will tell you this, when I was in high school and we would audition,
auditions would be done on Friday, and the cast list would be put [out] on Monday, and I could
not sleep for the entire weekend, and I still feel that way the weekend before we start shooting."
"The joy of human connection"
Rita Wilson has acted in many big movies throughout her career.
She's also done guest arcs on shows like "The Good Wife" and "Girls."
More recently, though, Wilson has been flexing her songwriting muscles and focusing on music.
Inspired by her time on Broadway, she's released four albums so far, and said on her website -
"Doing 'Chicago' [...] was what really made me realize how much I love music and that I wanted it
in my life creatively. If you look at the bigger picture of all the things I do, the thing they
have in common is the joy of human connection, and always trying to be real and authentic."
Wilson also frequently includes nods to her husband and family in her songs and music videos.
Her son Chet sang with her on "Heart He Handed Down," inspired by her father.
How did her husband react when she told him she was going to pursue music?
Wilson told Closer Weekly that Tom Hanks said,
"Go, go, go!"
In 2015, Rita Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer and
underwent a double mastectomy. The experience changed the musician,
actor, and producer's perspective on life, as she told Health in 2020 -
"When it first happens, you're like, 'What is this?' It's been a few years of feeling
back to normal. I think the relationship to my body is that I don't take it for granted."
She has also shared that she feels more grounded, telling Harper's Bazaar -
"Feeling feminine and sexy isn't about a bra or a cup size or whether you have
breast tissue or breast implants. It's more internal. I feel it when I dance and sing
and write music. I feel more like me than ever."
Wilson said that her husband was her rock during this turbulent time,
and the pair were even able to find some humor amongst the news -
"If something happens and I should go before you, then I just want you to know that there's
a couple things that I want. One is that I want you to be super sad for a really long time."
As she told The New York Times -
"You never know how your spouse is going to react in a situation like this. I was so amazed,
so blown away by the care my husband gave me. […] Who knew it would make you even closer?"
Rita Wilson has always been proud of her Greek heritage,
and her fondness for Greece is shared by her husband, who said at the 2020 Golden Globes -
"Greece is a haven. "I've been around the world. I've been to
the most beautiful places in the world. None of them tops Greece."
Wilson and Hanks own property in Antiparos, a Greek island, and the two officially became
Greek citizens in 2019. Greece's prime minister shared the news with a photo of Hanks and Wilson
holding their new Greek passports, and Hanks, with his Instagram-signature hand wave, posted -
"Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece!
Kronia pola! ( more or less, "happy year!"). Hanx."
It was Wilson who serendipitously stumbled upon Nia Vardalos' "My Big
Fat Greek Wedding" one-woman show and, with Hanks,
brought it to Hollywood. As Hanks said at the premiere of the silver screen adaptation -
"My wife saw an ad back in the day in the LA Times calendar section for a one woman show called 'My
Big Fat Greek Wedding' and she laughed and said 'I'm going to go see the show,' and she did."
The two helped it become a movie — and a hit one at that. The 2002 flick is still
the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. Wilson co-starred in the
2016 sequel to the fan favorite, and Vardalos has hinted that a third film is in the works.
When the global coronavirus pandemic reared its head in the spring of 2020,
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were among the first big celebrities to announce that they'd tested
positive for the virus. In Australia to film Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic, Hanks posted on social
media that he and Wilson had been having some concerning symptoms and decided to get tested.
With the realities of quarantining setting in around the world, and for Hanks and Wilson as
well, Wilson made headlines with an Instagram video showing off her at-home rap skills. A
year later, took to Instagram to update fans on their experience with Covid-19:
"I want to take a moment to say how grateful we are for our health,
how thankful we are for the medical care we got in Queensland, and that we share in the sorrow
of each person who lost a loved one to this virus. I'm hopeful for so many being able to
get the vaccine. I also do not take for granted that creating music stayed a part of my life."
After 33 years of marriage to Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks says the key
to a successful partnership is really quite simple, telling People in 2015 -
"We just like each other. You start there."
He also opened up about their love to Oprah in 2001, saying -
"Our relationship isn't magic — the way it's shown in movies. [...] But we both
know that no matter what, we'll be with each other — and we'll get through it."
For Wilson, the strength of her bond with Hanks encourages her in many other areas of her life,
saying in Harper's Bazaar -
"There is such value in the depth of your relationships,
your friendships, your marriage, your children, all of that. To me,
that's what makes you feel safe to go out and pursue the things that are more risky."
Wilson marked their 33rd anniversary in 2021 with a sweet Instagram note to Hanks:
"33 years of marriage to my BFF, my lover, my man. Love wins. ❤️"
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