The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people from all walks of life, including celebrities like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The couple contracted the coronavirus while they were in Australia back in March and had to self-quarantine for two weeks, but fortunately, Hanks and Wilson recovered and returned back to the United States.
Since then, not only Tom Hanks has opened up about his and his wife’s struggles with the disease, but he also donated plasma at the end of April in order to help medical professionals develop a coronavirus vaccine. Hanks has now revealed that he went in for another round of donation, as seen in the below Instagram post:
To adjust the parlance you use on your social media posts, thanx, Mr… Hanks! The actor previously said that donating plasma was “as easy as taking a nap,” so presumably the process was just as easy this time around. And needless to say it’s quite beneficial, because by studying the plasma from someone who had been infected with the coronavirus, that can help researchers tremendously with concocting a treatment for the disease.
Tom Hanks was shooting Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic (where he plays the singer’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker) when he was infected. The movie had been shooting for almost two full months at that point, but after Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for the coronavirus, the production was halted. It’s still unclear when cameras will start rolling again, and the release date was pushed from October 1, 2021 to November 5, 2021.
Besides he and his wife dealing with the coronavirus directly, there’s an added personal component with Tom Hanks doing his part to help stop the pandemic, as one of the collaborators on his 1996 movie That Thing You Do!, songwriter Adam Schlesinger, passed away from complications brought on by the disease. Hanks paid tribute to Schlesinger on social media, saying how That Thing You Do! wouldn’t have worked without him writing the title song.
In addition to speaking out about the coronavirus, Tom Hanks has been keeping busy in a number of other ways while Hollywood remains sidelined (although some productions are gearing up to resume). He hosted Saturday Night Live’s first At-Home episode, he delivered the commencement speech to Wright State University’s graduating students in a virtual ceremony and he took part in the Josh Gad-organized virtual Splash reunion.
Tom Hanks’ next movie, Greyhound, recently scrapped its theatrical release and will instead debut on Apple TV+ on a later date. His other upcoming movies include BIOS, which is scheduled for October 2, and News of the World, which is slotted for December 25. Hanks also received a lot of accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
As for what’s still expected to be shown on the big screen later this year, you can find that information in our 2020 release schedule.
