Tom Hanks bursts into tears in Golden Globes speech reflecting on blessings in life

By Jeannie Ortega Law, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, January 08, 2020

Iconic actor Tom Hanks was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes Awards Sunday and became overwhelmed with emotion as he reflected on the blessing of his family.

After receiving the prestigious award, Hanks thanked his wife, Rita Wilson, their four children, Colin, Chet, Truman and Elizabeth, and his daughter-in-law, Samantha Bryant. 

“I’m sorry,” he apologized before bursting into emotion as he looked at his family from the stage. “A man is blessed with a family sitting down front like that.”

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“A wife who is fantastic in every way, who has taught me what love is,” Hanks said of his wife, who is also a successful actress, adding, “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. Otherwise I wouldn’t be standing up here if they didn’t have to put up with that,” Hanks said of his family’s sacrifice. “I can’t tell you how much your love means to me.”

Hanks was honored for his work in Hollywood for the past 37 years. “Forest Gump,” “Castaway,” “Toy Story,” and “Philadelphia” are all film’s to his credit. 

At this year’s Golden Globes, Hanks was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”

The Academy Award-winning actor played beloved TV personality Fred Rogers in the film and he said the movie actually helped strengthen his own marriage.

In an interview last year with ET he talked about how he was able to apply some of the lessons from the popular TV show “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” in his marriage to Wilson.

"When my wife and I are going at it on those rare occasions, when she is letting me know that I'm not really listening to her and I'm trying to establish what the ground rules are [for the argument], when we're going at it like that, one of us will say, 'Well, you know what? You know what, honey? It's good to talk. It's good to say the things we feel,'" Hanks said in a calm Rogers-like tone while recalling a lesson he learned on using your words.

"And I learned that from Mister Rogers." 

Rogers worked in television for more than 30 years after graduating college. The only breaks he took from working in television were times he devoted to his Christian faith. The TV pioneer attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963. 

Hanks said he and Rogers don't have all that much in common. 

"I'm nothing like Fred Rogers in any way, shape, or form. Except, I think, I wake up in the morning thinking, 'Hey, it's a nice day, it's a good day. Let's try to make it a little bit better," Hanks said.