Tom Hanks Gets Emotional Over Wife Rita Wilson During Epic Speech at 2020 Golden Globes

We have nothing for thanks for national treasure Tom Hanks!

The legendary star was honored with the prestigious Cecil B. de Mille Award at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, and in true Hanks fashion, he began his epic speech by making fun of himself, pointing out one of his earlier projects that was included in the montage of his performances. 

“Tell the truth now, can I just see a show of hands? How many people in this room have a clip package that includes The Love Boat, anybody?” Hanks asked the crowd, before briefly singing the series’ theme song.

But Hanks, who has won four Golden Globes in his career, winning Best Actor for his performances in Big, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Cast Away, quickly got emotional⁠—beginning to cry⁠ and taking a moment to compose himself—when he began talking about his family, including wife Rita Wilson and his children, who were in attendance.

“A man is blessed, 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,” the 63-year-old said, “and a loving group of people who have put away with me being away months and months at a time. Of course otherwise I wouldn’t be standing here if they didn’t have to put up with that I can’t tell you how much your love means to me.”

After addressing “the wife and kids,” Hanks went on to pay respect to many of his famous co-stars, admitting, “You’re a dope if you don’t steal from everyone you’ve ever worked with.”

He highlighted “one name” stars like Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Antonio Banderas and Julia Roberts, as well as “Sally Field even though that’s two names, it’s still one!”

Hanks also thanked many of the directors and writers he has worked with over the years, saying he has “have never not been challenged or flummoxed or lost sleep because of the work that of the directors that I’ve worked with, every single one of them.”

One of the most celebrated actors in movie history, Hanks went on to offer words of advice to the next generation, telling the story of a moment that defined his career when he was working as an intern at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in the late ’70s, his first professional job. 

“We all got yelled at by Dan Sullivan, the director we had partied a little bit too much the night before. We were showing up for rehearsals and he screamed at us, he did actually scream at us, he said, ‘Hey, look, you guys, you actors, you know what your job is? You have got to show up on time and you have to know the text and you have to have a head full of ideas, otherwise I can’t do my job,'” he said. “That was the greatest lesson a young actor could possibly ever first of all, the head full of ideas. Bring anything, try anything they might not use it. If it stinks, they won’t use it.”

He continued, “Knowing the text, and it’s not just your lines, it’s the whole thing. It’s the red dot it’s the theme of the movie. You’ve got to know it. You might not be right in the opinion you bring to it but you’ve got to come at it with some direction.”

He later added that “showing up on time is one of the greatest liberating acts you can give yourself in a movie. That means those people with radios in the ears don’t need to knock on your door and say they’re ready for you. You’re actually already ready and you have the liberty and you have the freedom of being there early enough to settle down because when the time comes, you have to hit the marks and you have to go there.”

When Hanks, whose starred in beloved movies like Saving Private Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle, Splash, Turner & Hooch, You’ve Got Mail, and countless others, began to get emotional again, he jokingly blamed, “it’s the cold that is making this happen. I never get this emotional at home!”

Hanks was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood at the 2020 Golden Globes.

The night before the Globes, Wilson took to Instagram to congratulate her husband on receiving the special award. 

“On the eve of the @goldenglobes I’d like to congratulate my husband @tomhanks on his nomination for @abeautifuldaymovie and for his Cecil B DeMille award for Lifetime Achievement,” she wrote. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving!!!”

Hanks joins an esteemed list of stars to receive the award, including Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Audrey Hepburn, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Jodie Foster