Everyone loves Tom Hanks. This is fact. Not loving Tom Hanks is Step 1 to letting the terrorists win. So it should come as no surprise that T.Hanks has become a champion internet-baiter over the years. Unlike, say, a Will Ferrell though Tom Hanks’ internet-baiting isn’t always fully aware. Some of it even required no effort of his own (THAT WE KNOW OF). It all just happens in that genuine Tom Hanks sort of way and that’s why he’s the best.
He was a consenting adult last night when he appeared on Fallon and performed a slam poem about Full House. I mean, that sentence is pretty much the definition of internet-baiting. And since it’s the most recent entry it makes #10 on this list.
When you’re promoting something as weird as Cloud Atlas you gotta get weird. That’s like movie marketing 101. On to the rest…
It’s funny because he doesn’t speak Spanish.
Not his doing (THAT WE CAN PROVE) but “T.Hanks” has become the go-to quirky thank you for pop culture enthusiasts on the internet thanks to a few notable examples.
Chris Hardwick and The Nerdist podcast gang heard Tom liked old typewriters and sent him a 1934 Smith Corona as a bribe to appear on their show. Tom typed up the below note in reply, and the rest is Reddit history.
Seriously though. If you’re a multiple Oscar winner what else is there to do with an Emmy for producing a miniseries?
T.Hanks cemented world’s nicest celebrity status when he let some random kid in a restaurant steal his glasses and take pretend drunk photos with him. That’s just good PR.
Tom Hanks doesn’t actually have anything to do with the parody artist known as Hanksy (OR ARE THEY THE SAME PERSON?!?!) but the emergence of the grafitti pun master has only further cemented the beloved ones place in web culture.
Video from last week can be seen here, but this screengrab from Danger pretty much captures it all.
Tom Hanks didn’t actually coin the nickname, but he is credited for popularizing it and getting the balling rolling on all things Team Coco and, you know, ruining Conan’s life.
By now we’re all aware of the phenomenon that is Chet Haze. If you’re not, first: shame on you, and second: Film Drunk has the most hard-hippity-hitting Chet Haze coverage on the world wide web if you need to bone up on the too-good-to-be-true celebrity spawn. Truly Tom’s #1 gift to the internet.