Proving himself to be one of the most normal and down-to-earth celebrities around, Tom Hanks has candidly spoken on earning big bucks. The actor admits that in 1980, he was happy with the wage he was making as an actor and he believes he makes too much money for the work he does now – he feels he has been given “ludicrous” amounts of money ever since. He is grateful for the cash but also says that even being able to buy anything doesn’t always make you happy:
”My attitude to money? On a 1980 TV series called ‘Bosom Buddies’ I made $5,000 (£3,000) a week. If I had made that kind of money for the rest of my life I would have been happy, honestly. But I have been getting ludicrous sums of money for quite some time. The best part is not owing money to anyone. Money, though, has never been my driving force. You can live in the biggest and best house in the world but it can be s***t if you are unhappy.”
On being ready for fame, Tom says a lot of his misses went below the radar at the time so he thankfully could quietly learn from his mistakes while no one was watching. He believes this prepared him as much as possible for the spotlight and he even doesn’t mind that he is still known to some as ‘Forrest Gump’:
”I have been lucky in my career simply because I made bad decisions, and learned good lessons, out of the public eye. I made the 1984 film ‘Splash’ and that was successful. Then I was in movies which flopped. No one was paying me any attention. But had it all happened for me overnight, I would have suffered problems. When fame finally came, I was as ready as you can ever be. I will always be known as Forrest Gump to some, but so what?”
