On March 11, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Tom Hanks, announced that he and his wife Rita Wilson had contracted the novel coronavirus while shooting Baz Luhrmann’s untitled Elvis Presley film in Australia.
Tom Hanks tests positive for coronavirus
The actor played cool about the diagnosis on social media.
Alissa Wilkinson covered film and culture for Vox. Alissa is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics.
In a message posted publicly on March 11, Hanks was his typical upbeat self. ”Hello, folks,” he wrote. “Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”
Well, now. What to do next?” the star continued:
The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?
We’ll keep the world posted and updated.
Take care of yourselves!
Hanks, who was most recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, was slated to play Col. Tom Parker, the Dutch-born manager of Elvis Presley in a biopic directed by Luhrmann, perhaps best known for the 2001 smash hit Moulin Rouge.
According to the Australian government’s Department of Health on Wednesday, March 11, there were more than 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, including three deaths.
Luhrmann’s film is currently slated for a fall 2021 release. Austin Butler, who appears in The Carrie Diaries and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is set to star as Presley.
This article will be updated as we learn more about Hanks’s condition.
