Hollywood is a place where weird behavior is normal. The spotlight shines on celebrities who think they’re special， and who dress， speak and act accordingly.
Here， in the land of fast cars， face lifts and personal trainers， average people rarely① reach celebrity status. Instead， they wait tables.
But there is one honest， likable， average kind of guy who became a superstar. His name is Tom Hanks.
Perhaps you know him from his recent starring role in Forrest Gump， where he plays a sweet-soul man with an IQ of 75. Or maybe you saw him in Philadelphia. In that movie he played a lawyer with AIDS， a starring role for which he won an Oscar. Or maybe you’ve been a Hanks fan for years， cheering him on in Sleepless in Seattle， Big， A League of Their Own and Splash.
Regardless② of how you know him， chances are you adore him for all the same reasons his American fans do—he’s so likable. Hanks commented in a recent interview that people will follow him anywhere. He’s just an average， ordinary guy， and that comes out in all his roles. No one fears him or is threatened by him.
So where did this enormously successful “average guy” actor come from？
Hanks was born in the San Francisco Bay Area in California in 1956. His parents divorced when he was five. One of his brothers remained with his mother， and Hanks and two others went with his father， who married a woman with five kids of her own. Other divorces followed for both parents， and by the time he was 10， Hanks says， “I had three mothers， five grammar schools and 10 houses.”
Other Americans from broken homes blame all sorts of adult problems on their unstable③ childhoods， Hanks doesn’t. He downplays the trauma④. “I enjoyed moving around，” he says， “I liked the idea of being the new kid in class.”
Hanks took up acting as a result of a college theater course. Since then his path has been fairly smooth. At 26， he was chosen as co-star of a short-lived television comedy. Two years later， he got the part of an ordinary guy who just happens to fall in love with a mermaid. Before you could say Splash， his career took off.
Though Hanks does have some failures on his resume⑤， including Bachelor Party， Volunteers and The Money Pit， his recent achievements have given him leading-man status. The fact that he is given the chance to play such a wide range of characters is proof that directors have confidence in his ability.
From a child trapped in an adult’s body in Big， to a dying man in Philadelphia， to his next role in Apollo 13 where he plays an astronaut， Hanks has the talent and earnestness⑥ to make his characters believable. Probably because he himself is so genuine.
① rarelyadv. 很少，难得
② regardlessadv. 【口】不顾一切地；不管怎样地；无论如何
③ unstableadj. 不稳固的；不固定的；不牢靠的
④ trauman. (感情等方面的)创伤
⑤ resumen. 【主美】(个人)简历
⑥ earnestnessn. 认真；诚挚
汤姆·汉克斯
好莱坞是个见怪不怪的地方。聚光灯照在那些自认与众不同的名人身上，而他们在穿着、交谈以及行为上也表现得如此。
在这里，这个充满了快车、整容、以及个人训练师的行业里，普通人只能耐心等待而很难成为名人。
但是，有一位诚实、可亲的普通人变成了超级巨星。他的名字叫做汤姆·汉克斯。
也许你是因他最近在《阿甘正传》里扮演的角色而认识他。在这部片子里，他饰演一个智商只有75而心地善良的人。或者，你在《费城》那部片子里见过他。在那部片子里，他饰演一位患有爱滋病的律师，这个领衔角色使他获得了奥斯卡金像奖。或许经年以来你一直是汉克斯的影迷，欣赏他在《西雅图夜未眠》、《飞进未来》、《红粉大联盟》及《美人鱼》等影片里面的演出。
不管你是如何认识他的，你崇拜他的原因很可能和所有他的美国影迷一样——他是如此地讨人喜欢。汉克斯在最近的一项访问中表示，不论在哪里，他都受到欢迎。他只是一个平常的普通人，而这个特质表现在他所扮演的每一个角色之中。没有人会怕他或觉得受到他的威胁。
所以，到底这位极为成功的“普通人”演员来自何处？
汉克斯在1956年出生于加州的旧金山湾区。他的父母亲在他5岁时离婚。其中一位兄弟跟了母亲。而汉克斯和另外两位兄弟则跟了父亲，他父亲和一位有5个子女的妇人再婚。父母双方后来各自又再离婚，那时他10岁，汉克斯说：“我有过三位母亲，上过五个小学，住过十个不同的房子。”
其他来自破碎家庭的美国人，将他们成年之后的各种问题都归咎于不稳定的童年生活。汉克斯却不这么做，他将这些创伤淡化。“我蛮喜欢搬家的，”他说，“我喜欢那种在班上当新生的感觉。”
汉克斯选择演戏乃是他在大学的一门剧场课程所带来的结果。自此之后，他的道路便相当平顺。在26岁那一年，他在一个演出时间不长的电视喜剧中演配角。两年之后，他获得了一个和美人鱼发生恋情的普通人的角色。在你来得及说《美人鱼》(他的第一部电影)之前，他的事业已经起飞了。
虽然汉克斯曾经有些失败的记录，包括了《单身者俱乐部》、《自愿者》以及《钱坑》，但他最近的成功带给他男主角的地位。他获得扮演戏路相当宽广的角色的机会，证明了导演们对他的能力具有信心。
自在《飞进未来》饰演一位被限制在大人身体里的小孩，到《费城》中的垂死的人，到他在下一个片子《阿波罗十三号》中扮演一位太空人。汉克斯有才能以及执着将他的角色演得令人信服。大概是因为他自己正是如此地真实吧。
