February 11 is a special day, well, at least for us: Damian’s 53rd Birthday. We will kick off the festivities soon so stay tuned and join us today for a fun trip back to Damian’s 30th Birthday!
We all know Tom Hanks played a major role in making Damian an internationally known actor. We blogged earlier about how Spielberg and Hanks cast Damian Lewis as Dick Winters in Band of Brothers.
Damian tells Independent that, once he was cast for the role, he had the opportunity to hang out with Steven Spielberg as well as Tom Hanks for a while, and in his own words, got to know, “what kids they are.” 🙂
Damian shares about Tom Hanks: “Tom was brilliant. When I took my parents to the set he was absolutely charming. .. He collects old typewriters – he’s got about 40 – and he typed me a lovely letter, telling me what a great job he thought we were all doing. I thought it was really special.” In fact, if you want to read a real good story about Tom Hanks and typewriters, read this. It is heartwarming!
Damian also narrates a compliment he received from Tom Hanks that he has treasured to this day:
“Tom Hanks said to me: ‘You’re going to be the first ever red-headed film star!’ If people with red hair can be perceived as sexy and land romantic leads, then that has to be good for redheads in general. It’s fun to be able to challenge the status quo.”
So… Damian is in Los Angeles for his 30th birthday and invites Tom Hanks to his birthday party.
Note: You can read Damian’s story here or scroll down and hear it from him as he tells all about it to Jonathan Ross. I am transcribing here since our non-English readers prefer to have it in writing that is easier to understand. Thanks!
“… I invited Tom Hanks to my 30th birthday. I was 30 and in LA at the time. He said “I can’t come” and gave me a two dollar bill… Which is one of his things. He loves doing that…”
I need to jump in here! So, let’s see hands — who else has a two dollar bill? And, for those of you that are not familiar with it, two dollar bill is the rarest small denomination in US currency. Its rarity makes it special but does not really make it more valuable than its face value. If you want to learn more about it, here is a quick history.
Sorry, Damian, I really needed to interrupt… please go on 🙂
“…And I get to the end of the evening and lots of people there and I try to pay the bar… And the bar man says: “Don’t worry… It’s been taken care of… Happy Birthday from Mr. Hanks… And I thought it was very cool. He just took care of the bar bill…”
Classy! I knew I have always liked Tom Hanks for a good reason 🙂
And I love these two pictures, 15 years between them, next to each other. The recent one is from the MOMA film benefit in November 2016 where Tom Hanks was recognized with a gala dinner and a tribute.
Even though I enjoy his recent work, I always loved Tom Hanks in romantic comedies, and no romantic comedy can beat You’ve Got Mail in my book. It’s Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and Upper West Side — our neighborhood — what’s not to like? And the last scene gets me every single time:
“I wanted it to be you; I wanted it to be you so badly.”
It’s 92nd Street Community Garden in Riverside Park. And let this be MY tribute to Mr. Hanks.
On saturday I’m going celebrate his birthday by drinkina a caipirinha in his honor…
Tweet us a picture, my friend, we will RT that! <3
Lovely post! I have never ever seen a two-dollar bill I think if I received one I would be like is this for real? Now I know it is 🙂 Sunday will be a fantastic day for our favorite ginger. I cant wait for the blog celebration! I concur with Mr. Hanks, Damian is the sexiest ginger on screen!!!
Thank you for the lovely videos you embedded 🙂
I loved The Post, too. I’m currently in Oscar mode trying to knock out some movies on my list, see double and triple features on certain days! So far we’ve seen The Post, The Shape of Water, Phantom Thread, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Lady Bird. And although not in the running for best movie, we saw The Big Sick and Roman J. Israel, Esq. because the actors are nominated. Only have two more to go: I, Tonya and Darkest Hour. No interest in the rest. But, I feel prepped enough for my annual Oscar Watch Party!!!!
I saw all of them except for Roman J. Israel, Esq. and liked them all. I am torn between Daniel Day Lewis and Gary Oldman for Best Actor. Three Billboards is certainly my favorite movie this year: how come a movie can make you laugh and cry at the same time? Wonderful. Hope it receives lots of awards!