Tom Hanks Net Worth is $390 million

Quick facts about Tom Hanks

Date of birth: July 9, 1956
Place of birth: Concord, California, U.S.
Occupation: actor, filmmaker

Who could think that Tom Hanks, one of the most popular actors ever, wasn’t all that popular in school! Teachers and students alike simply weren’t into him. In addition, he was extremely shy — definitely not a character trait you would expect from a future Hollywood star. Here is what Tom Hanks had to say about himself in the interview with Rolling Stones magazine, “I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy”.

During his time in college he saw “The Iceman Cometh” by Eugene O’Neill (1946), which made him want to pursue acting career. Being a doer, he transferred into the theater program at California State University. In 1980 he moved to New York, and, after many auditions, managed to land a small role in “He Knows You’re Alone”.

Tom Hanks gradually gained more exposure and built some important relationships. He played in various episodes of several TV shows that were popular at the time. A period of small successes and failures followed, but even when a movie itself was a failure critics tended to compliment on his performance. His role in “Big” brought him his first big success, gaining him his very first Academy Award nomination for best actor.

So with net worth of whopping $390 million and international fame, what are the secrets of Tom Hanks’s success?

Work

If you look back over the years, you’ll see that Tom Hanks was and still is extremely active. He didn’t take many breaks and even when the movie itself was a failure, he was a success. But Tom was not only active, he was also proactive. He once said, “If you are not proactive, essentially if you don’t deliver the goods, if you don’t get it done, then that is going to be a hash mark against you”.

Equipoise

Equipoise is the concept Tom Hanks mentioned in one of his interviews. It is the perfect balance between relaxation and concentration or, in other words, flexibility that allows you to move in a required direction. It is the ability to solve your and other people’s problems instead of creating them.

Not taking things personally

His number one advice to an aspiring actor was not to take things personally. You can’t control what other people think of your work, hence worrying about their opinion is pointless in his view.

Persistence

Another advice he has given is to persist no matter what. 90 percent of the time people will tell you, “No, thank you” but, Hanks says, “You have got to say I know who I am, I know what my skills are, and I’m in this for the long haul.”

Maybe all these secrets aren’t really secrets, but people like Tom Hanks have a special way of putting things that makes you immediately realize your weak spots. Work, persistence, being proactive, not taking things personally and Tom Hanks’s special “equipoise” are basic principles that will help succeed not only in acting but in any endeavor; but, as we all know, simply knowing is different from doing. Tom Hanks is a doer and now is reaping the rewards.

Photo by Alan Light
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