Weird Things About Tom Hanks And Rita Wilson's Marriage

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Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson's marriage has defied all odds in Hollywood. They have been going strong since 1986 after meeting on the set of "Bosom Buddies" years prior and are one of showbiz's longest-lasting couples. "I wish there was a secret, you know," Tom told People in 2015 when asked about the key to their successful relationship. "We just like each other. You start there." He also dispelled the notion that marriage requires effort. For him and Wilson, it's about connection and partnership. "Life is one damn thing after another and it's actually more pleasant to be able to go home with someone you like to spend time with in order to get with it."

He did, however, offer some relationship advice, and that was to wait until you're in your 30s before getting hitched. That's because Tom married quite young to his first wife, Samantha Lewes, with whom he shares his oldest kids, Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Ann Hanks. (He was only 23 when he got hitched.) With Wilson, he knew for certain he was making the right decision even though he wouldn't exactly describe their relationship as magic. (How strange!) "The success of our relationship was a matter of timing, maturity, and our willingness to have an intimate connection," Tom explained to Oprah in 2001 before noting that theirs wasn't a rom-com-kind of love story either. "In real life, our connection is as concrete as me sitting here," he added. Below, we're taking a look at the weird aspects of Tom and Wilson's marriage that show just how unique their love is.

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Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson first crossed paths in 1981 on the set of ABC's "Bosom Buddies," in which Hanks played Kip Wilson and Rita played Cindy, a love interest for Peter Scolari's character, Henry Desmond. At the time, Hanks was still very much married to his ex-wife and college sweetheart, Samantha Lewes. When they worked together again on the 1985 film "Volunteers," there was an undeniable spark between the co-stars, with Hanks admitting that he was smitten with Rita the moment they laid eyes on each other. "It just couldn't be denied," the actor told GQ (via Daily Mail). For her part, Rita said they hit it off right away while recalling their love story during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show." She said it was Hanks' amazing storytelling skills that first caught her attention. "First of all I love a good storyteller, so anybody who can tell a good story, I'm down with that," she gushed.

Despite his previous attraction, it wasn't until Hanks separated from Lewes that he started to act on his feelings for Wilson. The pair eventually confirmed their relationship in 1986, shortly after Hanks separated from Lewes — and while he was still technically married to his former wife. (Hanks and Lewes divorced in 1987 after being married for close to a decade.) He and Wilson attended the red-carpet premiere of "The Three Amigos" in Los Angeles, where they made their first public appearance as a couple (seen above). They didn't wait long to get married, tying the knot in 1988 following a whirlwind romance.

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Even in his marriage to Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks has been candid about his regrets regarding his divorce from his ex-wife, Samantha Lewes, who died from bone cancer at age 49 in 2002. In a 2013 interview with Express, the actor expressed his sorrow over the pain the split caused their children, Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks, saying, "I was looking for something I had not found as a kid. And a broken marriage meant I was sentencing my own kids to the sort of feelings I had at their age." He noted that he was only 21 when he became a father to Colin and 23 when he married Lewes. Looking back, he realized that he was far "too young and insecure" to handle those responsibilities.

Tom also shared his guilt for leaving his ex-wife and how it felt as though he had turned his back on their two children as well. Oftentimes, he would question whether he had been a good father to Colin and Elizabeth, explaining, "All I see is where I let them down when I was on the road and missed their birthday or yelled at them over something trivial." Tom echoed a similar sentiment when speaking on the "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" podcast in 2020, saying he used to berate himself for not being present enough for his oldest kids. Despite this, Tom ended up having a good relationship with his children from his previous marriage.

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Having been together for almost 40 years, false rumors surrounding the couple's relationship were inevitable — among them claims that they were headed for divorce, forcing Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson to take legal action against The National Enquirer and Star magazine in 2016. Both tabloids had run stories suggesting that Hanks and Wilson were on the verge of splitting up after Hanks allegedly had affairs with his co-stars Meg Ryan and Felicity Jones. In a joint statement released to The Hollywood Reporter, the couple explained why they felt compelled to take legal action over the matter, saying, "In the past, we laughed off their cover stories of our soon-to-be acrimonious divorce because those stories were so far from true, they were laughable. But our marriage is the foundation of our family, is sacred to us, and we couldn't allow such nonsense as we are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next April."

During the red carpet premiere of Hanks' film "Inferno," the duo also spoke with Extra's Charissa Thompson, stressing that they could no longer ignore the malicious rumors hounding their marriage. "I mean, at a certain point, you just have to call them out on their lies," Wilson expressed. Hanks agreed, stating that he found the tabloid reports incredibly insulting. "If we do something stupid in public, go ahead, do that. But don't make up this nonsense," Hanks sneered. "That was just so bogus. It was kind of foul."

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Speaking of legal matters, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have also faced their own share of legal troubles over the years, including being sued in 2003 for allegedly failing to pay their contractor. According to a report from TMZ, the couple was taken to court by Storey Construction, the company they hired to build their vacation home near Sun Valley Resort in Idaho (they also own properties in Greece, Los Angeles, and Malibu). After Storey filed for arbitration, Hanks and Wilson responded with a counterclaim, alleging poor workmanship and seeking $800,000 in compensation. However, things didn't go their way — Storey ended up winning the case in 2004, and Hanks and Wilson had to pay over $1.85 million to cover what they owed, plus interest and legal costs. 

The battle didn't stop there, however. In 2007, Hanks and Wilson filed a new lawsuit against the construction firm, seeking $2.5 million in damages for the cost they incurred fixing the "shoddy and defective construction," according to their joint statement (via Today). Storey retaliated, accusing the pair of abusing the legal system by "using the arbitration process to seek revenge" against them, as reported by AP. Moreover, they also accused Wilson of losing her composure during the 2003 arbitration, describing how she was "leaping from the witness stand and ... screaming hysterically" while being cross-examined.

In the end, Hanks and Wilson lost the case and were ordered to pay the arbitration fee of $167,623 (a measly sum compared to Hanks' $400-million net worth.) To this day, they still own the vacation home, as noted in an article published by AD. 

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In 2023, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson found themselves at the center of controversy after an incident involving the pair unexpectedly went viral on social media. Photos emerged of the couple appearing to scold a staffer as they walked the red carpet at the 76th Cannes Film Festival to promote their film "Asteroid City." Hanks — often regarded as "the nicest guy in Hollywood" — was captured looking angry and pointing his finger at said staffer, with Wilson looking just as tense beside him. However, she later took to Instagram to clarify the situation, insisting it was all just a big misunderstanding. "This is called I can't hear you. People are screaming. What did you say? Where are we supposed to go?" Wilson explained (via CNN). "But that doesn't sell stories! Nice try." She also assured fans that they had an amazing time at the festival and encouraged them to support their film.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, several users weighed in on the incident, with some casting doubt on Wilson's explanation. "It's obvious with that finger and face of Tom Hanks, he was definitely mad at that man," one user wrote. Another exclaimed, "Total BS explanation. His face and hand gesture telling the truth!" Thankfully, the staffer, Vincent Chapalain, stepped in to clear things up and confirmed Wilson's statement. "Nothing happened at all, the photo is totally misleading," he stressed in a brief statement to the Daily Mail.