在自己的联盟里(3)

Though his fame increased, Hanks still saw each movie as a learning experience. "He loves smart people saying smart things. Whether he likes what they're saying or not," says Howard.

"And he nurtures that environment around him. He also has a great sense of humor."

Maura Tierney, who costarred with Hanks in Broadway's Lucky Guy, would often find "like, five selfies of Tom making goofy faces on my phone," she recalls.

"He would take selfies if anyone left their phone lying around. He's not afraid to be a goofball."

Even within that laughter, "he invites honesty from those who are close to him, not in a self-flagellating, neurotic way but with a clear-eyed intelligence," Howard adds. "And that certainly includes Rita and the kids."

Hanks and Wilson, 63, who first met while co-starring in 1985's Volunteers, were married in 1988 after the actor divorced his first wife, actress Samantha Lewes, with whom he shares son Colin, 42, now an actor, and daughter Elizabeth, 37, a writer.

He and Wilson have two grown sons: Chet, 29, an actor and rapper, and Truman, 23, who has a math degree and works on film sets. Hanks admits his older children grew up in a different world from their siblings.

"I talk about this with them all the time," the actor told The Guardian."They remember when life was normal.

When we lived in standard houses and I sometimes had work or not. . . . My younger kids have always had this other guy who was their dad."

But his approach to parenting stayed the course when it came to raising all four of his kids.