“Well you’ve graduated, you’ve got Type 2 Diabetes”: Tom Hanks’ Dedication for Acting Risked His Health, Refuses to Change for Movies Anymore

Tom Hanks is one of the most popular actors worldwide. He is known for both comedic and dramatic roles. He rose to fame as a leading man in comedies such as The Money Pit and A League of Their Own. He has collaborated with Steven Spielberg on several projects such as Catch Me If You Can and Saving Private Ryan.

For his performance in Forrest Gump and Philadelphia, Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor for consecutively two years. During his appearance in an interview in 2013, he made a shocking revelation about his health, saying that he had Type 2 Diabetes.

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Tom Hanks Revealed He Was Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes

Tom Hanks has done some great work in his career spanning nearly five decades. He has starred in movies of numerous genres. He is also known for being honest and down-to-earth which only adds to his charming persona. It was this very nature of his that led him to inform his fans about his ailment.

During an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman (via tvsonicnet on YouTube) in 2013, Tom Hanks gave everyone a startling update about his health, saying:

“I went to the doctor and he said, ‘You know those high blood sugar numbers you’ve been dealing with since you were 36? Well you’ve graduated, you’ve got Type 2 Diabetes, young man.’ It’s controllable. Something’s going to kill us all, Dave.”

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Despite his assurance that his blood sugar is controllable, one cannot help but worry about Hanks’ health especially considering how old he is. As of recently, Hanks has not given any update on his sugar levels so hopefully, it is under control given he is actively making movies.

Tom Hanks Blamed His Bad Diet For His Type 2 Diabetes

Actors often go to great extremes to bring a character to life. From immersing themselves in the characters’ world to get a grasp on their mentality through method acting like Heath Ledger did for Joker in The Dark Knight to gaining or losing huge amounts of weight, actors do not refrain from doing their best to make sure their audience have the best experience.

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Tom Hanks’ body started showing symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes in 1992 when he gained 30 pounds to play the role of a baseball coach in A League of Their Own. In 2000, he shed 55 pounds for his role as a stranded man in Cast Away. These massive fluctuations in weight might have played a role in the actor getting diagnosed with diabetes.

Furthermore, in an interview with Radio Times, Tom Hanks blamed his bad diet in his 30s and 40s for his ailment, saying:

“I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady. I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies, you know what I looked like. I was a total idiot. I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers. Well, it takes a little bit more than that.”

Even so, Hanks’ doctor told him that if he could hit a target weight, he would not have Type 2 diabetes anymore. This would be a little difficult for the actor since he is 67 years old now and losing weight at this age can prove to be an arduous task.