It’s not every day a Hollywood A-lister strolls into a local shop without warning, but that’s exactly what happened at Greg Chappell Cricket Centre in North Sydney this week when Tom Hanks and his son Truman popped in to pick up a few cricket essentials.
The actor, 69, posed happily with staff, but the visit was so unexpected the store owner reportedly didn’t recognise him at first. Not long after, the team shared their excitement online, writing: “Not your usual walk-in customer… We’re used to serving cricket royalty, but yesterday at GCCC North Sydney, we welcomed Hollywood royalty, with Tom Hanks and his son Truman stopping by the store. From Baggy Greens to big screens, you never know who’ll walk through the doors at GCCC.”
The pair reportedly left with a beach cricket set, some caps, wicketkeeping gloves, cricket balls and shorts. It’s understood their next stop in Australia is Perth, where they’ll be visiting friends.
Hanks is currently in Australia to film the sequel to his 2020 World War II movie Greyhound for Apple TV. He was last spotted in Sydney two weeks ago near a full movie set, where he paused to greet locals. Site Bar Pizza in Little Bay posted on Facebook: “Great to see Tom Hanks saying hello to the locals and having a little chat, very cool.”
This is Hanks’ second trip to Australia in recent years. In 2020, he arrived for his role as Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. He shares his youngest two sons, Truman and Chester “Chet”, with his wife of more than 30 years, Rita Wilson, and shares his first two children, Colin and Elizabeth Ann, with his late ex-wife Samantha Lewes, who died in 2002.