Tom Hanks has a few choice words for people who won’t wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19: “Don’t be a pussy.”
According to People, the beloved actor spoke about the ongoing pandemic while promoting his new movie Greyhound. He’s more knowledgable on the subject than your average celebrity, as he and wife Rita Wilson were infected by the coronavirus in March. Wilson in particular had a rough time with the virus, and Hanks has no patience for people who won’t take it seriously.
“There’s really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow,” he said. “Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands.” He added,
“Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things – I just think shame on you. Don’t be a pussy, get on with it, do your part. It’s very basic. If you’re driving a car, you don’t go too fast, you use your turn signal and you avoid hitting pedestrians. My Lord, it’s common sense.”
Hanks also gave an update on he and Wilson’s recovery. “Oh, as the canaries in the coal mine for the COVID-19 experience, we are fine,” he said. “We had about 10 days of very uncomfortable symptoms. Not life-threatening, we’re happy to say.”
However, getting sick early in the pandemic had some serious drawbacks. Rita Wilson experienced “extreme side effects” after taking hydroxochloroquine, an antimalarial drug that President Trump suggested treated the novel coronavirus. Currently, the FDA thinks hydroxochloroquine “showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery,” and actually may cause harm to hearts, kidneys, and livers of COVID-19 patients.
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When it comes to containing the coronavirus pandemic, Hanks and Wilson are doing more than wearing a mask. In fact, the couple’s blood is being used to develop a coronavirus vaccine. But even though they probably can’t become reinfected, they’re happily participating in the global shutdown. Hanks says they’re still going through “the same isolating, social distancing that is being asked of the world.”
Throughout the crisis, Hanks has been doing little things to help with morale. On June 27th, he virtually appeared at The Roots Picnic Livestream hosted by Michelle Obama, and before that he provided 2020 grads with a special coronavirus diploma. Greyhound, which Hanks wrote, directed, and starred in, arrives on Apple TV July 12th. Feel free to revisit the first trailer.
Editor’s Note: Stay safe by picking up one of our custom face masks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief fund supporting independent musicians.
