It is a truth nearly universally acknowledged that Tom Hanks is the nicest man in Hollywood.

At the Golden Globes on Sunday, for instance, the actor, who was given the honorary Cecil B DeMille award, made sure that women filmmakers were spotlighted at the ceremony – despite none being nominated this year.

There are more stories like this. Plenty of them, in fact. There are the countless tales of real-life good deeds by the Oscar-winning actor – such as the time he photobombed a couple’s wedding or turned his Twitter into a lost and found.

There are stories about how he wrote a weekly newsletter on his typewriter on the set of Forest Gump about the happenings among the cast and crew, and how when he was profiled by the New York Times’ last year, he became a literal shoulder for journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner to cry on.

Well, if there was any doubt about the star’s moral compass, people are now sharing their own real-life encounters with Hanks, forever cementing his status as one of the Good Guys.

Stuart Stevens started the thread when he tweeted about his own experience.

He was driving while it was snowing and he got a flat tire. When he pulled over to fix it, a man in an SUV pulled over to help: it was Hanks.

Another Twitter user recalled the time Hanks visited their town. She worked for the mayor and after reading about how much he loved typewriters, they organised for a typewriter-typed welcome note to be left in his room. Hanks sent back a thank you note, writing: “One never throws out a typewritten note.”

Stylist.co.uk editor Kayleigh Dray shared her own: “My Tom Hanks story is my sister’s: she was a little kid on the Saving Private Ryan set and got lost. He found her + tried to lure her back to set by asking if she’d like to go for a run with him, but she said she wouldn’t go with a stranger. He waited for her so she was safe.”

One commenter shared how dancers from the Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina were trying not to gawk at the actor after he attended a show. Instead, Hanks approached them to gush over their performance and ask for a photo.

Another shared her dad’s experience: the firefighter and his coworkers had been out walking one morning when they ran into Hanks, who was out walking his dog in sweatpants with a coffee mug in hand. “He took the time to profusely shake everyone’s hand and chat with all these firefighters even though I’m sure he’d hoped he wouldn’t run into anyone up there,” she wrote.

There are more stories. Stories about how Hanks included sheepish strangers in conversations or how he remembered people after meeting them once. 

They say you are who you are when no one’s looking. It’s nice to know that away from the cameras and film sets, Hanks really is as nice as he seems.

Image: Getty