The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced last year that it would award Hanks the prestigious award. HFPA President Lorenzo Soria went on to express the association’s admiration for the actor. “For more than three decades, he captivated audiences with rich, playful characters that we’ve come to love and admire,” he said.
Charlize Theron presented the award to Hanks. She expressed on the red carpet before the event how agonizing it was for her to present the award to the 63-year-old. “He’s my hero,” she told Entertainment Tonight. Presenting the award, Theron said:
“The most undeniable thing that can be said about the deceptively simple, yet massively true Tom Hanks is that he makes the world a better place.”
During Hanks’ acceptance speech, he said, “Dude…” before stopping to stop crying. He covered his mouth trying to regain his composure. He apologized because it took him a second before he could continue his sentence without crying.
Hanks became emotional when he began to look down on his family. Then he said in a cracking voice, “Man is lucky to have a family sitting out front like this, I can’t tell you how much your love means to me.” He pointed to where his family was seated among the crowd at the Globe.
Hanks also opened up about how he managed to last through his successful career. “You’re stupid if you don’t steal from everyone you’ve ever worked with, and you steal from people like those who only need one name,” he said. The actor has worked with names like Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan and many more.
