Hanks told Rolling Stone he was a "geek" and "spaz" as a kid. "I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible."

According to Matt Green's "The Amazing Life of Tom Hanks," he was in high school performances of "South Pacific" and "Twelfth Night" and won his high school's best acting award in 1974.