Earlier this month, fans of Tom Hanks became very worried when it appeared he could not control the shaking of his arm. Many people hypothesized that the extremely popular American actor could be dealing with a health problem like Parkinson’s or something else equally as devastating. Although Hanks is currently working hard to promote his new movie, the film by Baz Luhrmann is a biopic of Elvis, in which Hanks portrays the singer’s manager.
Luhrmann is an Australian native and worked to have the Elvis movie filmed in Brisbane. Luhrmann originally came from Sydney, Australia. Because of his Australian roots, the film’s creator organized for the movie to be premiered along the Gold Coast of Australia, which is just about fifty miles from Brisbane.
Hanks attended the June 4, 2022 premiere along with the movie’s star, 30-year-old Austin Butler. Butler portrays the King of Rock and Roll himself and does a stellar job in the role.
“There is no better place in the world to make a motion picture than right here on the Gold Coast,” Hanks said while in front of the crowd in Australia. However, fans noticed that he might have been shaking the microphone, which worried a lot of people on social media who began speculating that Hanks had been diagnosed with an atrocious health condition.
While Hanks was speaking to the audience, the hand holding the microphone began to shake out of control.
“I’ve shot films in Morocco and Los Angeles and New York City and Seattle and in Berlin. None of them have what the Gold Coast has, and what is that? Two words. None of those other cities have Dan Murphy,” he said, which was a reference to the Australian liquor store chain, Dan Murphy’s.
“What a man, who I got to know quite well,” he said to applause.
Suddenly, Hanks’s right hand begins to shake out of control. The actor tries to minimize the amount of shaking by placing his left hand on the microphone below his right to steady the shake. He also switches hands to give his right hand a break from shaking so aggressively.
The audience did not seem to notice Hanks’s apparent health problem.
“We had an absolutely magnificent time with you all,” Hanks told the audience at the Elvis biopic premiere. “There is something about the people and the place of the Gold Coast that makes everyone walk around with a confident look on their faces. We were a part of that. Your confidence, joy, and zest for life come through in our motion picture.”
Hanks added, “You have a wonderful proactive golden son in Baz Luhrmann who loves Australia more than kangaroos, more than Dan Murphy.”
Hanks has not publicly addressed his shaking hand. He flew back to the United States in time for the film’s premiere in Tennessee at Graceland on June 11, 2022.
“The only reason I’m here, it’s been done right,” said Lisa Marie Presley, praising Luhrmann and Butler for their work portraying her father. “I was quite young, but I still remember my father’s energy and his vibe. And Austin, he — what’s the word? — he nailed it.”