Tom Hanks Says He Suffered 'Crippling Body Aches' While Battling Coronavirus With Rita Wilson

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic

'I was very fatigued all the time,' the actor shares.

Tom Hanks is sharing even more details about what it was like surviving the coronavirus.

In a new interview, the 63-year-old actor opens up about having COVID-19 at the same time as his wife, Rita Wilson. The two were the first A-list celebrities to publicly announce their diagnoses back in March, while they were in Australia. They have since recovered and are back in Los Angeles.

"Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks. We had very different reactions, and that was odd," Hanks explains to The Guardian. "My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did. I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes. That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway."

"When we were in the hospital, I said, 'I'm 63, I have type 2 diabetes, I had a stent in my heart – am I a red flag case?' But as long as our temperatures did not spike, and our lungs did not fill up with something that looked like pneumonia, they were not worried," he continues. "I'm not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if I'm going to see the end of the day or not. I’m pretty calm about that."

As coronavirus cases continue to spike in multiple states across the country, Hanks believes there's "really only three things" everyone should do: "Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands."

"I know societally it's been politicised, but I don't get it, man," he says. "I don't understand how anyone can put their foot down and say, 'I don’t have to do my part.'"

As for Wilson, ET recently spoke with her about what it's been like spending so much time at home amid the pandemic.

"In some ways it's been a very creative time, and in some it's been a very reflective time," she shared. "I read this really good Socrates quote the other day, which read, 'Beware of the barrenness of busy life,' and I think that we are absolutely able to reflect on that right now when we are in quarantine and thinking about what's important." 

Hear more about what she's been doing to stay busy in the video below.

RELATED CONTENT: