Hollywood icon Tom Hanks has delighted footy fans by perfectly impersonating a goal umpire as he barracked for the GWS Giants as they beat Hawthorn on Saturday.
The Saving Private Ryan megastar is in Australia filming the upcoming movie Greyhound 2, and he took time out to take in the match at ENGIE Stadium in Sydney’s west with co-star Stephen Graham.
Hanks – who was photographed proudly wearing a scarf in GWS colours at the ground – stole the limelight as the cameras focused on him when Giants star Stephen Coniglio kicked a goal in the second quarter.
The 69-year-old got to his feet and did a great job of performing the goal umpire’s two-handed signal for a major, pulling it off perfectly before leaving his seat.
Hanks had another very Aussie sporting moment three weeks ago when he and his son Truman bought some cricket gear from a shop in North Sydney.
Despite his fame, he almost went incognito when he visited the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre.
Tom Hanks is pictured doing a spot-on impersonation of the goal umpire’s hand signal as he took in the GWS vs Hawthorn AFL match on Saturday
The Hollywood icon was all smiles as he watched the Giants win big in western Sydney
Hanks is seen proudly showing off his Giants footy scarf at ENGIE Stadium
Store manager John Doughty didn’t notice Tom at first, due to his ‘laid-back’ and almost ‘messy’ appearance.
‘I didn’t actually recognise him to start off with,’ Doughty said.
Hanks spent ‘some time’ in the store, and he and his son were the last two customers left in the shop by the end of their spree.
The two picked up a beach cricket set, some caps, wicketkeeping gloves, cricket balls and shorts, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Doughty said Hanks was a ‘really nice guy’ and a ‘typical American’ who was loud and animated during the outing.
Hanks can now claim to be a good-luck charm for the Giants, who were underdogs in the match against Hawthorn.
Led by a five-goal haul from the mercurial Jake Stringer and a dynamic running midfield, the Giants brushed off their mounting injury list to claim a 19.8 (122) to 14.11 (95) victory.
‘Often happens in this game but we got what we deserved,’ Mitchell said.
Hanks had plenty to celebrate as the Giants defied the bookies to beat the Hawks
Hanks and his son Truman (left) had another Aussie sporting moment last month when they went shopping for cricket gear in North Sydney
‘I thought they outworked us from the very start of the game.
‘And our numbers around halftime, I think we gave up 35 marks in the second quarter and we just weren’t able to slow them down and get the game on our terms at all in that second quarter in particular, but really the majority of the first half.
‘They made the most of their chances going forward and took the game away from us pretty quickly, really.’
Mitchell’s Hawks, who failed to snag Essendon gun Zach Merrett and are without the injured Will Day, were outclassed in the midfield.
The Giants’ hard running, led by Finn Callaghan (26 disposals, 735 metres gained) and Lachie Whitfield (27 disposals) was notable in a bitter defeat for Hawthorn.
‘We have no excuses to put in that sort of workrate,’ Mitchell said.
