Tom Hanks new “Corona” friend

We know that Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson were earlier diagnosed with Coronavirus but are now recovering in the States. So what is this “Corona” friend?

To put your mind at ease, he has not been re-infected with the virus but actually has befriended an eight-year-old from Australia because he has been bullied for his name.

And it just so happens that his name is Corona.

Corona DeVries hails from Queensland, and first wrote to Wilson and his wife when they were diagnosed with the virus while working on a film in Australia.  The local media picked up the story then and being in touch with DeVries learned that he is being bullied simply because of sharing the same name with the dreaded virus, which is now a pandemic that has paralyzed the world.

The kid said that he wrote to Tom because he knows what it’s like to feel down and he wanted to wish them well. And being the good man that he is, Tom, who is the voice of “Woody” the sheriff in the “Toy Story” movies responded by sending DeVries a typewritten letter and the Corona-branded typewriter that he had brought with him and used while filming then down in Australia. Hanks addressed the note to his “Friend Corona” and expressed his gratitude for having written to him and expressed concern about their health.

The actor also wrote: “I thought this typewriter would suit you… Ask a grown-up how it works. And use it to write me back.”

He even included some self-addressed envelopes, so DeVries’ can easily respond. We’re loving this as the art of snail mail seems to be lost now in this electronic generation.

And at the bottom of his letter, Hanks added the handwritten postscript “You got a friend in me!” — which we know is the name of the “Toy Story” theme song.

As reported, Tom and his wife Rita Wilson were in quarantine for a while but were released last month. The couple was in pre-production in Australia for the Baz Luhrmann film about Elvis Presley.

Hanks is slated to play Colonel Tom Parker, the singer’s manager.