Tom Hanks Reflects on His Career Ahead of Receiving Cecil B. DeMille Award at Golden Globe Awards

Tom Hanks Reflects on His Career Ahead of Receiving Cecil B. DeMille Award at Golden Globe Awards

Tom Hanks has had a quite the career in Hollywood, and his hard work is being honored at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday evening.

The 63-year-old actor will receive the Cecil B. DeMille award, which celebrates a star’s “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment,” according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The prestigious honor was named after the first recipient of the award, who directed The King of Kings, The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth.

Ahead of the highly anticipated evening, Hanks sat down with Today‘s Savannah Guthrie and reflected on his acting career.

“There’s an undeniable power that you just have to say, ‘Hey, I did work that was good enough that ended up touching people on a very personal level,’ ” the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood star said of his achievements.

“Because I think we all remember what we were going through — what our circumstances [were] — was it sort of like what we needed at the time when we saw films that actually made us feel better about who we are,” Hanks added.

RELATED: How Tom Hanks Channeled ‘the Feeling of Fred Rogers’ with Only a Wig and Eyebrows

Steve Granitz/WireImage
Steve Granitz/WireImage

The four-time Golden Globes winner, as well as two-time Oscar winner and seven-time Emmy winner, is also nominated tonight for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Hanks’ Hollywood career spans hit films including Big, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away. He is just one of two actors in history to win back-to-back Oscars for Best Actor, the first of which he won for Philadelphia in 1994 and the second for his role in Forrest Gump in 1995.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its decision to honor Hanks with the award in September.

RELATED: How Tom Hanks Transformed to Become Mister Rogers — and Why He First Turned Down the Role

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic;/Sony Pictures
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic;/Sony Pictures

“For more than three decades, he’s captivated audiences with rich and playful characters that we’ve grown to love and admire,” the organization’s president Lorenzo Soria said in a statement. “As compelling as he is on the silver screen, he’s equally so behind the camera as a writer, producer and director.”

Soria added, “We’re honored to include Mr. Hanks with such luminaries as Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, and Barbra Streisand to name a few.”

Jeff Bridges was honored with the award in 2019, while Oprah Winfrey was the 2018 recipient and was preceded by Meryl Streep in 2017.

The 77th Annual Golden Globes air on Sunday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.