Actor Tom Hanks said he is willing to do almost anything to travel to space.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Hanks, 67, said he would take on various roles, including cleaning toilets and cooking, if it guaranteed him a spot on a space shuttle to the moon.
"I would like to be the guy in charge of serving food and making jokes to and from the moon," Hanks said, according to the Daily Mail. "If there was room, I would be the guy that cleans up, makes jokes, tells stories and keeps everybody entertained. I'm your man. I would probably sign up right now.
"That might be a good idea. I'll do all the work. I'll clean the toilet. I'll serve the food. I'll fold the clothes. I'll stow the gear. That way the others could be free to do other stuff."
Hanks was 13 when Neil Armstrong, part of NASA's Apollo 11 mission, made history by stepping onto the Moon's surface on July 20, 1969 — a memory Hanks revisited with The Telegraph.
"I walked around the day of July 20, 1969, very cognizant that I was alive at a time when the history of humankind shifted," he said. "We were now the generation that was alive when we landed a man on the moon. I felt that same way about going to the moon as people did about building the Brooklyn Bridge or the Lindbergh flight."
It has been reported that Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos initially approached Hanks, whose estimated net worth stands at $400 million, to be first person to join him on the New Shepherd. But Hanks turned down the offer due to the exorbitant price.
"It costs like $28 million or something like that," Hanks said during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in November 2021. "And I'm doing good, Jimmy — I'm doing good — but I ain't paying $28 million."
Hanks continued to dismiss the idea of flying, jokingly suggesting that it's something everyone could do.
"You know what? We could simulate the experience of going to space right now," he said, mimicking shaking in a rocket while in his chair. "I don't need to spend 28 million bucks to do that."
During the interview, Hanks admitted to Kimmel that he would consider a space flight if it were free.
"I would do it on occasion just in order to experience the joy — pretending I'm a billionaire," he said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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