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The actor said he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive while in Australia, where he was set to begin production on a film.
Tom Hanks said he and his wife, Rita Wilson, āwill be tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.āCredit…Noel West for The New York Times
LOS ANGELES ā The actor Tom Hanks said on Wednesday that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, have the coronavirus.
Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson, both 63, are in Australia, where he was set to film a movie about the life of Elvis Presley. āWe felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,ā the Academy Award-winning actor said in a statement. āRita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.ā
He added that he and Ms. Wilson āwill be tested, observed and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires.ā
āNot much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?ā Mr. Hanks said in his statement, which he alsoĀ posted on InstagramĀ accompanied by a photograph of a lone medical glove in a hazardous waste container. āWeāll keep the world posted and updated.ā
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Mr. Hanks is by far the most prominent entertainment figure to say he has the virus and, by going public with the information, instantly becomes the face of an outbreak that has cascaded around the globe.
With the seriousness of the pandemic still being debated in someĀ corners of the media, learning that Mr. Hanks, the star of films like āSaving Private Ryanā and āApollo 13,ā has been stricken may make the situation seem much more tangible to some Americans. At virtually the same time that Mr. Hanks released his statement,Ā the N.B.A. announcedĀ it was suspending its season. Hours before,Ā the N.C.A.A. saidĀ its menās and womenās basketball tournaments would be played without spectators.
Ann Curry, a journalist and former host of NBCās āToday,āĀ said on Twitter: āOk, now we all have someone we love diagnosed with #coronavirus.ā
Other Hollywood stars immediately offered their support for the couple.
āWishing two of the kindest, coolest, most talented people in the world ā¦ā¦@tomhanksā© & @RitaWilson a swift recovery,ā Mia FarrowĀ said on Twitter.
In the movie he was in Australia to film, Mr. Hanks is playing the role of Colonel Tom Parker, Presleyās eccentric manager, who groomed the famous singer for stardom in the 1950s.
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Production on the film, which is being directed by Baz Luhrmann and does not yet have a title, is set to begin on Monday. Warner Bros., the studio behind the movie, has said it spans āover 20 years, from Presleyās rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and the loss of innocence in America.ā
Mr. Luhrmann, an Australian, wrote the script with Craig Pearce, with whom he also wrote āThe Great Gatsbyā and āMoulin Rouge!ā Australia has had more than 120 cases confirmed cases of coronavirus.
āThe health and safety of our company members is always our top priority, and we are taking precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world,ā Warner said in a statement.
Warner has been among the Hollywood studios most affected by the coronavirus epidemic because of its large television production division, which makes more than 80 shows.
Also on Wednesday, Warner confirmed that it had suspended production of āRiverdale,ā a teenage drama based on Archie Comics characters that runs on the CW network, because of the coronavirus. āRiverdaleā films in Vancouver, British Columbia.
āWe have and will continue to take precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world,ā Warner said in its āRiverdaleā statement.
In the United States, the number of cases has surpassed 1,150, and warnings about the safety of mass gatherings has begun to have tangible effects in the entertainment world. Daytime talk shows like āThe Viewā and āLive With Kelly and Ryanā filmedĀ without their usual studio audiencesĀ on Wednesday, and late-night shows based in New York, like āThe Late Show With Stephen Colbertā and āThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,ā announced that they would go without studio audiences starting on Monday.
āThe Ellen DeGeneres Show,ā a Warner production in Burbank, Calif., will also begin taping without a studio audience.
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