As a young man, even if I was going to see a play or a film by myself, I didn't feel like I was alone. There was something that was unfolding up there that brought me into it. And I recognised that. For those two hours, it made me feel like I belonged to something really good.

Next he teamed up with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins's and Richard Piers Rayner's graphic novel Road to Perdition in which he played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son. Tom Hanks's character was less than thrilled about his son's career decision. In Philadelphia he played a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination.

2 billion at the United States box office alone and over $8. As of 2012 Hanks' films have grossed over $4.