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Tom Hanks begged for a break when he was just 18: 'You should discover me'

Tom Hanks' charm, humor and affability are just a few of the reasons he's such a beloved actor. But he had all of those traits before he became a star.
/ Source: TODAY

Tom Hanks' charm, humor and affability are just a few of the reasons he's such a beloved actor. But as it turns out, he had a lock on all of those traits long before he became a box-office star.

Tom Hanks
Actor Tom Hanks attends SeriousFun Children's Network's New York City Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center on March 2, 2015 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

NPR recently highlighted a few Hollywood treasures hidden in the vaults of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills, and included among the scripts and scraps from famous films was a priceless letter from an 18-year-old Hanks.

The then-aspiring actor wrote to the Oscar-winning director of "The Sting," George Roy Hill, and asked to be discovered — even though he was "a nobody" who wasn't "built like a Greek God" and couldn't "even grow a mustache.

Tom Hanks
June 27, 1980.Getty Images

Behold:

Dear Mr. Hill,

Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should "discover" me. Now, right away I know what you are thinking: 'Who is this kid?' and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me.

Let's work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford "Bob".

Respectfully submitted,

Your Pal Forever,

Thomas J. Hanks

BANGO! We love it.

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