For many people, the face (or voice) of Tom Hanks was a defining part of their childhood. Whether you were charmed by the actor as the titular character in Forrest Gump or were comforted by his turn as Woody the cowboy in Toy Story, it is safe to say that Hanks has reached countless people with his performances.

The actor started out in a genre that he would then stray from – horror. He appeared in He Knows You’re Alone in 1980, a slasher movie that would allow Hanks his first proper acting role.

However, from there, he proved to be much more suited to family-friendly titles like Splash, The Money Pit, Big, Dragnet, and Turner & Hooch. Proving himself in various comedies, Hanks began to become well-known in Hollywood. Equipped with a good guy persona, he was everywhere.

The early 1990s was even more fruitful, however, with Hanks winning ‘Best Actor’ two years in a row at the Academy Awards. The first was for Philadelphia, in which he played a man with AIDS who sets out to sue his homophobic boss. It highlighted that Hanks was capable of delivering in less comedic roles and was equally talented at performing in serious dramas.

However, the following year, he blended both his knack for drama and his comedic prowess to play Forrest Gump, which remains one of his most well-known roles.

Since then, Hanks has appeared in everything from Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile to Elvis and A Man Called Otto, cementing himself as Hollywood royalty. While anyone could say that Hanks works hard – how else could he appear in so many acclaimed films and win various significant accolades?– the actor has admitted that he once starred in a movie that hardly felt like work at all.

In 1992, Hanks was cast in Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own, which also featured actors like Madonna, Geena Davis, and Bill Pullman. The sports comedy emerged when Hanks’ star power was rising rapidly, and its success only helped to push him further into the mainstream.

However, in an interview that aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, the actor admitted that he was treated incredibly well. “I drank beer, ate hot dogs and played baseball all summer long,” he said.

“It was very hard to get back into real life after spending that kind of summer. Every now and again, I’d get together and say some lines with some of, you know, the girls, but all the rest of the time, I was just laying around in the grass.”

He continued, “It wasn’t even like working it at all. I can’t believe they paid me to do that.” Hanks got very very lucky; not only was his experience of shooting the film a dream, but A League of Their Own ended up being incredibly successful at the box office, too. Made on a budget of $40million, the movie grossed $132.4m, proving to be a hit with cinema-goers. Hanks then appeared in many more classic films, becoming a Hollywood star.