In a video that played at Monday's Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Tom Hanks told the nominees to keep their speeches short and creative, and then added, "See you at the Oscars."
Now the Academy has made it official that Hanks – a two-time winner and member of the AMPAS board of governors – will indeed be at the Kodak Theater on February 27, naming him as a presenter on the 83rd Academy Awards show.
Hanks is the ninth presenter to be named. The lineup so far consists of Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Marisa Tomei and Oprah Winfrey, along with two of this year's nominees, Jeff Bridges and Annette Bening.
Hanks, who presented the Best Picture award at last year's Oscar show, did not appear in a live-action film in 2010. He supplied the voice of Woody in "Toy Story 3," and also narrated and served as executive producer on the award-winning HBO miniseries "The Pacific," and directed and starred in the upcoming "Larry Crowne."
He won back-to-back Best Actor awards for 1993's "Philadelphia" and 1994's "Forrest Gump." Although his acceptance speeches both years were widely acclaimed, nominees who saw his videotaped plea for brevity on Monday may be advised to ignore the fact that both of Hanks' speeches went well past the 45-second limit.
(Photo by Matt Petit/AMPAS)
