After that, Hanks named Stephen Spielberg and Ron Howard, but they came almost as an afterthought. For Hanks, who has made iconic movies with female directors, including Sleepless In Seattle, A League Of Their Own and 2020’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, it was the women who came first.

The actor has always supported women in film. In fact, Hanks became involved in A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, a movie in which he plays celebrated American children’s entertainer Fred Rogers, after reading an article about female directors in The New York Times.

He reached out to Heller, who was on that list for her work directing Bel Powley in the coming of age movie Diary Of A Teenage Girl, and the rest is history. Hanks’ performance as Rogers will go down as one of the best of his career, and he is all but confirmed to pick up an Oscar nomination later this month.

When he wasn’t spotlighting female directors in his Golden Globes speech for the Cecil B DeMille award, which recognises the inimitable career of a member of the entertainment industry, Hanks was visibly emotional. The actor blamed it on the fact that he was recovering from a cold, but Hanks was frequently moved to tears.

“A man is blessed,” Hanks said, blinking back tears, at one point in his speech, “with a family who is sitting down the front like that. A wife who has taught me what love is, five kids who are braver and stronger than their old man is…. I can’t tell you what your love means to me.”

Golden Globes 2020: Tom Hanks spotlights female directors in year when none were nominated