Tom Hanks Crashes Wedding Bridal Party, Officiates Another Couple’s Wedding

Actor Tom Hanks is one of the more prolific actors in film, but apparently, he’s been keeping very busy exploring a whole new side lane as a wedding official! The Pittsburgh area got several big thrills this week after Hanks popped up to crash to area weddings: the first instance happened early in the week, as Hanks made headlines for crashing a bridal party that was doing a photoshoot in downtown Pittsburgh. Next, Hanks popped up in Pittsburgh’s Bellevue area where he actually officiated a couple’s wedding, after being contacted by the bride! 

WTAE TV in Pittsburgh highlighted both of Tom Hanks’ wedding appearances:

Hanks reportedly stumbled upon the bridal party outside the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh:

“We all lost it,” Photographer Rachel Rowland told reporters. “The bridesmaids shuffled out of the limo, and he posed with photos and congratulated everyone, and then as fast as he popped in, he was gone. It was just so sweet and fun!”

“I wrote a letter. I knew Tom Hanks was an ordained minister. I thought that may be the perfect opportunity to ask him,” bride Krisna Poznik said.

Krisna said he was as wonderful as everyone says he is, down to earth, sweet and very kind.

If nothing else, Tom Hanks has given several families shining memories they will be able to hold onto for a lifetime. However, in doing his good deeds, Hanks has also given a massive boost in exposure to the photographers that were working the weddings (@rachelrowland, @krisnap) and walked away with pictures of Tom Hanks in their respective portfolios. 

As stated in the news reports, Tom Hanks is currently in the Pittsburgh area shooting a film called A Man Called Otto. Scenes for the film were shot in Ambridge, Beaver County, on Merchant Street. 

A Man Called Otto is a comedic drama from director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, James Bond: Quantum of Solace). It is an adaptation of the novel A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, which was previously made into a 2015 Swedish film of the same name, by Hannes Holm. The synopsis for Forster’s film reads: “A grumpy retiree set in his ways finds an unlikely friendship with his lovely new neighbors.” Rachel Keller (Legion) and Cameron Britton (Mindhunter) co-star.

Here’s the premise of the original story: 

“Ove is a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him ‘the bitter neighbour from hell.’ However, behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heart-warming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.”