Rita Wilson brought a special guest with her to Nashville for the 2022 CMA Fest this week. Her husband, actor Tom Hanks, joined Wilson at Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park Thursday morning. In exclusive PopCulture.com photos, the Elvis actor is seen enjoying Wilson’s performance in the sunshine.
Wilson, 65, took the stage at 11 a.m. Thursday to perform a half-hour set. After the show, she shared a picture with her band on Instagram. “Thank you [CMA Fest] for being so awesome,” Wilson wrote. “Loved playing for you in the sunshine and joy and love you all brought. Nashville! I love you!!! And I love my band!!!!”
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The singer’s new release is “Count Your Blessings,” a duet with Vince Gill. Last year, she released a trio of EPs titled Trilogy I, II, and III, with three songs on each release. She also performed the song “Because Love” for the movie Love is Love is Love. Earlier this week, she celebrated the 10th anniversary of her first album, AM/FM. Earlier this year, she appeared in an episode of the Yellowstone prequel series 1883. Hanks also appeared in the flashback in the 1883 premiere.
Although Hanks, 65, did not perform in Nashville, his latest movie has ties to country music. He stars in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, a new biopic about Country Music Hall of Famer Elvis Presley, as Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Elvis had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month and hits theaters on June 23. The movie also stars Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Austin Butler as Presley.
Parker is an against-type role for Hanks, who has played likable characters in his most recent films. Hanks wore heavy makeup and prosthetics to transform into Presley’s controversial manager. At Cannes, Hanks told reporters Parker was a “mercurial and brilliant man who at the same time made sure he lined his own pockets.”
“I’m not interested in playing a bad guy just for the sake of, ‘Before I kill you, Mr. Bond, perhaps you’d like a tour of my installations.’ That’s okay, I get it, but that’s for other stuff,” Hanks said, reports PEOPLE. “What [director] Baz [Luhrmann] tantalized me with was, here was a guy who saw an opportunity to manifest a once-in-a-lifetime talent into a cultural force.” Hanks also stars in Disney’s new Pinocchio movie, which hits Disney+ on Sept. 8.
