Kind king Tom Hanks has returned to Australia to continue filming the Baz Luhrmann-helmed Elvis Presley biopic that was put on hold earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
You may remember back in March, Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, both tested positive for coronavirus at the precipice of the world turning completely upside down.
Hanks is now officially back in the country. The actor was papped getting off a private jet (donning a face mask, of course) at Coolangatta Airport in Queensland on Tuesday evening.
(Now, I want to preface this by saying that in a world run by really awful, sinister celebrities, Tom Hanks is the shining antidote to all that grossness. I love that man so much, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m running a smear campaign against him. I am not, however, going to pretend that celebrities qualifying for special treatment doesn’t totally suck balls.)
Hanks will undertake two weeks in mandatory hotel quarantine, though he has reportedly been granted an exemption to quarantine in more luxury dwellings.
Earlier today, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was asked in parliament on Wednesday as to whether Hanks was required to complete his hotel quarantine, to which she revealed that he had been granted an exception.
Palaszczuk suggested that Hanks has been allowed to quarantine in a private residence, under the entertainment industry’s approved coronavirus-safe plan.
“The industry plan for COVID in relation to the screen industry is a plan that has been approved, just like there is for the resources industry, just like there is for the agriculture industry,” she said. “Under that plan, they have to stay in the place for two weeks, just like everybody else.
“They will have random checks, as is my understanding, by police.”
Opposition leader Deb Frecklington was quick to criticise the premier for “blatant double standards”.
“The double standards are shocking – it shouldn’t be one rule for VIPs and celebrities and another rule for everyone else,” Frecklington said. “Everyday Australians don’t get to pick and choose where they quarantine and neither should celebrities.
“Today we’ve tragically heard about how four children in NSW are unable to visit their father dying of cancer at the Prince Charles Hospital.
“Labor are quick to rollout the red carpet for Danni Minogue and Tom Hanks but won’t lift a finger to help this family see their dying father.”
