Tom Hanks shares the most embarrassing moment of his career

Tom Hanks has revealed the most embarrassing moment of his glittering three-decade career that he still kicks himself over.

The legendary actor, 67, was one of the showbiz stars to grace The Graham Norton Show for last night's (1 December) episode.

Hanks fondly looked back on his time in the industry on the BBC show while sat alongside Cher, Julia Roberts and Timothée Chalamet.

He has some pretty big movies under his belt - including Cast Away, Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, The Da Vinci Code and Saving Private Ryan.

We all know and love some of the star's most popular films, which Hanks is very proud to have lent his acting skills to.

But although we always see a very polished performance when we tune in from home or head to the cinema, he revealed that things aren't always so seamless behind-the-scenes.

During the interview with Norton, Hanks recalled the making of Ron Howard's iconic space drama Apollo 13, which was released back in 1995.

It's the one where he utters the notorious line, which is arguably one of the most famous film quotes of all time: "Houston, we have a problem."

Universal Pictures

The film rehashes the real-life story of astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, who run into trouble while en route to the Moon.

While Hanks was shooting the scene where he says the memorable line, he explained that he royally showed himself up while trying to sell the fact that he was supposedly in serious trouble in space.

Sharing the details of the cringe-worthiest moment of his career, the actor told Norton: "Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton and I were recreating the serious moment right after ‘Houston we have a problem,’ and were going up and down on grips making us look weightless."

Obviously, the trio were pretty used to it by this point in filming - but they weren't as accustomed to having an intimidating audience member watching their every move.

Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

NASA astronaut Lovell, who commanded the real Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, was visiting the cast and crew on set that day.

It's safe to say Hanks was pretty mortified that he was being pulled on strings like a puppet as the heroic spaceman, who he was playing in the movie, watched from below.

The actor added: "We looked ridiculous and when I looked down, there was Jim looking up at us.

"I have never felt more stupid in my life."

Hanks also revealed he that he had a head start on his co-stars, as he had got some 'space walk' training in throughout childhood.

He explained he had an above ground pool which he filled up with water before donning a 'cheap mask and a brick in the back of his swimsuit'.

The Toy Story star recalled how he would then lie back to float while treading water to simulate a space walk.

Topics: BBC, Graham Norton, Space, TV and Film, The Graham Norton Show, Tom Hanks, Celebrity

Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

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