Tom Hanks Sang to Me on My Birthday

What happened next is the part I’ll never forget

I don’t usually put stories like this behind a paywall.

But this one feels different.

It starts in Alaska—with a voicemail that changed my plans.

It leads to a birthday I’ll never forget, standing on set while Tom Hanks sang to me.

And it ends with something I didn’t expect at all—

a handwritten letter that reminded me what it means to be human.

It moves through a birthday I’ll never forget, standing on set while Tom Hanks sang to me.

It holds a tragedy our film community endured together.

And it ends with a handwritten letter that arrived in my mailbox weeks later — a letter that reminded me what it means to be beautifully human.

I think it was August 2018. I had just boarded a train in Alaska. Alaska was the last state I needed to see before I had officially seen all 50. On a whim, I booked a flight and wound up there. I had planned to stay at least a month.

I had just stepped off the train in Talkeetna — which, yes, is called the climbing town with a drinking problem — and my cell service came back. There was a voicemail.

It was the Art Director I’d worked with before.

“Hi Jolene. I’m wondering if you want to be the on-set painter for the Tom Hanks movie coming to town. It starts next week.”

Now. I had only been in Alaska for a week.

But Tom Hanks?

Of course I was going back.

I boarded the train as fast as I could to get back to Pittsburgh — but not before I had one more little adventure with my newly found Russian friend through Talkeetna and up to Denali National Park.

I started the show right after Labor Day. Tom Hanks would be arriving on 27 September.

My birthday.

That morning, I got into the shower and, as I was getting ready for work, I looked up at the ceiling and said to my late husband, “You better show up for me today.”

Little did I know what he had in store.

I went to work and everyone had that feeling. You know the one. The “Oh my gosh, Tom Hanks is coming in” feeling. And he was playing Mister Rogers. Which felt kind of surreal.

As a kid, I didn’t really watch Mister Rogers. There were too many other things happening in our household for me to relax and watch him. If I did, I don’t remember. But I knew who he was. I knew what he stood for.

We were filming in a house on location. I was in a back bedroom aging down a picture frame. On set you always wear a walkie, so there’s constant chatter in your ear.

I was about to walk out into the living room to hang a piece of artwork when someone said over the walkie, “Tell Jolene happy birthday.”

I’m standing in the hallway when I hear Tom Hanks say, “Jolene? Jolene? Who’s Jolene?”

I had to step into the room anyway. My face was red as a beet. I popped my head around the corner and gave a small wave.

And he started singing “Jolene” to me on set.

Then everyone chimed in.

It was one of the most amazing days of my life.