Tom Hanks Is Back in Quarantine

Actor is back in Australia, trying to finish filming Elvis Presley biopic
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2020 8:04 AM CDT
Tom Hanks Back in Quarantine in Australia
This Nov. 17, 2019 photo shows Tom Hanks posing for a portrait in New York.   (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Tom Hanks is back in coronavirus quarantine in Australia but don't worry, he's not sick. The actor is undergoing a mandatory two-week quarantine after flying in to finish filming Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic, due out in November 2021. Hanks—who plays manager Colonel Parker opposite Austin Butler's Presley, per 7News—was filming the movie in Queensland when he and his wife became ill with coronavirus in March. They were quarantined at Gold Coast University Hospital before their eventual release and return to the US. Now, the actor and crew are occupying several floors of a Gold Coast hotel that is not one of the state's designated quarantine hotels, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. They will be quarantined under a plan specific to the film industry, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Wednesday.

The production is covering the costs, but not everyone is on board. Leader of the Queensland Opposition Deb Frecklington suggested the crew should be restricted to a state designated quarantine hotel, where the bill would be covered by taxpayers. "Everyday Australians don't get to pick and choose where they quarantine and neither should celebrities," she said. "The double standards are shocking." There was an uproar over quarantine exemptions last week as people were seen lounging around a pool at a golf club rented out by the Queensland Australian Football League ahead of its grand final, per the Brisbane Times. But Health Minister Steven Miles said Hanks, who arrived by private jet on Tuesday, would not be allowed to roam around his hotel. Indeed, Palaszczuk said he would be subject to random police checks, just like everyone else. (More Tom Hanks stories.)

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