18-Year-Old Tom Hanks Wrote A Charming Letter Asking To Be Discovered

Getting your big break as an actress or actor is no easy feat, even when you're as talented as Tom Hanks.

While it's hard to imagine Hanks as anyone other than a successful actor, when he was just 18 years old he wrote a letter to George Roy Hill, the Academy Award-winning director of “The Sting,” asking to be discovered.

NPR recently brought the letter to light in a discussion about some of the historical pieces residing in the vault of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

Here is the amazing letter that will make you fall in love with Tom Hanks all over again:

Dear Mr. Hill, Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film 'The Sting,' starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should 'discover' me. Now, right away I know what you are thinking: 'Who is this kid?' and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me. Let's work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and -- BANGO -- I am a star. Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and -- BANGO -- I am a star. All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford 'Bob'. Respectfully submitted, Your Pal Forever, Thomas J. Hanks

I guess it worked?

Citations: Tom Hanks Begged For A Break (TODAY)