Hanks won back-to-back Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995.

Why Toy Story 5 star Tom Hanks doesn’t think there needs to be a Best Voice Acting Oscar category

Hanks won back-to-back Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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June 11, 2026 9:33 p.m. ET

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Tom Hanks and Woody from 'Toy Story'. Credit:

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Disney/Pixar

- Tom Hanks said in an interview that he doesn't think the Oscars need a separate category for voice actors.

- Hanks, who's won two Academy Awards, plays Woody in the animated *Toy Story* films.

- "The truth is, just a voice actor can win Best Actor," the *Big* star said.

Tom Hanks doesn't support a separate category for voice work at the Oscars.

"I think they have enough categories," Hanks told Gold Derby of the Academy Awards in an interview published Tuesday. "The truth is, just a voice actor can win Best Actor. The judgment is any performance that moved you, so that’s a quality."

And Hanks should know. The *Big *star took home back-to-back trophies in 1994 and 1995, for his starring roles in *Philadelphia* and *Forrest Gump*. He's been nominated four other times. He's also been an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that hands out the little gold men.

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"We have talked about, for example, Andy Serkis for whatnot. Even though he does not appear as Andy Serkis, he gives all the raw material to it," Hanks said of the actor known for playing creatures in franchises including *The Lord of the Rings* and *Planet of the Apes*. "And there's been people who have been close to being nominated that do not appear on camera. That could happen to a pure vocal actor."

To confirm, Hanks was asked if he preferred that Oscars voters were simply more open-minded.

"If they are moved, that means that they are moved by a human being's performance," Hanks said. "That's all the requirement."

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Tom Hanks' brother Jim says he's 'immensely grateful' to voice Woody from 'Toy Story' when his big brother isn't available

For all his work in live-action films, Hanks is known for his animated projects, too. He's voiced the character Woody in the* Toy Story* movies since they debuted in 1995.

The blockbuster franchise features the voice of Hanks, as well as such stars as Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, as they portray a group of living toys.

Tom Hanks promotes 'Toy Story 5'.

Emma McIntyre/Getty

"Over the course of five movies, we've gone back to the same confines, and it's the same geometry," he told ** in April. "The mic is here, the stand is there, the team is there. They might have some props or what have you, but if you could have taken me at any point in all of the recording of all of these, I experienced the same anxiety, pressure, physical demands of it. So there actually is a familiar sameness."

*Toy Story 5 *arrives in theaters June 19.

- Animated Movies

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Animated”