Tom Hanks

Hanks was seen with Ron Howard in his next character, which was as Commander and Astronaut Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 (1995). The film was generally praised by critics and also by the performances of the whole cast (which included Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris), and Kathleen Quinlan. The film received nominations for the Academy Awards nine times, and it was awarded two. In the following year, Hanks starred in Disney/Pixar's computer-animated film Toy Story (1995), as the voice of Sheriff Woody. A year later, Hanks made his directorial debut with the musical comedy That Thing You Do! (1996) which follows the rise and decline of a 1960s pop group and also a role of a music producer. Richard Schickel of Time magazine described his performance as "charming" and the majority of critics agreed that Hanks acting performance secured his place in the best romantic comedy actors of his time.