Tim Allen, 72, describes his 30-year friendship with Tom Hanks—starting when they were cast in the original Toy Story—and shares the funny (and telling) story of Hanks eating french fries off his plate.
When Tim Allen talks about Tom Hanks, it doesn’t sound like celebrity camaraderie. It sounds like a decades-long bond that shows up in the small moments—like the french fries.
In a cover story for Us Weekly. the 72-year-old actor says he and Hanks feel “completely… connected as two individuals. ” adding. “Almost like we’re related.” Allen has voiced Buzz Lightyear alongside Hanks’ Woody since 1995’s Toy Story. and he says that friendship has grown and shifted over time—while keeping the core familiarity intact.
Before they ever became co-stars as Buzz and Woody. Allen remembers landing in the entertainment world after years of traveling as a “successful road comic.” When he was offered a TV version of Turner and Hooch—an idea inspired by Hanks’ 1989 movie of the same name—Allen says he questioned why the project was even happening.
“I said, ‘Didn’t Hanks already do this?’” Allen recalls. He adds that he didn’t see a path there because “comics don’t do that,” meaning taking someone else’s work and reworking it into a new version.
Allen says that he declined to step into Hanks’ shoes for that TV show. It didn’t block their eventual connection—because the two crossed paths for real when they were both cast in the original Toy Story.
“The Last Man Standing alum” remembers their first meeting with a simple image: “All I remember is he’s kind of a very independent little kid.” Allen contrasts their backgrounds, saying he came from a “very large family,” while Hanks “did not come from a very large family.”
That independence still pops up in the way Allen tells their story now—especially in the anecdote he can’t let go of. Allen says he has “never forgotten how annoyed I was that he ate french fries off my plate.” He insists he wasn’t trying to be funny when he confronted Hanks.
“I wasn’t being funny. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he goes, ‘Eating some of your fries?’” Allen recalls. “And I was actually very angry, and then he started laughing.”
In Allen’s telling, the humor didn’t mean Hanks missed the point. Allen says he pointed out that Hanks didn’t seem to notice that Allen “doesn’t like this,” but Hanks was clearly aware he was pushing a button.
“He goes, ‘Yeah, I can see that.’ And just kept on it,” Allen says, laughing at the memory. “And that’s the type of guy he is.”
What keeps them close, Allen says, is the way their interests and values line up—on and off the set. “We relate on so many levels that I don’t relate with anybody else. ” he tells Us Weekly. describing how it sometimes feels like he “really know[s] this guy.” He even notes that sometimes they can look similar while standing together.
Allen also connects their friendship to shared reading habits and long conversations. “We read deep books,” he says. He points to specific interests: he has “a very strong interest in philosophy and metaphysics,” which he says Hanks shares. Allen adds that Hanks “loves warfare. ” and he emphasizes their mutual respect for the military. saying they are “honorable to our vets and the military.”.
Playing Buzz to Hanks’ Woody has only deepened the bond. Allen says the characters have become iconic for fans worldwide, and that their success has stayed personal to him. “Whatever these characters have done for [fans], maybe did for me, in a certain time in my life,” Allen says. He compares it to the role of Walt Disney’s original dynamic duo: “Mickey and Donald Duck.”.
Allen says he doesn’t “intend or want to take the place of those two characters. ” but he believes audiences recognize something essential in the Toy Story partnership. He mentions some of his favorite moments with Hanks—including the surprises that come with performing in a way that lands with the crowd.
He also credits a classic line—“To infinity and beyond”—for its lasting resonance. “Whatever these characters have done for [fans]… ” Allen repeats, framing how the phrase keeps showing up because it connects with people.
He wraps the point with a moment he says still amazes him when he gets it right onstage: “Tom taught me this trick, have them shut their eyes and turn around, and then we do Woody and Buzz, and to see that look on their face [is magic],” Allen concludes.
Despite the french fry incident and all the years since their first Toy Story, Allen says the two have remained both coworkers and friends—now teaming up again for their fifth Toy Story film. Toy Story 5 hits theaters on Friday, June 19.
Tim Allen Tom Hanks Toy Story 5 Buzz Lightyear Woody Us Weekly Home Improvement Turner and Hooch french fries Toy Story