Tom Hanks shared a photo of his plasma donation for COVID-19 vaccine

Tom Hanks has made a career out of entertaining and educating the masses. From shining a light on the AIDS epidemic in Philadelphia, to giving lessons in American history through films like Apollo 13, The Post and Forrest Gump, to exploring the devastation of war in Saving Private Ryan and Bridge of Spies, to bringing real life entertainment heroes like Walt Disney and Fred Rogers to the big screen, Hanks has been making learning fun. In his latest role as an actual victim of COVID-19, Hanks is showing us what plasma looks like. Ew, but also, interesting.Hanks and wife Rita Wilson won the competition that nobody wanted to enter and became the first big-name celebrities to go public with testing positive for COVID-19. Now the pair are helping others by donating their blood and plasma to be used in research to help find a cure for the deadly virus. Hanks shared a picture from his appointment last week showing his donation. “Here’s last week's bag of plasma,” wrote Hanks. “Such a bag!  After the paperwork, it’s as easy as taking a nap.”[video_embed id='1946143']Tom Hanks befriends bullied boy named 'Corona'[/video_embed]

Here’s last week's bag of plasma. Such a bag! After the paperwork, it’s as easy as taking a nap. Thanks @arimoin and UCLA. Hanx pic.twitter.com/15WblGiVwe

— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) April 29, 2020

Hanks made the donation at UCLA’s hospital and worked with Dr. Anne Rimoin, an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and professor. Hanks and Wilson have been supporting Rimoin in her ongoing efforts to provide regular testing and antibody screening for healthcare workers in the Los Angeles area. Rimoin has also been featured on CNN as an expert in COVID-19 and has called for more resources to be provided to medical research into finding a vaccine.

Thanks to @holmescnn having me on @cnni to discuss the latest on #COVID19. https://t.co/gzoDtLgH1R

— Dr. Anne Rimoin, PhD, MPH????? (@arimoin) April 25, 2020

Hanks announced on March 11 that he and Wilson had both tested positive for COVID-19. The couple were in Australia where Hanks was filming the new Baz Luhrmann biopic on Elvis Presley. Hanks was set to play Presley’s longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker opposite Austin Butler, who will portray The King. “We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches,” wrote Hanks. “Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”Hanks updated fans on March 17, revealing that after a week of self-isolating, the pair were still feeling sick, but thankfully their symptoms had not worsened. On March 28, Hanks tweeted that the couple were healthy enough to return to the United States. “We’re home now and, like the rest of America, we carry on with sheltering in place and social distancing,” tweeted Hanks.Since returning to the US, Hanks has kept busy, hosting the first Saturday Night Live episode filmed entirely from the homes of the cast members. The actor also sent a sweet message and a typewriter to a young boy who was being bullied for having the name Corona.Hanks also appeared on the April 18 episode of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me. The Oscar winner said he and Wilson were ready to do whatever they could to use their experience with COVID-19 to help others. "We have not only been approached, we have said, 'Do you want our blood? Can we give plasma?'" said Hanks. "And in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the 'Hank-ccine.'" For that, we say thanks to T. Hanks.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Grandson makes TikTok video with grandma even while physical distancing[/video_embed]