Tom Hanks Pays Tribute to ‘Bosom Buddies’ Costar Peter Scolari on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’: “We Were Molecularly Connected”

On Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, actor Tom Hanks paid tribute to his late friend and Bosom Buddies costar Peter Scolari, who died of cancer last month.

Hanks and Scolari starred in the two-season ABC comedy from 1980 to 1982, playing two men who dressed in drag in order to afford their apartment’s rent. During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hanks recalled meeting Scolari and immediately striking up a close friendship.

“I don’t know how many people truly do change your lives when you cross paths with them,” the actor said. “We met, picked up the scripts, and started screwing around. I actually thought, this is it. This is how it works. This is like a hand inside a glove.”

As Hanks put it: “We were molecularly connected in a way that we started speaking the same language.”

According to the actor, the duo’s chemistry meant that wrangling them behind-the-scenes of Bosom Buddies could sometimes be difficult. He shared one story about a director yelling at them during a long rehearsal for improvising on set, leading to Scolari jokingly offering to take over as director.

The two actors formed a lifelong friendship — Scolari later had a cameo role in Hanks’ 1996 directorial debut That Thing You Do!, and they costarred in the 2013 Broadway play Lucky Guy. To honor his late friend, Hanks played one of his favorite Bosom Buddies clips while visibly holding back tears.

“Peter has a lovely family,” he said. “His wife Tracy’s got absolutely great kids and we lost him to the emperor of all maladies. So thanks for letting us show that.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weeknights at 11:35/10:35c on ABC. Scroll up to watch a clip from last night’s episode.

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