Tom Hanks and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, participated in one of Orthodox Christianity's most solemn ceremonies on Friday, carrying the Epitaphios during Good Friday services at a Los Angeles church as Greek communities worldwide observed Easter.

The Hollywood couple joined fellow Greek-American actors Nia Vardalos and Melina Kanakaredes in bearing the ornately decorated bier during the traditional evening procession, according to ekathimerini. The Epitaphios, which represents the funeral bier of Christ, is carried through church aisles and sometimes through surrounding streets as part of the Orthodox Good Friday liturgy.

Wilson, whose father was Greek Orthodox, has long maintained close ties to her Hellenic heritage and frequently participates in Greek cultural and religious events. Hanks converted to Greek Orthodoxy before their marriage in 1988 and became a Greek citizen in 2020, a status Greece extends to non-Greek spouses of Greek nationals.

Easter on Different Calendars

This year's Orthodox Easter fell on April 20, nearly two weeks after Western Christian denominations celebrated the holiday on April 5. The date discrepancy stems from the Orthodox Church's continued use of the Julian calendar for calculating Easter, while most Western churches adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century.

The divergence means Orthodox and Western Easter occasionally align but more often fall weeks apart, creating what some theologians have called an unnecessary division within Christianity. Efforts to establish a common Easter date have been discussed for decades but have yet to gain sufficient consensus among church leaders.

For diaspora communities in the United States, the later date often means Orthodox Easter receives less public attention, occurring after the commercial and cultural momentum around the Western celebration has already passed. Yet Greek Orthodox parishes across America reported robust attendance for Holy Week services, with many communities hosting their traditional midnight Resurrection liturgy on Saturday evening.

Maintaining Heritage in Hollywood

The participation of prominent Greek-American entertainers in religious observances reflects a broader pattern within the diaspora of balancing assimilation with cultural preservation. Wilson has been particularly vocal about maintaining Greek traditions, frequently sharing aspects of Greek culture with American audiences and supporting Greek causes.

Vardalos, best known for writing and starring in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," has built much of her career around Greek-American identity and the immigrant experience. Kanakaredes, who starred in "CSI: NY" and "Providence," has similarly emphasized her Greek heritage throughout her public life.

The Good Friday procession represents one of the most visually striking elements of Orthodox Holy Week. Worshippers process behind the flower-adorned Epitaphios while singing hymns that recount Christ's burial, creating what participants describe as a profound communal experience of grief and anticipation before the joy of Easter Sunday.

Greek Orthodox communities in major American cities typically organize elaborate Holy Week observances, with some parishes conducting services entirely in Greek while others blend Greek and English to accommodate younger generations less fluent in the ancestral language. The Los Angeles area, home to one of the largest Greek-American populations in the United States, hosts multiple parishes that draw both Greek immigrants and their American-born descendants.

The presence of celebrities at such services occasionally draws media attention to traditions that might otherwise remain unfamiliar to broader American audiences, offering a window into the religious practices of one of the country's established immigrant communities.