“I’m sure there were people who knew exactly what was going on and didn’t say anything,” Tom Hanks told NPR this week in an interview that touched on everything from his new book, “Uncommon Type,” to recent revelations about the alleged sexual abuse and harassment by Hollywood insiders such as producer Harvey Weinstein and director James Toback.

The “Forrest Gump” and “Sully” actor revealed he had no direct knowledge himself of such behavior. “The thing is, I’ve been involved in sets where there were shenanigans — but not sexual predatory behavior. That’s the difference,” he said.

[lz_ndn video=33134038]

The two-time Academy Award winner said it is important for not just victims to speak up in the future, but for those with partial or full knowledge of such predatory behavior to stand up as well.

“Let’s not pretend no one’s ever done it. But there is a type of moralistic gray area that’s going to come into [the questions] ‘Did you aid it?’ ‘Did you abet it?’ ‘Did you warn people against it?'” Hanks said.

The actor added that the ethics of Hollywood are in need of change, but he sees a brighter future for his industry and others riddled with abuses of power, “Those days, I think, are close to being — well, I don’t know if they’ll ever be over,” the 61-year-old artist said, “but there will be some recompense for anybody who is on the other side of it. I think the best thing that anybody who is very brave can say, the moment that it happens, is, ‘I have just been sexually harassed in the workplace, and that’s against the law.'”

(photo credit, homepage image: Sully Japan Premiere Red Carpet: Tom Hanks, CC BY 2.0, by Dick Thomas Johnson; photo credit, article image: Sully Japan Premiere Red Carpet: Tom Hanks, CC BY 2.0, by Dick Thomas Johnson)