Tom Hanks: 'Happiness is on us'

Tom Hanks refuses to blame other people for his mistakes.

The 55-year-old actor's outlook has changed as he's got older. When he was starting out he never thought he was at fault when things didn't go his way.

Through the years he's learnt to accept his mistakes, and thinks this has made him a better person.

"When you turn 20 or 30 or maybe even 40 you can think that if something bad happens in your life it is caused by somebody else, maybe somebody above," Hanks said.

"But you can't think things like that when you are 50. It all depends on you. There is nobody in the sky that can help you."

His change of heart was in part caused by having children.

Hanks has Colin and Elizabeth with his first wife Samantha and Chester and Truman with his current spouse Rita.

He also recently welcomed his first grandchild and says having someone else to care for completely altered his perspective.

"When I had my first child I began to think about life. You can't go back. So you definitely have to do your best for the new arrival," he told the Italian edition of Flair magazine.

"Happiness is on us. If something goes wrong only you can change the situation."

- AAP