--- title: Tom Hanks Ask Zoltar Machine For 'Big' Favor Video, Colbert description: The 'Inferno' actor and late show host Stephen Colbert reenacted a meeting with the famous fortune-telling machine and a modern-day Hanks. canonical: https://time.com/4544497/tom-hanks-colbert-zoltar-video/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-25T16:04:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:59.589Z og:title: Watch Tom Hanks Ask a 'Big' Favor of Zoltar Once More og:description: Hanks and Stephen Colbert recreate a scene with the fortune-telling machine. og:url: https://time.com/4544497/tom-hanks-colbert-zoltar-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Tom Hanks Ask a 'Big' Favor of Zoltar Once More twitter:description: Hanks and Stephen Colbert recreate a scene with the fortune-telling machine. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Tom Hanks Ask the Fortune-Telling Zoltar for a _Big_ Favor Once More > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3afca867-4de5-4b5d-9e10-a4db7737faba&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2016 4:04 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2016 4:04 PM UTC Getting older isn’t easy—not even for a [mega-watt star like Tom Hanks](http://time.com/4323037/inferno-trailer-tom-hanks-felicity-jones/?iid=sr-link1). In a charming skit on Stephen Colbert’s _Late Show_ Monday night, Hanks took a look back at his cinematic past (in this case, [the classic movie _Big_](http://time.com/4543418/tom-hanks-big-rap/?iid=sr-link1)) and sought out the means to turn back time in a conversation with the [fortune-telling machine Zoltar](http://techland.time.com/2012/09/25/finally-you-can-buy-your-very-own-zoltar-machine-for-9000/?iid=sr-link1), played by a straight-faced Colbert, of course. “What can the all-knowing do for you?” the heavily-bearded Colbert-as-Zoltar asks once he has been discovered and brought to life in a dusty storeroom. “Well Zoltar, last time we met, I was a 13-year-old boy who wanted to be older,” Hanks begins, outlining the plot of _Big_. “And I woke up the next morning as a 30-year-old man.” “But don’t you remember the heart-warming lesson you learned last time?” Zoltar intones. “Yeah. I learned that being older isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, a lesson I’m constantly learning every day at my age,” Hanks says, a little peevishly. After some haggling (the _Inferno_ actor’s eternal soul is not, it turns out, for sale), he agrees to take a look at Zoltar’s _Big 2_ screenplay in exchange for the gift of youth. 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