--- title: Stephen Colbert: Tom Hanks Asks the Big Questions description: Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks ponder the mysteries of the universe. canonical: https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-01T14:19:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:25:28.021Z og:title: Watch Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks Ponder the Universe og:description: Get ready to have your mind blown og:url: https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/ 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 Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks Ponder the Universe twitter:description: Get ready to have your mind blown twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks Ponder the Mysteries of the Universe  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 1, 2015 2:19 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 1, 2015 2:19 PM UTC Stars — they’re just like us. They lay outside, stare up at the sky and contemplate life’s most thought-provoking questions. Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks tackled a few of those vast mysteries during “Big Questions with Even Bigger Stars” on Wednesday’s episode of _The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_. The host kicked things off with something we’ve all wondered about. “Hey Tom, why do you think bad things happen to good people?” Colbert asked. “Maybe it’s because God’s really old, and his eyes are going,” Tom answered. The discussion only became more universe-altering as the sketch went on. The duo pondered queries such as, “What do you think Santa does during the summer?” and “What’s the best idea for a movie that’s never been made?” While it’s unclear whether any of these questions will ever truly be resolved, one thing is certain: we’re definitely on board for _In the Line of Fur_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/"},"headline":"Watch Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks Ponder the Mysteries of the Universe","datePublished":"2015-10-01T14:19:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:25:28.021Z","description":"Get ready to have your mind blown","url":"https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","entertainment","Tom Hanks","TV","the late show","Late Night Television","the late show with stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4057443/stephen-colbert-tom-hanks-the-big-questions/","name":"Watch Stephen Colbert and Tom Hanks Ponder the Mysteries of the Universe"}}]}] ```