LOS ANGELES?When we interviewed Tom Hanks last month, he paid Rita Wilson, actress-producer and his wife since 1988, the supreme compliment by saying, ?I have the hots for her.?

Told about that in a recent press con, Rita laughed and quipped, ?I really made a good choice.?

Hollywood?s power couple has a good track record as producers, too. Two movies they worked on are among the biggest hits in the last 10 years??Mamma Mia!? and ?My Big Fat Greek Wedding.?

A new film, ?My Life in Ruins,? stars ??Greek Wedding? actress Nia Vardalos as a Greek-American tour guide who finds her kefi (Greek for ?zest for life?) in Athens. It is her fourth collaboration with Tom and Rita. Like Nia, Rita is of Greek heritage.

Rita first met Tom when she guested on his TV sitcom, ?Bosom Buddies,? but they didn?t start dating until they were reunited in the 1985 movie, ?Volunteers.? They have two sons, Chester Marlon, 18, and Truman Theodore, 13; and she?s stepmom to his children from a previous marriage, actors Colin and Elizabeth Hanks.

When we recently talked to Tom, he spoke so fondly of you. Tell us about him.

I feel very blessed to be married to an incredibly progressive man. He has never inhibited me from doing anything. He?s very secure. He celebrates other people?s success. That?s my philosophy, too.

You embrace your Greek heritage. How did Tom fit into your world?

If you ask Tom, he would say that he considers himself Hellenic. I like that. When he first met my family, he responded to the fact that everybody was very welcoming to him.

How do you make sure that your family has as normal a life as possible, given that you and Tom are a super couple in Hollywood?

Everybody has a different philosophy on how to raise kids if you?re in this industry. Ours was to protect their privacy... As a parent, your job is to make sure that they have their own identities and accomplishments separate from ours. For instance, we didn?t really walk the red carpet with them. It was just our personal choice. We wanted them to have the opportunity to decide, as they were growing up, if the business was something they liked. Colin is an actor and doing really well. Our other son has done some acting. He may or may not pursue it. You want it to be his choice.

How do you guys keep the marriage going?

First of all, my parents have been married for 58 years, so it helps to have those role models who prove this can work. We?ve been married for 21 years. In Hollywood, that?s big. But listen, Tom and I have a lot in common. People sometimes say, ?I?m done being married.? We really wanted to be married.

Do you do date nights?

We try to do little weekend trips, just the two of us. We definitely do date nights? I have to say this?he makes me laugh. That?s a big part of it. I make him laugh, too. Very early on, before we were married ? we were in New York ? holding hands. We were getting ready to cross the street. He said, ?I just want you to know that you don?t have to change anything about who you are, or what you do, to be with me.? Women like hearing that from a guy.

How did you get the film rights to ?Mamma Mia!??

Tom was shooting something in London and the musical had just opened. I heard about the musical? It had ABBA music so I thought it would be fun. I dragged Tom, my mom, dad and our kids to go see it. Twenty minutes in, I was like, ?Oh no, Tom is going to be really upset? ? But I looked at him and he was smiling.

Thirty minutes in, I said, ?This would make an amazing movie. We?ve got to get it? ? I liked that it involved a couple of generations. I loved that it coincidentally took place in Greece ? It was attractive that the main characters were women and you also had this young girl. I loved the dynamics of that relationship.

Tom told us that when he was filming ?Angels & Demons,? he posed for pictures wearing a Swiss Guard uniform?just for the fun of it. Did you see those pictures?

I did not (laughs). I want copies of those pictures.

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.