Tom Hanks Had No Idea His 'Toy Story' Character Has a Last Name

Even Tom Hanks hasn't learned everything there is to know about his Toy Story character.

More than three decades after the Oscar-winning actor first voiced Woody, he was shocked to learn during an interview with BBC Radio 1 published on Wednesday, June 17, that the iconic Pixar character does, in fact, have a last name.

"By the way, I only recently discovered that Woody has a surname. Are you aware that Woody has a surname?" BBC film critic Ali Plumb asked Hanks, who responded, "I had no idea."

Hanks guessed that Woody's last name might actually just be "The Sheriff," at which point Plumb revealed that the character's full name is Woody Pride.

"Double twist," Plumb continued. "Jessie's full name is Jessica Jane Pride. Which…"

At this point, Hanks' co-star, Buzz Lightyear voice actor Tim Allen, chimed in, "Wait a minute. I'd heard this, that they might be related." Hanks wasn't hearing the suggestion that Woody and Jessie might actually be siblings, however, exclaiming, "No! Distant cousins, please. Please!"

After more than 30 years playing Woody, Hanks was shocked to know that he still had more to learn about his cowboy character. "How did they find this out? I play the guy [and] didn't realize I had a surname," the actor, 69, joked.

Toy Story fans had long debated Woody's possible surname before Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich ultimately settled the score in 2009. "Woody's actual full name is 'Woody Pride,' and has been since the earliest days of developing the original Toy Story," Unkrich wrote on Twitter at the time, as per BuzzFeed.

Toy Story 5 debuts in theaters on Friday, June 19. "The toys are back and this time, it's Toy meets Tech," according to the film's official logline. "Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the gang's jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad, a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie."

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 5:41 AM.