Sorry, Tom Hanks, but what was that, that just came out of your mouth!? The typically-respectable Forrest Gump actor accidentally swore on Good Morning America this morning (October 19, 2012) when he slipped into character and just couldn’t help himself from swearing.

Hanks was on the show chatting to host Elizabeth Vargas about his forthcoming movie Cloud Atlas, when she asked him to speak in the accent that he uses in the movie. Just seconds after explaining that the character swears a lot, he slipped into the role and out slipped the F-bomb! Ever the gentleman, Tom was quick to apologize and managed to make light of the matter, without acting as though it didn’t matter. “Man, oh man!” said Hanks, after covering his mouth with his hand. “I slipped into a brand of acting. I have never done that before, I want to apologize to all the kids in America that are watching this right now and let me tell you,” he joked, “next time I’m on this show, there will be a seven-second delay… I blame the staff!” At least Hanks could avoid taking some of the responsibility for the slip-up – after all, it wasn’t him swearing, it was the character!

Cloud Atlas is scheduled for release on October 26, 2012 in the USA, meaning that Hanks has at least another week of promotion for the film ahead of him. Just another week to focus on not swearing on live TV again, then.