Acting is a dream job for many; however, the coveted career doesn’t come without sacrifice. This is especially true for those who reach the level of success that Tom Hanks has achieved. One of the biggest sacrifices movie stars make is in time with their families. Because they’re away from home so often for filming, media tours, and other commitments, it’s not uncommon for their spouses and children to report feeling the strain. Chet Hanks, son of Hollywood icon Tom Hanks, says he had this type of childhood.
In a video posted to the rapper’s YouTube channel, Hanks recalls what it was like to be the child of a celebrity. He discusses his peers considering him “arrogant, entitled, and spoiled,” and how his father’s absence worsened the situation. “I didn’t have a strong male role model to tell me … ‘Bro, f–k these people. They are just jealous of you.'”
Hanks says that being the son of Tom Hanks led to people “making up their minds” about him before truly getting to know him. “‘You have all these things that they want, so they are trying to f–ing throw their shade at you so you can feel [bad] about yourself because they are jealous. I needed to hear that,” he says. “I didn’t have anyone to tell me that. This is me now telling the younger version of myself what I needed to hear then.”
Though he doesn’t deny his privileged childhood, he says that it resulted in resentment from those less fortunate. “There’s a lot of advantages, but sometimes it can be pretty weird. I got to do a lot of cool s–t that a lot of people don’t get to do,” he admits. “I got to travel the world, stay in nice hotels, fly on private planes, and I’m very blessed for that.”
Tom Hanks Shares Fatherly Advice With His Son
Chet Hanks clearly has a less than positive view of his father. His other children, however, appear not to share the sentiment. On the contrary, Tom Hanks’ eldest child, Colin Hanks, recently shared the fatherly advice he received from the Forrest Gump star.
“While [life] may go fast in the rearview mirror and it may feel like it’s gone too quick, or sometimes maybe it feels like it goes too painstakingly slow, life is long, and there’s a lot of time to be able to do the things that you want to do and the things that you need to do.”
Colin Hanks says that his father inspires a never-say-die attitude in his children. “It’s not something my dad said but it reminded me of him. The idea that you can’t be great at the start, but you’ve got to start to be great. That idea of just taking your time, doing the work and really putting the time in, for whatever it may be. Whether it’s your career, your family or your friendships, just putting that plan in and making that effort, makes all the difference.”
