Tom Hanks HITS BACK on nepotism claims amid children’s acting success

Tom Hanks has hit back at claims his children are the beneficiaries of nepotism, as he insisted they were all just getting into the “family business”.

Speaking to Reuters on The Sun, Hanks drew comparisons to small businesses run by families, where everyone in the household is expected to contribute.

His defense comes amid the recent “Nepo Babies” furore surrounding the offspring of Hollywood stars who rose to fame with a leg off their famous parents.

Hitting back: Tom Hanks has hit back at claims his children are the beneficiaries of nepotism as he insisted they all join the ‘family business’ (Hanks pictured in 2020 with LR with Samantha Bryant, son Colin, wife Rita Wilson, daughter Elizabeth, and sons Chet and Truman)

Hanks, whose son Truman stars in his latest film A Man Called Otto, told the outlet: “Look, this is a family business. We’ve been doing this forever.

“All of our children grew up with it. We have four children, they are all very creative, they are all involved in some kind of storytelling, and whether we were a plumbing supply business or whether we were running the flower shop down the road, the whole family would eventually invest time, even if it ended up being of the year would only be an inventory.’

“What doesn’t change, no matter what, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not,” he said. “That’s the problem when one of us goes out and tries to tell a new story or create something that has a beginning, a middle and an end.”

Hanks also stressed that his children couldn’t attribute their success to their last name, which ultimately stemmed from the quality of their product.

Family: In all, Hanks has four children, all of whom have gotten into the acting business (pictured with wife Rita Wilson and son Truman at a photocall for A Man Called Otto in London last month).

‘It doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work to make that a real and authentic experience for the audience, and that’s a much bigger task than worrying about whether or not someone is going to try to hurt us.

In all, Hanks has four children, all of whom have entered the acting business.

With his ex-wife Samantha Lewes he has daughter Elizabeth, 40, who has acted in several of her father’s films, and son Colin, 45, who has had notable success with numerous titles.

Chet Hanks and his brother Truman Hanks, whose mother is Hanks’ second wife Rita Wilson, have also entered show business.

Behind the scenes: Truman, 27, has worked behind the scenes on films like Black Widow and West Side Story and plays a younger version of his father’s role in Man Called Otto; Truman last month with his father at a photo op of A Man Called Otto in Los Angeles

Chet is a rapper and actor with numerous credits, including a role in his father’s 2020 film Greyhound and the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Truman has worked behind the scenes in films such as Black Widow and West Side Story, and plays a younger version of his father’s role in Man Called Otto.

Tom previously revealed that he had told Truman not to rely on his famous last name while working on the film.

Famous family: Chet is a rapper and actor with numerous credits, including a role in his father’s 2020 film Greyhound and the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; pictured 2012

“Truman plays my character’s younger self, but he’s not the actor in the family — he’s an artist turned cinematographer,” Hanks said on The Graham Norton Show.

“We talked a lot about it and it was all his decision, but I said to him, ‘Whatever your last name is, you have to hit the mark.’ Not everyone is made for it, but he did a great job and I thought he was exceptional.”

The term Nepo babies was coined online and is used to describe celebrity offspring who easily end up in the world of showbiz, bolstered by their parents’ famous names.

Lily-Rose Depp, Maude Apatow and many others were among those featured on the cover of New York Magazine’s The Year of the Nepo Baby.

The sensational article was published in December and featured other children of the rich and famous who got lucky in the genetic lottery.

Celebrity nepotism is nothing new, but the “nepo-baby” slur is becoming a popular way to taunt them.

Controversy: Lily-Rose Depp, Maude Apatow and a host of others were among those featured on the cover of New York Magazine’s The Year of the Nepo Baby cover; Colin Hanks with his family in 2021