Tom Hanks has insisted Nepo babies need to have a “drive” to be successful.
The 66-year-old actor is father to sons Chet, 32, and Truman, 27, with his wife Rita Wilson, as well as Colin, 45, and Elizabeth, 40, from his previous marriage to Samantha Lewes, all of whom work in the entertainment field.
And after recently claiming that showbiz is the “family business,” he told Entertainment Tonight on Monday that while he might be able to bring them into the industry, they had to work to make things “stick.”
This comes after he posed with son Truman on the red carpet while boxing his film A Man Called Otto. Ms. Rita is producing and Truman has a role.
Nepo talk: Tom Hanks has insisted Nepo babies need to have “a drive” to be successful. Seen with wife Rita and son Truman at the premiere of Man Called Otto this week
He said: “The shoe industry is a family business. The auto industry is a family business. I think my kids are all like Renaissance artists, you know? [They] are good at what they choose. But the question here is, can you stick it?’
And then he said passion, drive, talent and luck really are the ingredients you need.
“You have to have a passion, you have to have a drive. And yes, our household existed in the corporate city of Los Angeles. Success is a combination of talent, perseverance, drive and a good deal of luck.”
The Cast Away star added that when it was suggested that one of his sons play the younger version of his character in a film it “made sense” but the decision was entirely up to the little one.
A family effort: This comes after he posed with son Truman on the red carpet while bagging his film A Man Called Otto. Ms. Rita is producing and Truman has a role
He told ET, “Now no doubt we had a director who said, ‘Well why can’t your kid play you from a young age?’ And that would make sense because we’re so much alike,” he noted.
“But the final analysis is that the person has to show up on the day and hit the mark and tell the truth. Only he can make that decision. It was up to him.’
He again told Today on Tuesday that it wasn’t his idea to cast Truman in his new film.
His new film: Hanks in A Man Called Otto with Mariana Treviano
“Truman, who’s either burdened or blessed to resemble me at the same age as him, and Marc Forster, our fabulous director, just say, ‘You know what? “Because they never look right. Could Truman possibly do that?” he told Savannah Guthrie TODAY in an interview dated March 10.
He said he did not see his son in action.
“I just have to deal with what I’m doing as old Otto, but then there was young Otto,” he said. “But at the same time, I remember carpooling him when he was 7 years old. So, you know, that’s what comes to mind.’
Truman has credit as the German driver in his father’s 2020 film News of the World.
His mother is Rita Wilson.
Another son: Tom and Rita are also parents to Chet, 32
Hanks said he was nervous about Truman taking on the role but knew he would have to face the task at hand alone.
He also spoke of being known as Mr Nice Guy.
“I wish I had lived a life where people would really fear me. But I tried to get in, how angry. I don’t know, I’m just making everyone laugh,” he added.
He also said he now meditates, which he learned from Jerry Seinfeld.
“He says, ‘No, you have to. I’ve been doing this since college,” he said while doing his Seinfeld impression. “He hooked me up with his teacher, and it’s a weird, simple, life-changing thing. And should everyone do it? Sure, why not?’