Tom Hanks HITS BACK at nepotism claims amid acting success of children

Tom Hanks responded to claims that his children were beneficiaries of nepotism, as he insisted that they were all just getting into the “family business.”

Talking with Reuters via The SunHanks drew comparisons to small, family-run businesses where everyone in the household was expected to contribute.

His defense came amid the recent ‘nepo baby’ uproar surrounding the children of Hollywood stars who have risen to fame with the help of their famous parents.

Hanks, whose son Truman appears in his latest film A Man Called Otto, told the outlet: ‘Look, this is a family business. This is what we have been doing forever.

“It’s what all of our kids grew up doing. We have four kids, they’re all very creative, they’re all involved in some kind of storytelling, and if we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the flower shop down the street, the whole family would dedicate time at some point, even if it was just an inventory at the end of the year.’

“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 any time any of us try to tell a new story or create something that has a beginning, middle, and end.”

Hanks also emphasized that his children couldn’t attribute their success to their last names, which ultimately came down to the quality of their product.

It doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work to make it a true 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 total, Hanks has four children, all of whom have entered the acting business.

With ex-wife Samantha Lewes, he has a daughter Elizabeth, 40, who has appeared in several of her father’s films, and a son Colin, 45, who has enjoyed considerable success with numerous titles to his credit.

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

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 on movies like 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 told Truman not to trust his famous last name when working on the film.

“Truman plays the younger me of my character, but he’s not the actor in the family, he’s an artist and he’s going to be a cinematographer,” Hanks said on The Graham Norton Show.

“We talked about it a lot and it was all her choice, but I told her, ‘It doesn’t matter what your last name is, you’re going to have to hit the mark.'” Not everyone is cut out for that, but he did a magnificent job and I thought it was extraordinary.

The term nepo babies was coined online and is used to describe the children of celebrities who easily land in show business, shielded by their parents’ famous names.

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

The article that caused the furor was published in December and featured other children of the rich and famous who were lucky in the genetic lottery.

Celebrity nepotism is nothing new, but the insult ‘nepo baby’ has become increasingly popular as a shorthand way of ridiculing it.