Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s son Chet Hanks felt the weight of growing up in his famous parents’ shadows.
“Bro, I felt worthless,” Chet, 35, recalled on the Wednesday, July 8, episode of Joel Madden’s “Artist Friendly” podcast. “People ask me, ‘What was it like for you growing up?’ They have an idea in their head like, … ‘Ding ding ding, Jeeves, please bring in my croissants.’ You know what I mean? That wasn’t it, dude. It was, like, just feeling worthless.”
Tom, 70, and Wilson, 69, have been married since 1988, going on to welcome sons Chet and Truman, 30. (Tom is also the father of son Colin, 48, and daughter Elizabeth, 44, whom he shared with late ex-wife Samantha Lewes.)
For Chet, he’s long been candid about the difficulties of being raised by two mega-stars.
“This is where it can drive you insane is that nobody believes that your life isn’t, ‘Ding ding ding, Jeeves, please come in with the croissants,’” he said on Wednesday, mimicking a call to a fictional butler. “You could be like, ‘Yo ,that’s not my life at all. I don’t live like that,’ and they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’”
While Chet would admittedly want to speak his truth, he found the counter-remarks often fell “on deaf ears.”
“You know how they say pressure makes pressure makes diamonds? Pressure also busts pipes,” the Running Point actor quipped. “I’ve definitely I’ve had some pipes busted, like you can snap and then you have to recollect yourself over and over and over again. Snapping and then recollecting yourself. It’s a process and it’s a cycle over and over and over again until the diamond is formed.”
Madden, 47, shares two kids with wife Nicole Richie, subsequently asking Chet for advice about raising kids in the “shadow” of two Hollywood parents.
“Well, really what it is is just someone else’s identity,” Chet acknowledged. “I don’t know about your kids or anything, but I think it could be common for like your son or whatever if a complete stranger meets him. Their first thought isn’t going to be, ‘Who’s this guy? Who are you?’ Their first thought, if they know who he is, is just you. They’re just imagining Joel, so getting to know your son … is all in contrast to you.”
Even still, Chet has a close-knit bond with his famous folks. Tom and Wilson even fully support Chet’s musical and onscreen pursuits.
“The Surreal Life is a different kind of show. It’s not messy and negative,” Chet previously told Us Weekly in 2024 of joining the MTV reality TV show.. “It’s more about personal growth and relationships with people and vulnerability. It’s a completely different type of reality TV. I had full support in doing it.”
