Chet Hanks is opening up about being the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
The 31-year-old just launched his new YouTube channel, insisting he’s “blessed” and wouldn’t want to change anything, but said it’s a “double-edged sword” because fame can be “destructive.”
Hanks shared how he told then-president George W. Bush when asked what it was like growing up with famous parents at age 14, “There’s a lot of advantages but sometimes it can be pretty weird.”
He added, “I got to do a lot of cool s**t that a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do. I got to travel the world, stay in nice hotels, fly on private planes and I’m very blessed for that. I wouldn’t change my situation.”
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Explaining how people are “infatuated” with fame and that it creates a lot of “jealousy,” Hanks told viewers: “My experience was even more complicated because on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn’t even famous.
“I was just the son of somebody famous so I hadn’t even done anything to deserve any sort of recognition and that created a lot of contempt.”
He pointed out his dad was beloved, but people assumed he’d be “arrogant” and “entitled” even though he wasn’t a “spoiled brat,” adding that he had to work and earn everything.
Hanks also said if he wanted money his dad would get him to do things like wash his car.
He continued of growing up, “People would make up their minds about me before they even got the chance to know me and it was extremely hard to break down their walls,” admitting this led him to get a “chip” on his shoulder and to “walk around with a lot of anger,” with him eventually creating a “hard exterior” so people “wouldn’t f**k with me.”
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Hanks added, “People kinda did f**k with me a lot growing up. It was never to my face. It was always behind my back in the forms of gossip and s**t talking,” insisting some people were more interested in his dad than him which resulted in him developing some major trust issues.
He then told the younger version of himself that these kids were just “jealous” of him because he had what they wanted.
Hanks insisted it took him a long time to realize that “people’s perception of you is only a reflection of themselves,” but today he is “grateful” and that he’s now “changed” his “life” and is no longer on the “self-destructive” road of dealing with his “anger” by “partying [with] drugs [and] alcohol.”
He later added that “the truth” about people’s perception of him growing up “also made me ashamed,” saying “anger” was a “mask” for all the “hurt” he was suffering.
Hanks told the camera, “I did feel worthless, I did feel like I didn’t deserve to be in my position [or] feel like I would ever amount to anything.”
See more in the clip above.
