Tom Hanks Refuses To Back Down From Casting His Own Son In New Movie ‘A Man Called Otto’

The Hollywood star Tom Hanks is standing by casting his own son in his latest movie A Man Called Otto as conversations about nepotism in Hollywood continue. 

But first, check out a trailer for A Man Called Otto, which hit theaters today.

Hanks Stands By Casting Choice

“The thing that doesn’t change, no matter what happens — no matter who, what your last name is — is whether it works or not. . . . That’s the issue any time any of us go off and try to tell a fresh story or create something that is, has a beginning, a middle or an end,” Hanks said, according to Fox News. “Doesn’t matter what our last names are.” 

Hanks stars in the new movie as the title character Otto Anderson, and he’s also producing it with his wife Rita Wilson. Their 27 year-old son Truman Hanks plays the younger version of Otto in the film.

“We have to do the work in order to make that a true and authentic experience for the audience,” Hanks continued. “And that’s a much bigger task than worrying about whether anybody is going to like… try to scathe us or not.”

“Look, this is a family business,” he added. “This is what we’ve been doing forever, it’s what all of our kids grew up in. We have four kids, they’re all very creative.”

Hanks Doubles Down

Hanks and Wilson are the parents of two sons, Chet and Truman, and the two-time Oscar winning actor is also a father son Colin and daughter Elizabeth Ann from his previous marriage to Samantha Lewes. Colin is an Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actor and has acted with his father multiple times onscreen, but this is Truman’s first time acting alongside the former Forrest Gump star. 

“They are all involved in some brand of storytelling,” Hanks said of his children. “If we were a plumbing supply business, or if we ran, you know, the floral shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some point, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.”

Check out Hanks’ full comments on this in the video below.

Related: Tim Allen Opens Up About Friendship With Tom Hanks – ‘He’s A Very Different Person Than Me’

Kate Hudson Defends Herself From Nepotism Claims

This comes at a time when nepotism in Hollywood is being called out in a big way. The Hollywood star Kate Hudson, who is the daughter of Oscar-winner Goldie Hawn, spoke out last month to defend herself from claims that she benefited from nepotism. 

“The nepotism thing, I mean — I don’t really care,” she told The Independent. “I look at my kids and we’re a storytelling family. It’s definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it.”

“I actually think there are other industries where it’s [more common],” Hudson continued. “Maybe modeling? I see it in business way more than I see it in Hollywood. Sometimes I’ve been in business meetings where I’m like, ‘Wait, whose child is this? Like, this person knows nothing!'”

Related: Kate Hudson Announces She Is Raising Her Daughter ‘Genderless’

Hudson concluded by saying, “I don’t care where you come from, or what your relationship to the business is—if you work hard and you kill it, it doesn’t matter.”

There are few industries that are more difficult to get into than entertainment, as there are only a small number of acting roles in comparison to the multitude of people who want them. Though Hanks’ son could be an extremely talented actor, it can’t be denied that he likely would not have been cast in this role were he not his father’s son.