Over the years, Tom Hanks has earned himself the label of “America’s Dad,” but his four lucky kids have gotten to actually experience his guidance, wisdom and fatherly presence from adolescence to adulthood, and they’ve all grown into themselves over the years despite the pressures of being raised by one of Hollywood’s most famous faces. Hanks shares his two eldest children, Colin and Elizabeth, with his first wife, Samantha Lewes. His younger two, Chet and Truman, he had with his now-wife Rita Wilson.
While the “America’s Dad” label certainly sets the fatherhood bar rather high for the actor, he’s been sure to admit that he isn’t perfect, especially when considering the impact that his own parents’ divorce had on him. “I try to, but I made every mistake,” he shared when he was asked if he parents differently than his mom and dad on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast. “You know, you scar the kids somehow in the same exact way,” he shared. “And as they get older, you come back around and [say], ‘Hey, can I talk about what a knothead I was with you for all those years?’ And [they say], ‘Yeah, sure, dad. Yeah, I’ve been kind of waiting for this. Why don’t you unload.’”
Here, get to know Tom Hanks’s four kids.
Colin Hanks: From ‘Roswell’ to Emmy-nominated actor
Colin Hanks, 2023Kevin Winter/Getty Images
If Tom’s eldest, Colin, 47, looks familiar to you, it’s probably because you’ve seen him on screen. Not only has he had a successful TV career, making a name for himself in the late ‘90s/early 2000s series Roswell, appearing in shows like Dexter and The Good Guys and earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the hit series Fargo, but Colin Hanks is also a director.
Colin, who has two daughters of his own, has dished on what his famous dad and step-mom are like as grandparents—and revealed that his daughters pay no mind to their fame. “They don’t care about him at all,” he told UsWeekly back in 2019, saying that their hangouts are “like every other playdate with a grandparent. The grandparent gives them stuff they shouldn’t be having, and the grandparents don’t listen to what the parents are saying they should be doing.”
Elizabeth Hanks’s life outside the spotlight
Elizabeth Hanks, 2020Amy Sussman/Getty Images
While Tom’s daughter, Elizabeth, 42, appeared alongside her dad on screen a few times as a youngster, she took a different path from her famous dad. A writer who publishes under the name E.A. Hanks, you may have caught some of her work in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times and countless other publications. Her memoir, The 10, is set to be released on April 8.
Chet Hanks on acting, advice from dad and ‘Running Point’
Chet Hanks, 2025Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Clarins
Chet Hanks, 34, Tom’s first son with Rita Wilson, has dipped his toes in every industry from music to television to film, and if you’ve spent any time on social media over the last few years, you’ve likely stumbled across his, at times, controversial public persona. Perhaps you’ve caught him in shows like Shameless, Empire and Your Honor over the years, and he’s currently making a splash in the all-new Netflix series Running Point with Kate Hudson.
As for whether his dad has ever imparted any acting wisdom on him, Chet told USA Today, “The biggest piece of advice my dad ever gave me on acting was simply just show up on time, be prepared and be nice to everybody, have good manners and treat [people] with kindness. And just doing that goes a long way.”
Truman Hanks: Behind the scenes and on-screen with his father
Truman Hanks, 2022Pablo Cuadra/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Tom’s youngest son, Truman, 29, is also making himself known in the entertainment industry both in front of the camera and behind it. In 2022, he played the young version of his dad’s character in A Man Called Otto, but much of his work in the industry is behind the scenes as part of the production crew.
