Tom Hanks Defends His Son’s Casting in New Movie ‘A Man Called Otto’: ‘It’s a Family Business’

As the conversation about nepotism grows in Hollywood, Hollywood star Tom Hanks offers his insight into family favoritism and the role it played in getting his son a role in his new film, A Man Called Otto.

“The thing that doesn’t change no matter what — no matter who, what your last name is — is whether it works or not… That’s the problem every time one of us goes off and tries to tell a new story or that is, creating something has a beginning, a middle, or an end. It doesn’t matter what our last names are,” he told The Sun.

The new film, which stars Hanks as Otto Anderson, is being produced by Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. Her son Truman plays a young Otto.

“We have to do the work to make this a true and authentic experience for the audience. And that’s a much bigger task than worrying about whether someone’s going to like it… try to hurt us or not,” he added.

Tom Hanks explained that all of his children are “creative” and the industry is a “family business.” (Karwai Tang/WireImage)

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“Look, this is a family business,” Hanks said.

“We’ve been doing this for ages, all our kids grew up with it. We have four kids, they’re all very creative,” he said of the two children he shares with Wilson, Chet and Truman, as well as his son Colin and daughter Elizabeth Ann from his first marriage to Samantha Lewes.

Truman is the youngest son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. (Pablo Cuadra/FilmMagic)

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“They’re all involved in some kind of storytelling,” Hanks added of his children.

“If we were a plumbing business or if we ran, you know, the flower shop down the street, the whole family would eventually put in time, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.”

Hanks has worked with his eldest son, Colin, on several occasions, but this will be the first project he’s done with Truman.

This is the first on-camera role for Truman Hanks, who has worked behind the scenes on other films. (Borja B. Hojas/WireImage)

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Hanks said he was intrigued by the role of Otto in part because of his personality.

“I know exactly how to be not only moody, but always right. If there’s anyone in this film who’s 100% right… it’s Otto. And I like playing the guy who’s always right,” Hanks said of his character.

Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer.

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