In the new movie A Man Called Otto, the titular character is played by not one, but two Hankses. Tom Hanks stars as cranky widower named Otto, who develops an unexpected friendship with his new neighbor. His son, Truman Hanks, plays a younger version of Otto in flashbacks where the widower's wife is still alive.
Unlike his siblings, Truman isn't a professional actor, but he ended up in the film thanks to his genetically predisposed resemblance to a young Tom. The 66-year-old Oscar-winner has four children total: Colin and Elizabeth Hanks, with his first wife, Samantha Lewes, and Chet and Truman with current wife Rita Wilson. With Truman sharing his Otto role, all four of Hanks' kids have now tried their hand at acting. Read on to find out more about the star's youngest and to see what he and Tom have said about working together.
READ THIS NEXT: The Worst Tom Hanks Movie of All Time, According to Critics.
Truman takes on the role of young Otto.
Fred Duval / ShutterstockMarc Forster, the director of A Man Called Otto, told Yahoo! that it took a little convincing to get Truman to accept the role.
"Truman truly looks like when Tom was in the ‘80s, doing Splash and Big and all these movies, but he's not an actor," Forster told Yahoo!. "Truman wants to be a DOP [director of photography], so we met and he said, ‘Look, I'm not sure about this', but I was able to convince him and make him feel welcome and warm."
Forster added that Truman had good chemistry with his scene partner. "The character Sonya, who is played by Rachel Keller, in the scenes together, the two of them have just a natural connection. I did a screen test of both of them, and said, this is going to work. And I felt very confident that we could do something really special here."
Truman usually works behind the scenes.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty ImagesAs Forster mentioned, Truman wants to be a director of photography, and he's already worked behind the scenes on several films. According to his IMDb, his credits include working in camera utility on Tom's 2020 movie News of the World, in digital utility on Black Widow in 2021, and as a director of photography assistant on the 2021 remake of West Side Story. He's also a film loader on the upcoming movie Asteroid City, which will be released this year.
As for acting, other than A Man Called Otto, Truman is credited in a small role in News of World as "German rider."
For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Truman has an impression of his dad he's been doing for years.
Ga Fullner / ShutterstockTruman told People in a recent interview that when he does an impression of Tom, it's not what people expect.
"Whenever I do my imitation of him, people are like, 'That's not what he sounds like,'" the 27-year-old said. "But I have to convey to you the way I hear him. Everyone else hears, 'Houston we have a problem'; I hear this grumpy old man who's mad at the DVD player."
Tom said working with Truman was "special."
John Phillips/Getty Images for Sony PicturesTom also spoke with People and opened up about what it was like collaborating with Truman.
"Without a doubt, it's special because, you know, I changed his diapers," the 66-year-old star said. "But you get past that right away because you gotta show up, and you gotta hit the marks, and you gotta do it on time, and you gotta be right there." He continued, "I know what that takes, and he does too. It's a little different when it's the whole shebang. He was cast for a very specific reason. We resemble each other, he's not a stranger, and he knows what the pressure is, and he's gotta do it."
He also joked about their resemblance in a different interview. "Truman, who is either burdened or blessed by resembling myself at the same age as him," he told Today, "and Marc Forster, our fabulous director, just says, ‘You know what? It’s always so fake to get somebody else to come in and play you, ‘cause they never look right. Could maybe Truman do this?'"
