Tom Hanks Talks Son Truman’s Acting Debut in A Man Called Otto

Tom Hanks is set to star in the upcoming A Man Named Otto, a film that will also feature his son Truman Hanks in a role as a younger version of Tom.

Speaking during a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Hanks recounted how his son was cast in the film. Hanks notes that Truman normally doesn’t like to be in front of the camera, but director Marc Forster insisted on meeting him.

“He’s an artist, he’s going to be a cinematographer,” Hanks said. “He’s been carrying around a camera since he was 13-years-old and developing his own film. Marc Forster, who’s the director … he says ‘Well you know, we’re going to have to cast a young version of you, it’s too bad you have two kids that are too old … but what about your youngest? Can I meet him?’ and I said ‘Well, he doesn’t want to be an actor,’ and he said ‘I don’t care, can I meet him? Maybe I can talk him into doing it, because then I won’t have to audition a bunch of people who look like you.’ So we did, and our DNA actually matches … look, I thought he was extraordinary.”

Hanks went on to note that he’s always told his kids that working in Hollywood is great, but also mentioned that his son’s passions lie more behind the camera than in front of it. “I’ve always said to the kids, ‘It’s great work if you can get it but you’ve got to make it stick’. But his passion is shaping the shot rather than being in the shot.”

So far, Truman Hanks has worked on a variety of projects, including the Marvel Studios film Black Widow in a digital utility role, as well as Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, where Truman was a director of photography assistant. Up next for Truman will be a short film, Indigo, which he acts as cinematographer on.