Tom Hanks weighs in on the nepotism debate in Hollywood: ‘last names never matter’

Tom Hanks has recently shared his views about nepotism in Hollywood while promoting his new movie A Man Called Otto.

In a new interview with Reuters via Independent, the Cast Away star hit back at nepo criticism, as he also defended his youngest son Truman, who also starred in comedy adaptation.

“Look, this is a family business,” said the Finch actor.

Tom continued, “This is what we’ve been doing forever. It’s what all of our kids grew up in.”

“If we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist 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,” explained the 66-year-old.

The Terminal star believed that last name never matters, it’s the quality of the work that counts.

“The thing that doesn’t change no matter what happens, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not. That’s the issue anytime any of us go off and try to tell a fresh story or create something that has a beginning and a middle and an end,” stated Tom.

The Forrest Gump actor further said, “Doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work in order to make that a true and authentic experience for the audience.”

“That’s a much bigger task than worrying about whether anybody’s going to try to scathe us or not,” he added.