Erin JensenUSA TODAY
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Chet Hanks traveled to Medellín, Colombia, to join the cast of MTV's “Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets” with a purpose. Within the bubble-gum pink walls of the mansion, the 33-year-old son of actors Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks wanted to show viewers the real Chet, starting with Tuesday’s premiere (9 EDT/PDT).
“I feel like the media has really twisted their representation of me,” he says in an interview. “Especially in the early days, I didn't really have a platform for my voice to be heard. So I just always wanted the opportunity to be able to express myself.
“Some of it's my own doing,” he says, “because I joke around a lot and I'm kind of a troll and my life is like performance art and satire. People really can't tell when I'm being serious or when I'm not, or who Chet really is.”
The new Chet is an identity the rapper and actor achieved after kicking a cocaine habit he compared to “Scarface” kingpin Tony Montana's, embracing the love of Jesus and annihilating the “monster” born in the darkness of a shadow cast by one of Hollywood's brightest stars.
“I had a chip on my shoulder that kind of created a monster,” Hanks says. “I just had this attitude of ‘Eff everybody.’ That, coupled with addiction and substance abuse, is a recipe for nothing good. That's how I lived for a long time until I got sober.”
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Hanks says he’ll celebrate three years of sobriety in September, but there’s less distance between him and a severe bout of depression he opened up about in a June episode of Bradley Martyn's Raw Talk podcast. Hanks revealed that about a year ago he held a gun to his head. Ultimately he decided he couldn’t abandon his daughter, Michaiah, welcomed in 2016 with his former girlfriend, Tiffany Miles. At a funeral shortly after, Hanks welcomed Jesus into his heart and felt “a perfect peace” that has stayed with him, he told Martyn. It overrides his formerly constant anxiety and fear.
Hanks has found success as an actor, appearing on series like Fox's "Empire" and Showtime's “Shameless” and “Your Honor.” But controversies have outshined his talent. He was accused of cultural appropriation after adopting a Jamaican accent on the Golden Globes red carpet in 2020. Five years earlier, he had defended his use of a racial slur. In early July, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said that “white supremacists and neo-Nazis” had co-opted the title of his 2021 track “White Boy Summer.”
The song “was created to just be a fun, playful thing,” Hanks says. “That's the only thing that I'm trying to promote. Any anybody who's trying to twist it into anything that's not fun, playful, inclusive, loving, warm, kind, (it’s) a shame, and it's terrible.”
With his “Surreal Life” housemates − singer Ally Brooke, formerly of Fifth Harmony; Josie Canseco, model and daughter of former baseball player Jose Canseco; rapper O.T. Genasis; Grammy winner Macy Gray; actor Tyler Posey; figure skater Johnny Weir; and “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum Kim Zolciak − Hanks embraced “the chance to show people a different side of me, a more vulnerable side, where I'm not doing a character or some sort of satire or joke.”
Though Hanks and Zolciak, 46, are seen getting flirty in the trailer, Hanks says, "I can't confirm or deny" any on-set romances. Instead, he encourages viewers to tune in.
In the premiere, Hanks tells cast members he grew up feeling worthless. In an interview, he says he internalized negativity directed at him simply for being the son of famous parents.
“I've always just kind of been treated as separate and other than because of the circ*mstances of my family and my parents,” he says. “People were always just prepared to hate me. So I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder.”
Hanks says his childhood “felt completely normal," and says "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."
Hanks says he’ll soon put out new music that’s “going to be very different from anything that I've ever released.”
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Hanks is open to more reality TV. “Maybe ‘Big Brother,’” he says. His next acting gig is Mindy Kaling’s Netflix comedy "Running Point," set for 2025. Hanks portrays point guard/aspirational rapper Travis Bugg, who creates problems for basketball team owner (Kate Hudson) on and off the court.
“I had a lot of fun filming that, and I'm really excited,” he says. “It's hilarious.”
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Hanks says an overwhelming feeling of appreciation is another reason he has been able to slay the havoc-wreaking monster that ruled his life.
“I just don't have anything to prove to anybody,” he says. “I'm very much at peace. I'm just really, really grateful for everything in my life. The relationships I have with people, where I’m at with my career, my family, my health."
If you or someone you know is in need of mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8 or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
