Chet Hanks Reveals 'The Truth' About Growing Up as Tom Hanks' Son Amid 'Toxic' Fame
"There's a lot of advantages but sometimes it can be pretty weird," he said. "I got to do a lot of cool s--t that a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do. I got to travel the world, stay in nice hotels, fly on private planes and I'm very blessed for that. I wouldn't change my situation.""My experience was even more complicated because on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn't even famous," Chet said.
"People would make up their minds about me before they even got the chance to know me and it was extremely hard to break down their walls," the Empire actor said, admitting that this experience led him to get a "chip" on his shoulder and develop a "hard exterior." Chet added, "People kinda did f--k with me a lot growing up. It was never to my face. It was always behind my back in the forms of gossip or s--t talking."
Holding a mirror up to the man he once was and the man he is today, Chet shared that it took a long time for him to learn that "people's perception of you is only a reflection of themselves." He has now "changed" his "life" and is no longer on the "self-destructive" path of "anger" and "partying."