Chet Hanks Admits ‘Running Point’ Character Is “Slightly Exaggerated Version” Of Himself: “Just Uncanny”

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With his latest role, Chet Hanks got to explore some art imitating life. The Running Point actor, who is the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, recently revealed he was prepared to “quit acting” if he didn’t get the role of basketball bad boy Travis Bugg on the Netflix sports comedy series from Mindy Kaling. “It was just uncanny—it’s almost like it was written for me, but it wasn’t,” Hanks told Esquire. “So I basically get to be a slightly exaggerated version of myself.” Three years sober, he also related to Travis’ addiction struggle in the series, which was co-created by Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen and Elaine Ko. “That’s just great writing, and I’m glad that they allowed the opportunity to give their character more depth,” added Hanks. “But it’s exciting.

I’ve always noticed art imitating life in a lot of the projects that I do, and I never think it’s intentional. I honestly think it’s just the harmonization of the universe.

I’m grateful for it, and it’s always helpful when you can relate personally to whatever is happening with your character.” Recalling the character description called for “a white guy, covered in tattoos, a wannabe rapper, and a huge liability because of what he posts on social media,” Hanks said Kaling and her team were “a little unsure” about casting him. “They knew that I was great for the role, but in real life they were a little worried about casting me for the reasons that I just described in the character,” he explained. “So they had a Zoom call with me and were like, ‘Look, we want to give you this role, but we just want to make sure you don’t do anything or post anything crazy,'” added Hanks. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I won’t.