How Chet Hanks Ended Up With a Main Role in Kate Hudson’s New Series ‘Running Point’
Chet Hanks — the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson who has become something of an internet personality over the years — has landed his biggest acting role to date in Running Point, the new Netflix series starring Kate Hudson.
Hanks has previously acted in shows including Empire, Shameless and Your Honor — alongside a rap career under the name Chet Haze — but is maybe best known for the “White Boy Summer” meme that he coined in 2021. In Running Point, which sees Hudson playing a reformed party girl who must prove herself when she’s put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team, Hanks stars as one of the players on her Los Angeles Waves squad.
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At the show’s L.A. premiere on Thursday, Hanks said he simply auditioned for the role, despite having known Hudson for years through their famous families. “I hung out with her a couple of times, she would have these parties at her house; she would invite all her friends and they’d have a big game night,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I went a couple of times and it was really fun, so it was cool to get to work with her.”
Hanks noted that his character Travis Bugg — the team’s point guard who moonlights as an unsuccessful rapper and causes the team some headaches — “was very similar to me so I thought, ‘I hope I get this.’ It’s almost like it was written for me but it wasn’t.” He also admitting to lying about his basketball experience to get the part, when “extensive basketball skills” were required.
“I said I played varsity basketball in high school — that’s a lie, I’m terrible at basketball,” Hanks said. “But when I got the role, I hired a coach and I trained for like two months, just trying to get the basics down. I’m still terrible but I can do the basics.”
Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen, who wrote and executive produced the series alongside Mindy Kaling, agreed that Hanks proved himself to be the best choice, as Barinholtz recalled that the show’s casting director suggested “a Chet Hanks type.”
“Mindy said, ‘Well let’s see if Chet Hanks will audition,’ and he auditioned and blew us away and we were like, ‘Oh yeah, we have to cast him,'” Barinholtz explained. “And he absolutely killed it, he’s so, so funny.”
Running Point starts streaming on Netflix on Feb. 27.
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