Colin Hanks is his own person

W@gner sent this in, with a reminder that “Blood Brother” just aired in the Philippines !

Colin Hanks is his own person

From: Lifestyle, Philippine Daily Inquirer
April 16

WHEN Tom Hanks’ son, Colin, launched his acting career with his featured role in the new sci-fi TV series, “Roswell,” viewers were expecting a smash debut. Unfortunately, Colin’s nerdy and geeky role didn’t make much of an impact, so a start was not born.

Recently, we caught a Conan O’Brien’s talk show on cable and it turned out that Colin was one of the guests. Well, he was very different on the show from his rather vague characterization on “Roswell.”

Boyish and funny
He came on like a young Tom Hanks–lanky, boyish, talkative, funny, very much the boy next door. But he wasn’t a clone of his dad. He had an edginess and “craziness” that the senior Hanks doesn’t have, and that made him his own person, despite the physical and temperamental similarities to his father.

If Colin could be this volatile and free on “Roswell,” he could become a young star in very quick order. As it is, he’s upstaged on the sci-fi show by the more personable young men and women who play the aliens-in-human-form.

Sure, Colin doesn’t have killer looks, but neither did Tom when he was trying to make it in the ’70s–and look what a big star he’s become. We expect Colin to take the same comedy, then romantic-comedy, then drama route to superstardom.

His peppy interview on O’Brien’s show was a great success because he was able to match Conan’s blithe spirit and rapid-fire witticisms. That’s quite an achievement for an actor as young and new as Colin.

Well, he may be new, but he isn’t a raw talent. His having grown up as a star’s son must have given him a subliminal education on what the world of performing expects and requires of young hopefuls like himself.

To his eternal credit, Colin didn’t use his dad’s connections to get his first breaks. He competed on point of talent, personality and professionalism, not family ties. And he’s going places on his own.

Of course, now that the sci-fi show’s publicity machine is revving up, Colin can no longer keep his being the Tom Hanks’ son a secret. As a result, more doors will be opening for him in the coming months. Still, Colin is determined to deserve a role before accepting it.

Colin disarmed Conan when he blew onto the talk show’s set like a fresh breeze, just as casual as you please, but clearly quite savvy about what was required of a talk-show guest. In other words, he knew that he couldn’t just be himself but had to be entertaining while being himself.

Hostage
So, he went on a free-association trip and confided to Conan that, although they’d never met, he had watched O’Brien’s show often enough to have had a dream about Conan, in which he was holding the talk-show host hostage, and forcing him to do all of his zany impersonations, one after another.

Conan found that image delightful and he was even more entertained when Colin admitted that, while he was now a rising show-biz star, he didn’t have any girl fans, and the few people who did bother to go up to him for his autograph always made him sign other stars’ photos, rather than his own!

Colin went on to mock-complain that, although he did have friends who were girls, he had no girlfriends. For some reason, women found him too “harmless” to get romantically involved with.

Not gay
Looking at the “brighter side” (with tongue firmly in cheek), Colin said that the situation did have some advantages because girls felt so comfortable with him that they would tell him all their secrets. “In fact,” he said, “I have all of the advantages of having relationships with girls, except I’m not gay.”

That brought the house down and Conan beamed at his witty, young guest. Everyone laughed all the more when Colin repeated the statement, hinting that he wasn’t so sure if he was straight, after all.

It was an act, of course, but Colin did it so well that everyone was delighted. Papa Tom must have been proud of his son for being such a savvy and entertaining guest.

It turns out that, aside from “Roswell,” Colin also has a new movie, “Whatever It Takes.” His star is clearly on the rise, and his short guesting stint on Conan’s show affirms his great stellar potential as a comedian or romantic-comedy lead.

It would be great if Colin did a movie with his father, but his insistence on making it on his own would probably preclude that wonderful prospect. Well, no problem: Tom Hawk is great on his own, and so–it’s becoming delightfully clear–is Colin.