Tom Hanks on nepotism in Hollywood: 'It's a family business...'

All of a sudden, the nepotism controversy has blown up in Hollywood. The spectre is not limited to the Indian film industry, particularly the Hindi one, colloquially called Bollywood. It all started when New York magazine published an article titled 'The Year of the Nepo Baby', a half-serious, half-frivolous piece that detailed celebrities, including actors, singers, models, socialites, and so on, who have parents or other familial connections in the industry and presumably got their break thanks to those connections. Many such Nepo Babies or their parents have then shared their opinion about the whole thing. And now veteran actor Tom Hanks has chimed in with his own take.

The actor can be seen in 'The Man Called Otto' these days and his son Truman stars as the younger version of his titular character.

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While speaking to the UK tabloid The Sun, he said, “Look, this is a family business. This is what we’ve been doing forever. It’s what all of our kids grew up in. If we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some point, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year.”

Hanks went on to say that your connections might get you into the industry, but your talent ultimately determines how far you will go in the industry.

“The thing that doesn’t change no matter what happens, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not. That’s the issue anytime any of us go off and try to tell a fresh story or create something that has a beginning and a middle and an end. Doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work in order to make that a true and authentic experience for the audience," he added.

In India, the nepotism debate was kicked off by Kangana Ranaut, who accused producer Karan Johar of being the flag-bearer of nepotism. And indeed, he has launched the careers of many star kids, including Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan.

Directed by Marc Forster and written by David Magee, 'A Man Called Otto' is based on the Swedish author's novel 'A Man Called Ove' by Fredrik Backman. Also starring Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film has Hanks' Otto Anderson being an old, grumpy man who is grieving the death of his wife. Slowly, Otto finds a gentler side of himself after a new family moves in next door.