Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are a well-known power couple in Hollywood and their lasting marriage has always appeared rock solid. A fixture in the entertainment industry for decades, they’re not only known for their individual work as successful actors and filmmakers, but for their wonderful love story that really does appear as if it’s straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Both show business veterans, the couple has four children together, including two sons from their union — Chet Hanks and Truman Hanks — while Tom has two children from a previous relationship, Colin Hanks and Elizabeth Hanks. Of their four children, Colin and Chet have both followed their famous parents into show business.
Chet is known for acting as well as his music career, where he raps under the name Chet Hanx. Now 33 years old, Chet has been open about his struggles in life including addiction. In fact, he’s spoken openly about how his daughter Michaiah helped him get sober and turn his life around. Michaiah is biracial, with her mom being Chet’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany Miles.
In fact, Chet’s parents aren’t just grandparents to his daughter, but they have three grandkids in total, and they appear to absolutely love the role. Proclaiming themselves the “coolest grandparents,” the couple joke that they know their grandchildren don’t share the same sentiment about them.
In a video interview with Entertainment Tonight from 2018, Chet opened up about his addiction struggles and how his daughter saved his life. He also spoke about the way his parents treat Michaiah.
Tom Hanks (2013), (Fred Duval/FilmMagic/Getty images)
Tom Hanks, 68, and Rita Wilson, 67, have been married since 1988, which means they celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary earlier this year in April. Known for their incredibly strong marriage, the couple has been known to open up about what makes their long-running relationship work.
When appearing on Kelly Clarkson’s daytime talk show in April 2020, Wilson revealed that Tom’s talkative character was “one of the things, when we met, that we just got along instantly,” as reported by PEOPLE. She added that she “love[s] a good storyteller” and that Tom is one. The couple has also managed to raise their blended family of four wonderful kids including Colin Hanks and Chet Hanks.
Of their four kids, Colin has two kids of his own — two daughters named Olivia and Charlotte — while Chet has a daughter, Michaiah, with his ex-girlfriend. Despite self-describing themselves as the “coolest grandparents,” Tom joked in the same interview with ET, “I think they just put up with us.” Meanwhile, Wilson added, “Sometimes they just look at us like, ‘what?'”
On top of the clear love that the three grandchildren in the Hank family tree clearly have for their parents and grandparents, Michaiah, Chet’s daughter, who is 7 years old, is even responsible for helping to save her dad’s life. After struggling with cocaine addiction, Chet became a changed man when he learned he would be a dad. He spoke candidly to Entertainment Tonight in 2018, where he stated:
“I don’t know if I would’ve made the changes necessary, she saved my life, and when she gets older, she’ll know that.”
Chet Hanks (2017), (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images/BET)
In the moving video interview, Chet talks about the music he makes with his band FTRZ and how being open about his struggles with addiction and getting sober is integral to their message. He explains that he knew he had to get sober for a while but struggled to make the changes needed to get him onto the next chapter of his life. Thankfully for him, Michaiah came along and proved to be the right motivation for him to clean up his act. He states in the interview:
“If my daughter hadn’t been born there’s no telling that I would have [made the decision to get sober]. I could easily be dead or in jail right now if I hadn’t made that decision.”
He says that speaking candidly about his addiction struggles could help somebody else on their journey, which he described as the “most rewarding and the most fulfilling” part of making his music.
He also described his parents as being fully supportive of him as he got sober and stated that he’s “really lucky.” On a lighter note, he explained that they absolutely adore Michaiah and love being grandparents. Since he was close to his own grandparents, Chet loves that his daughter gets to have the same experience with his parents. He also added that the famous couple offers to babysit “all the time.”
However, there is one thing that his daughter is missing — her own doll of Woody from “Toy Story,” which Tom famously voiced. Once he realized, Chet added that it absolutely needs to happen. We can’t agree more!