Colin Hanks' name and superstar pedigree promised him a career unlike most other talented young up and comers, saddled with the both pressures and the privileges of being the eldest son of internationally famous film star Tom Hanks. Tall and lanky with dark hair and palpably friendly boy-next-door good looks, Hanks possessed an affable screen presence not unlike that of his Oscar-winning dad, but the young actor sought to make his way alone, even using a stage name with producers while trying out for a role in his father's directorial debut "That Thing You Do!" (1996). Hanks, who was a production assistant on the set of "Apollo 13" (1995), was eventually cast in this 1960s-set look at a one-hit wonder rock band as a studio page. Greater exposure for the young actor came with the regular role of Alex Whitman on The WB's "Roswell" (1999-2001), a unique hybrid of the teen romantic drama and science fiction genres that earned moderate ratings and spawned a dedicated cult following. As Alex, Hanks played one of three teen humans in on the secret that a trio of their classmates and longtime neighbors are survivors of the famed 1947 UFO crash. Evincing a natural, unforced charm, Hanks was the series' cynic, a relatable, down-to-earth voice of reason and won over sympathetic viewers with his understandable distress at being kept in the dark by his human pals Liz (Shiri Appleby) and Maria (Majandra Delfino) in early episodes, In later episodes when his previously unrequited love for alien Isabel (Katherine Heigl) seemed somewhat reciprocated, audiences cheered for him.
While playing the guy who gets all the girls -- as friends -- didn't mark Hanks as a heartthrob like co-stars Jason Behr and Brendan Fehr, "Roswell" made the actor a familiar face to youth audiences, and he began appearing with supporting roles in teen-aimed features in 2000. He won laughs as the geeky but charming Cosmo in the disappointing "Cyrano de Bergerac" reworking "Whatever It Takes" (2000) and was subsequently featured as Felix, pragmatic friend of the brokenhearted Berke (Ben Foster) in the teen romance "Get Over It" (2001).
Profession(s):
Actor
Sometimes Credited As:
Colin Lewes Dillingham
Family
aunt:Sandra Hanks
father:Tom Hanks (Academy Award-winning actor of "Philadelphia" (1993) and "Forrest Gump" (1994); married to Samantha Lewes from 1979 to 1987; married Rita Wilson in 1988)
grandfather:Amos Hanks (Divorced Hanks' grandmother in 1960; had custody of Tom Hanks; married two more times; died in 1992)
grandmother:Janet Turner (Divorced Hanks' grandfather in 1960; remarried several times)
half-brother:Chester Hanks (Born Aug. 4, 1990; parents are Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson)
half-brother:Truman Hanks (Born Dec. 26, 1995; parents are Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson)
mother:Samantha Lewes (Married to Tom Hanks from 1979 to 1987; died of bone cancer March 13, 2002)
sister:Elizabeth Ann Hanks (Born in 1982)
step-mother:Rita Wilson (Married Tom Hanks in 1988; mother of Chester and Truman Hanks)
uncle:Jim Hanks
uncle:Larry Hanks
Companion(s)
Busy Phillips
, Companion
, ```..Met at Loyola Marymount College; together from c. 1997 to 2001
Rachel Leigh Cook
, Companion
, ```..Rumored to have dated in 2002
2008 Co-starred opposite real-life father, Tom Hanks in "The Great Buck Howard"
2008 Will appear as a priest in three episodes of AMC’s "Mad Men"
2006 Cast in Jack Black's "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" as a drunken fraternity brother
2005 Cast in Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong," playing the assistant to film director Carl Denham (Jack Black)
2002 First lead role in a feature, "Orange County"; first collaboration with Jack Black
2001 Appeared in the acclaimed 10-part television World War II miniseries, "Band of Brothers" (HBO); co-produced by Tom Hanks
2000 Featured in the high school-set comedy "Whatever It Takes"
1999 - 2001 Was a regular on The WB's teen sci-fi series "Roswell"
1996 Had a cameo in his father's directorial debut "That Thing You Do!"
1995 Worked as a production assistant on the set of "Apollo 13"; co-starred his father, Tom Hanks
1994 Moved out of mother's home to live in L.A.
Raised in Sacramento, California
Will co-star in the comedy "The House Bunny"