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Chet Hanks, son of renowned actor Tom Hanks, has become the subject of numerous Cast Away jokes after finding himself stranded in Colombia without his U.S. passport.
The 35-year-old took to Instagram on Friday, February 27, sharing a video where he humorously pleaded, “Free me! Free me,” as he detailed his predicament.
Chet, known for his role in Running Point, recounted that his journey began with a trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate his friend Max’s birthday. After enjoying the festivities, he decided to extend his travels with a visit to Medellín, Colombia, to catch up with another friend.
“Sounds like a great plan, right?” he remarked in the video, before diving into the travel woes that unexpectedly unfolded.
In other news, Chet recently joined his parents, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, along with his brother Truman, for a family outing on the red carpet. The family attended the premiere of the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California, on Wednesday, January 10.
Per Chet, he has been “traveling with my Greek passport because I’m a dual citizen” and thus decided to leave his U.S. passport at home since it was about to expire.
“Sometimes they don’t let you in the country, even if it hasn’t expired, but it’s about to expire,” Chet claimed.
Chet apparently had a wild time in Medellín but the trip took a stressful turn when he showed up at the airport to fly back home.
“I go to the airport to check in [for] my flight three hours early,” he said. “This is an international flight. They tell me that if I’m using a foreign passport, I need a green card to get back into America.”
The problem with the airport staff’s request is that Chet doesn’t have a green card since he’s “an American citizen.”
“I’m literally stuck in Colombia. I’m stuck in Medellín,” he admitted to viewers. “Granted, there’s worse places to be stuck, but I literally have no f***ing idea what I’m gonna do, and the only embassy to get this s*** settled is in Bogota.”
Chet Hanks, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and Truman Hanks in January 2024. Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Chet explained that he was reluctant to travel from Medellín to Bogota in order to get the travel issue resolved.
“So, free me,” he jokingly begged.
Us Weekly has reached out to Chet’s representatives for comment.
Chet did not seem too stressed about his travel situation, as he later shared numerous videos and photos of himself partying with friends.
The comments of Chet’s video were filled with fans humorously referencing his dad’s classic movie Cast Away, where Tom played a Fedex courier stranded on a South Pacific island.
“Better call someone in your family to have them FedEx your passport to you ASAP,” one Instagram user joked, while another added, “Tom Hanks doesn’t have the best of luck with FedEx.”
One commenter slipped in a sly reference to another of Tom’s movies by suggesting that the Oscar winner might be “waiting at the terminal” for Chet. (The 2004 comedy The Terminal starred Tom, 69, as an Eastern European traveler stuck at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport.)
Before his vacation troubles, Us Weekly exclusively chatted with the actor and musician about a potential collaboration with his mom, Rita Wilson. Chet — who has released music under the pseudonym “Chet Haze” — initially joked that he couldn’t “afford” to make a track with his mom. (While primarily known for her acting, Wilson, 69, has also released five studio albums as a singer-songwriter.)
Chet Hanks is sharing a glimpse into his childhood being raised by parents Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. During the Tuesday, July 23, episode of MTV’s Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets, Chet, 33, thought he was participating in an innocent game of uno with his housemates. The conversation, however, quickly turned into the cast discussing […]
“I’d probably have to sign my life away,” he joked to Us at the Clive Davis Pre-Grammys Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 31.
Pressed on what kind of music they might make together, Chet hinted, “I don’t know, maybe we’ll have to do, like, a really ratchet, like, strip club song or something, I don’t know. You never know. I think she’s got it in her.”
Chet is one of Tom’s four children. The Da Vinci Code actor shares his eldest son, Colin Hanks, and daughter, Elizabeth Ann “E.A.” Hanks, with his first wife, Samantha Lewes, and welcomed Chet and his brother Truman Hanks with Wilson.