"Cutie Colin Hanks chats about his latest movie Orange County, his Cast Away dad, and whether or not he'll rise from the dead on Roswell."
By Jin Moon
CELEB SPOTLIGHT: Colin Hanks
Age: 24.
Date of Birth: Colin was born on November 24. That makes him a
sexy Sagittarius!
Place of Birth: Sacramento, CA.
How You Know Him: Colin got his big break playing Alex Whitman
on Roswell!
College: Attended Loyola Marymount University in Westchester,
CA.
Celeb Connection: His father is Academy Award winning actor Tom
Hanks. He recently worked with his dad in the HBO mini series
Band of Brothers.
Trivia: There's currently a petition to bring Colin's Roswell
character back from the dead! Check it out here.
What's in his CD Player: Red Hot Chili Peppers, A Tribe Called
Quest, 311, Mos Def and Primus.
What made you think you could play surfer dude Shaun Brumder
in Orange County?
My first opinion was, OK, this guy's an Orange County surfer so
they're probably gonna be looking for some big buff dude, who
knows how to surf, likes to get in the ocean, and who would be
kind of funny crying how bad he wants to be a writer when he looks
like some strapping, beau-hunk, surfer-punk dude. At first I didn't
really think I was an Orange County kind of guy. [My co-star]
Schuyler Fisk and I -- we're the two palest actors and here we
are trying to pretend we're surfer bums and beach babes? Nah.
But when I read the script, I believed could do the part. It was
so well written -- it was so new and refreshing....Luckily, Jake
Kasdan [the director] said we're not going for that surfer punk
guy!
How did you come upon the script for Orange County?
I was working on Roswell, and we were able to do movies and stuff
on the hiatus, but I sort of balked and started reading stuff
during the season anyways! I'm 24 years old, but let's be honest.
I was mistaken for a 14 year old a couple days ago! So obviously
I get a lot of the same sort of teen movies. And to be honest,
most of them are pretty boring, pretty bad. Orange County was
hands down the best thing that I had read.
So you don't think Orange County's just another teen movie?
It isn't just another teen movie. And I don't think it is a teen
movie. Without sounding too scary and a little bit too G-rated,
the movie is sort of like a family film. I think adults could
enjoy this film more than teenagers would -- and that's not a
knock on teenagers. I just think [screenwriter] Mike White can
write stuff that can be extremely funny and overly comedic --
kind of slapstick in a way. But the movie's also extremely heartfelt
and sincere and real -- that was so, so, so refreshing, even though
I knew at some point I would have to do a scene next to a locker!
It was nice to be able to finally read something that was smart
and wasn't about just getting the girl. It wasn't sort of throwing
away the myth of what high school should be like.
What do you hope to achieve after this movie?
Well, I hope that work begets work, which I know it does. Obviously,
the movie puts me out there on a little bit of a level where people
are sort of familiar with me. I'm not looking to go to the next
level or anything, but you know, sort of get my name out there,
get my face out there so that hopefully I can continue to work
on other projects.
Tell us about working with your OC co-star Jack Black.
When I first met Jack Black, he let me come down to the studio
and watch him record [Tenacious D tracks]. Which is like if you're
a huge Elvis fan, that's Elvis saying, "Hey, come down to
Graceland and watch me record." We pretty much went to every
show he did when we were making the movie.
Do you feel pressure to succeed in Hollywood because of who
your dad is?
Not at all. I know that people form some sort of opinions. They're
gonna wonder, "Oh well, can he cut it?" But it's not
my job to prove to them that I can do it. It's my job to make
the movie or the show or whatever it is I'm working as good as
I can and do my homework. I mean, that's what I'm really more
concerned with. I'm more concerned with the director getting what
he wants and am I giving enough to my other actors so that they
can work, too.
What part did you play in That Thing You Do!?
Man, I played the smallest role you could possibly imagine! My
dad was just like, "Do you want to work on it for a day?"
I said, "Yeah sure." I was a male page. I escorted Liv
Tyler up some stairs....They only put me in the credits because
they thought it would be cool for me.
What's the best advice your dad has given you?
Show up on time. Memorize your lines, hit your marks, that sort
of stuff. The advice he gives me is really sort of the boring
stuff. It's about the other half of being an actor, which is going
out and publicizing a movie and what to expect and what to prepare
for.
He said that publicizing a movie is gonna seem extremely awkward. When you think about it, you're going on TV or you're printed in newspapers and you're asking millions of strangers to go see your movie. That's weird. That's not a natural thing to do. But it's part of our job.
So are you coming back to life on Roswell -- or what?
I'm not sure. [Right now on the show] I'm a ghost, but I really
don't know.