Colin Hanks Bio
Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as Gus Grimly on the FX crime series Fargo (2014–2015), which earned him nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Critics’ Choice Television Award. He first gained mainstream attention with a main role on the WB science fiction series Roswell (1999–2001) and later as the lead in the film Orange County (2002).
Across more than two decades on screen, Hanks has built a varied résumé that includes blockbuster films such as King Kong (2005), voice work on the web series Talking Tom & Friends (2014–2021), and main television roles on Life in Pieces, Dexter, and The Offer. He has also built a parallel career as a documentary filmmaker, directing features about Tower Records, Eagles of Death Metal, and the late comedian John Candy.
Early Life and Background
Colin Lewes Hanks was born on November 24, 1977, in Sacramento, California. He is the son of actor Tom Hanks and producer and actress Samantha Lewes (born Susan Jane Dillingham; 1952–2002). Through his father’s marriage to actress Rita Wilson, he has two younger half-brothers, Chester, known as Chet, and Truman, and he also has a sister, Elizabeth, known as E. A. Hanks.
Hanks grew up in Sacramento and attended Sacramento Country Day School, the same school his late mother had attended. He later enrolled at Chapman University before transferring to Loyola Marymount University, where he studied film. He ultimately left Loyola Marymount without completing his degree in order to pursue acting professionally.
Path to Acting
Hanks began taking small on-screen roles in the late 1990s, drawing on the training he received in university film programs and the example set by his parents, both of whom worked in the entertainment industry. His first major professional break came in 1999, when he was cast as Alex Whitman in the science fiction series Roswell, a show that quickly developed a loyal fan base. The role placed him in front of large television audiences and opened the door to feature film work.
During the early 2000s, Hanks balanced his television commitments with supporting parts in teen comedies, including Whatever It Takes and Get Over It. He also made a brief appearance in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, playing Lieutenant Henry Jones. These early projects helped him transition from the small screen to leading man status in theatrical films.
Colin Hanks Career
Early Career (1999–2005)
Hanks made his feature film debut as the lead in Orange County (2002), starring alongside Jack Black and Schuyler Fisk as a high school student trying to get into Stanford University. The comedy introduced him to a wider audience and led to a string of supporting roles in big-budget productions. In 2005, he joined the cast of Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake, playing the assistant to Jack Black’s character and reaching a global box office audience.
He continued to take on varied parts throughout this period, including a cameo in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2006), a small role on The OC, and a part in the indie film Get Over It. In 2008, he expanded his career behind the camera by beginning work on his first documentary, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records, a project that would later premiere at South by Southwest in 2015.
Breakthrough (2008–2015)
In 2008, Hanks appeared in three films, playing the love interest in the romantic comedy The House Bunny, a young priest on Mad Men, and the title character in The Great Buck Howard, the latter produced by his father and co-starring John Malkovich. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut opposite Jane Fonda in the Moisés Kaufman play 33 Variations, earning strong notices for his stage work.
His profile rose further on television with the 2010 Fox series The Good Guys, in which he co-starred with Bradley Whitford as young detective Jack Bailey. In 2011, he joined the cast of Dexter for the show’s sixth season, portraying art historian Travis Marshall, a role that brought him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. His biggest critical breakthrough arrived in 2014, when he played Officer Gus Grimly in the second season of Fargo, a performance that earned him Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations.
Notable Works and Milestones
Beyond Fargo, Hanks has headlined the CBS sitcom Life in Pieces (2015–2019), voiced Talking Tom on the long-running web series Talking Tom & Friends, and joined the Jumanji film series as Alex Vreeke in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). He has also delivered notable performances in the historical drama Parkland (2013), the comedy Elvis & Nixon (2016), and the Paramount+ miniseries The Offer (2022).
Colin Hanks Award Nominations
Colin Hanks has earned recognition from major American awards bodies across television and film. His portrayal of Gus Grimly in the second season of Fargo brought him nominations for the Golden Globe Award, the Primetime Emmy Award, and the Critics’ Choice Television Award. His work on the sixth season of Showtime’s Dexter, where he played the main antagonist Travis Marshall, earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of the show’s ensemble.
Colin Hanks Awards Won
Based on the verified information available for this page, no major individual award wins have been confirmed for Colin Hanks. He has accumulated several high-profile nominations, particularly for his television work, but a fully verified list of wins cannot be supported at this time.
Colin Hanks Family
Colin Hanks was raised in a deeply rooted entertainment family. His father, Tom Hanks, is one of the most awarded actors in American film history, and his mother, Samantha Lewes, was a producer and actress. Through his father’s second marriage to actress Rita Wilson, he has two younger half-brothers, Chet Hanks and Truman Hanks. His uncle Jim Hanks, the brother of Tom Hanks, has also worked in film. Hanks’s late mother’s family was based in Sacramento, and he has spoken often about the influence of both parents on his decision to pursue acting.
Personal Life
Hanks became engaged to publicist Samantha Bryant in June 2009, and the couple married on May 8, 2010, in Los Angeles. They have two daughters, the first born in 2011 and the second born in 2013. Hanks is a well-known sports fan, supporting the San Francisco Giants, the San Francisco 49ers, the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Kings, and the English football club Liverpool. He has combined his love of sports with his filmmaking, directing the 30 for 30 short The Anti-Mascot about the San Francisco Giants’ 1980s Crazy Crab mascot, and serving as a playoff correspondent for the Los Angeles Kings radio program The Kevin and Bean Show during the 2011–12 and 2012–14 seasons.
