The son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson is back on Hollywood soil and already working the party circuit. Chet Hanks stepped out with his mother at the CAA pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles Saturday night, marking his first major public appearance since his very public travel meltdown in Colombia last month. The 35-year-old actor and musician looked sharp in an all-black suit, trailing behind Wilson, who matched him in a silk shirt, crop blazer, and sequined pencil skirt at the members-only club Living Room.
Three weeks ago, Chet was begging followers to “free me” from Medellín after a passport oversight spiraled into an international headache. The sequence started simply enough. He flew to Puerto Rico for a friend’s birthday, then took a short flight to Colombia to visit another pal named Taylor. Sounds good, right?
The problem emerged when he tried flying home. Chet holds dual citizenship and chose to travel with his Greek passport because his U.S. passport was nearing expiration. At the airport, airline staff dropped news he didn’t expect. Traveling on a foreign passport requires a green card to re-enter America. He doesn’t have one. He’s an American citizen.
The situation left him technically stuck, though his social media told a more complicated story. While claiming to be trapped, Chet documented himself hitting Medellín gyms, visiting a dental clinic for veneers, and genuinely enjoying Colombian nightlife. “Estamos bien, no te preocupes,” he wrote in Spanish alongside a gym selfie. Translation: We’re fine, don’t worry.
The only official solution required traveling to the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, roughly an hour flight from Medellín. Chet made his position clear. “I don’t want to go to Bogotá,” he said flatly.
By March 8, he’d quietly solved the problem. Chet posted from Miami without explaining exactly how he navigated the passport situation. A few days later, he was back in Los Angeles with his famous parents. The timing worked out perfectly for Hollywood’s biggest weekend.
Saturday’s CAA party marked his official reintroduction to the industry that knows him as the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The mother-son duo coordinated in head-to-toe black, Wilson adding metallic silver accessories that caught the flash of arriving photographers. Chet kept his expression neutral walking behind her, a fresh haircut and trimmed beard replacing the stressed look from his February plea videos.
The Colombia chapter closes just as his professional calendar fills. Chet returns for Season 2 of the Netflix comedy “Running Point” next month. Before leaving Colombia, he posted a farewell video thanking the country that accidentally hosted him for over a week. “One of my favorite places in the world. The views, the nature, the girls, the people, the city, Medellín. Te amo siempre, toda Colombia,” he said in Spanish and English. His sign-off captured the absurdity of the whole situation: “¡Ándele, pues, parceros!”.
