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Tom Hanks is breaking his silence following the release of his daughter E.A. Hanks’ memoir, The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road, which details a turbulent childhood and serious allegations against her late mother, actress Samantha Lewes.
Published on April 8, the memoir includes claims that Lewes — born Susan Dillingham — was emotionally and physically abusive. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood at the red carpet premiere of The Phoenician Scheme, Hanks acknowledged his daughter’s account and offered a candid reaction.
“I’m not surprised that my daughter had the wherewithal as well as the curiosity to examine this thing that I think she was incredibly honest about,” said the Forrest Gump actor, 68. “We all come from checkered, cracked lives, all of us.”
Reflecting on his daughter, Hanks added, “She’s a knockout, always has been. If you’ve had kids, you realize that you see who they are when they’re about 6 weeks old.”
E.A. Hanks — full name Elizabeth Anne Hanks — writes in the memoir about growing up primarily under her mother’s custody after her parents’ divorce in 1987. She describes a childhood marked by “confusion, violence, deprivation, and love,” particularly between the ages of 5 and 14.
Her recollections are stark: “The backyard became so full of dog s--- that you couldn’t walk around it, the house stank of smoke. The fridge was bare or full of expired food more often than not, and my mother spent more and more time in her big four-poster bed, poring over the Bible.”
According to E.A., the situation deteriorated to the point that a violent episode led her to move to Los Angeles in the middle of seventh grade, effectively switching her primary custody arrangement to live with her father.
In her senior year of high school, her mother called to say she was dying. Although she was never formally diagnosed, E.A. believes her mother suffered from bipolar disorder and severe paranoia.
Despite the difficult past, E.A. has spoken warmly of Tom Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, whom she considers “my other mother,” not a stepmother.
Tom Hanks currently stars in The Phoenician Scheme, a thriller about high-stakes inheritance, power, and betrayal.
