Tom Hanks Breaks Silence on Daughter E.A. Hanks’

 

Tom Hanks Breaks Silence on Daughter E.A. Hanks’ Memoir About Her Troubled Childhood

That sweet moment between Kate Middleton and three-year-old Lily-Rose Logan perfectly encapsulates what has made the Princess of Wales so beloved by the public: her genuine warmth, relatability, and spontaneous humanity, even amid formal royal duties.

As the royal convoy prepared to leave after a busy schedule of engagements in south Wales, including a heartwarming visit to Tŷ Hafan children's hospice and Corgi Hosiery, a local sock manufacturer Kate did something truly memorable: she broke royal protocol by unexpectedly jumping out of her car to greet the small crowd gathered nearby.

Little Lily-Rose had been calling out "Hello princess!" in the hopes of catching Kate’s attention—and it worked. Kate ran over to greet the star-struck child, who was overcome with joy and awe. She even asked the Princess with wide-eyed wonder: "Are you a real princess?"

Kate's joyful response and heartfelt interaction with Lily-Rose highlight her deep connection with children, a quality that has defined many of her engagements. Her natural maternal instinct, coupled with her work in early childhood development, makes these moments feel sincere rather than staged.

Earlier that day at Tŷ Hafan, Kate participated in crafts and painting handprints with young patients—echoing a similar gesture by King Charles, who once made his own handprint as patron. Despite undergoing cancer treatment, Kate was visibly at ease, showing that her "slow and gradual" return to duties is being handled with care and purpose.

Kate has never hidden the fact that the royal role hasn’t always come easily to her. During a visit to St Katherine’s School in Bristol, Olympic legend Dame Kelly Holmes shared that Kate spoke candidly about the struggles of fitting in, public speaking, and growing into her royal responsibilities—humanizing a life that, from the outside, can appear picture-perfect.

Even at grand international events, such as the Jordanian royal wedding, Kate's down-to-earth demeanor has stood out, so much so that Prince William was seen gently signaling her to wrap up a lengthy chat with the bride and groom to keep the line moving.

Whether it's making a young child’s day, admitting her own vulnerabilities, or simply staying longer to connect with someone, Kate Middleton continues to prove that real grace comes from empathy, not just etiquette.

Tom Hanks offered a heartfelt and reflective response to his daughter E.A. Hanks' (Elizabeth Anne Hanks) candid memoir, which delves into some of the more difficult moments of her upbringing. Speaking on the red carpet for his new film The Phoenician Scheme on May 29, the 68-year-old Oscar winner shared his pride and admiration for his daughter’s vulnerability and honesty.

"There is a pride because she shares it with me,” Hanks said in an interview with Access Hollywood. “She’s very open about what the process is."

Tom, known for his thoughtful and grounded persona, went on to reflect on the deep-rooted nature of personality in children, noting that he saw E.A.’s strong spirit from the time she was a baby:

"If you’ve had kids you realize that you see who they are when they’re about 6 weeks old. Their personality is on display right there … their temper, the way they see the world is demonstrated in their body language and on their face."

 

He acknowledged E.A.’s courage and introspection, especially in publicly examining personal history and family dynamics:

"I’m not surprised that my daughter had the wherewithal, as well as the curiosity  , as well as I’m going to say perhaps shoot-herself-in-the-foot kind of wherewithal to examine this thing."

E.A. Hanks' memoir has attracted attention for its raw and revealing nature, exploring both the complexities of growing up in a famous family and her own path to self-understanding. While Tom did not shy away from acknowledging that her reflections may have included tough moments, his comments clearly conveyed support, pride, and love for his daughter’s work and voice.

Tom Hanks continued to praise his daughter E.A. Hanks for her candid and courageous storytelling in her recent memoir, calling her “incredibly honest” about the challenges she faced growing up.

"We all come from checkered, cracked lives — all of us," he said. "Even though part of it would seem as though she worked for some international well-known firm with a copyrighted last name," he added with a self-aware chuckle, acknowledging the weight that comes with being a Hanks.

He admired the way his daughter embraced her full truth, including the complexities of being raised in the shadow of a Hollywood legacy:

"She knows that and she leans into absolutely everything. I think anybody who does that is a bold, journalistic, literate mind — and I’m just thrilled I can say the same thing about my daughter."

E.A. Hanks, 43, is Tom’s only daughter, born to him and his first wife, Susan Dillingham (also known as Samantha Lewes). The couple, who were married from 1978 to 1987, also shared son Colin Hanks, now an accomplished actor himself. Tragically, Susan passed away from lung cancer in 2002 at the age of 49. Tom's words reflect not just fatherly pride, but also a deep respect for E.A.’s ability to wrestle publicly with personal truths — a trait he sees as both brave and intellectually admirable.

In The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road, E.A. Hanks delves deeply into the complexities of her upbringing, particularly focusing on her relationship with her late mother, Susan Dillingham. E.A. writes candidly about the emotional turbulence that marked their home life following her parents’ divorce, suggesting that her mother may have suffered from bipolar disorder, though Dillingham was never formally diagnosed.

E.A. reflects on this possibility not to assign blame, but to make sense of the unpredictable highs and lows she experienced as a child. Her portrayal is one of painful clarity, offering a raw and honest account of living in a household marked by emotional volatility. The memoir doesn’t shy away from the challenges but also seeks to understand the humanity and struggle behind them.

By including this perspective, E.A. adds a layer of empathy to her narrative, exploring how mental illness—diagnosed or not—can ripple through generations and impact family dynamics. Her willingness to share these insights reflects both a literary courage and a personal reckoning with a past shaped by love, instability, and eventual resilience.

In her memoir, E.A. Hanks opened up about the difficult shift in her childhood living situation, revealing the emotional and physical challenges she faced with her late mother, Susan Dillingham.

Initially, under the custody arrangement following her parents’ divorce, E.A. and her brother Colin lived with their mother in Sacramento and visited their father, Tom Hanks, and stepmother, Rita Wilson, in Los Angeles on weekends and during summer breaks.

However, E.A. described a turning point when her mother’s emotional instability reportedly escalated into physical violence:

"One night, her emotional violence became physical violence, and in the aftermath I moved to Los Angeles, right smack in the middle of the seventh grade," she wrote. "My custody arrangement basically switched — now I live in L.A. and visit Sacramento on the weekends and in the summer.”

The revelation highlights the emotional complexity and pain of E.A.’s upbringing and provides deeper context to her decision to examine her past so openly in her memoir. Despite the traumatic experience, she approaches the story with a mix of vulnerability and reflection — qualities her father, Tom Hanks, has praised in his public remarks.

This chapter in her life underscores the resilience E.A. developed in her formative years and helps explain her boldness in tackling personal truths with literary courage.