“America’s Sweetheart” Tom Hanks is well-known for a squeaky-clean image as the star of beloved movies like Cast Away, Big and Forrest Gump, but one of his sons, Chet Hanks, isn’t necessarily following in his dad’s footsteps. The rapper/actor has gone viral a few times lately for being the self-described “black sheep” of his family. The latest Chet Hanks moment involves him randomly going into a Joker impression from The Dark Knight and it’s certainly something.
When Chet Hanks was recently a guest on Showtime late-night talk and sketch show Ziwe, Tom Hanks’ son randomly got into an impression of the Batman villain for nearly a minute straight to his own amusement. Check it out:
i asked chet hanks about his fitness app and somehow we ended up at his joker impression pic.twitter.com/00QB1aXjqAMay 12, 2022
The comedian and Hanks were on a segment of the episode where he was asked about his private fitness app HanxFit, which currently costs $299 a month for custom routines and meal plans. When asked about his plan for the business venture, Chet Hanks started repeating lines from Heath Ledger’s Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight.
While Ziwe flashed him some confused and cringed-out expressions in response to saying lines like “I’m like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn’t know what to do with it if I got it” and “My father was a drinker and a fiend” before shouting out the actor behind it with “R.I.P. Heath” and then catching Ziwe off guard with a louder portion of the impression.
The reactions were, of course, just as hilarious. The Hotwives of Orlando actress Danielle Schneider said “I’m dying of laughter and also terrified of him” on Instagram, Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk quipped “WTF just happened?!”, while Esquire editor Dave Holmes said “ He looks like a guy who has a Joker impression ready to go.”
During the late-night episode, Chet Hanks was also asked about that time he did a Jamaican accent at the 2019 Golden Globes, and then asked if he'd like to apologize to the Patois community, to which he said “Nah.” He also said “social justice warriors can go kick rocks” along with addressing his “White Boy Summer” song.
Also among the fun occurrences on the Ziwe episode was Chet Hanks declaring his favorite letter is “C”, singing a song about the late great Martin Luther King Jr. and telling the host she had “nice lips.” Ziwe is early in her late-night career, but not unlike hosts like Eric Andre did before her (in his own way), she uses satire and discomfort to bring audiences unique interviews. It’s possible some of it is its guests playing off the comedy of the whole thing, but that Joker impression definitely seems like an organic moment from Chet Hanks.
Ziwe’s Season 2 is among the 2022 TV premiere dates in May, and it's expected to be a 12-episode season.
