QUIET LIVING

Inside Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s son Chet's trailer park life in Nashville


Chet is living his dreams


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Jovita TrujilloSenior Writer
MAY 8, 2026 12:53 PM EDT

Chet Hanks may come from Hollywood royalty, but he is fully embracing the trailer park life. The actor and musician recently revealed that after moving to Nashville to pursue country music, he decided to skip the luxury apartment route altogether and instead move into an RV park.

Chet opened up about his trailer life © NBC
Chet opened up about his trailer life

During an interview with The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Chet explained that after buying and furnishing his “first property” in Los Angeles, he had zero interest in doing it all over again in Tennessee. “I didn’t want to get an apartment,” he admitted. “I was staying in Airbnbs and hotels, and that gets really old because I just like having my own space."

Chet is living his dreams© IG: @chethanx
Chet is living his dreams

The unconventional move apparently started after a solo road trip to Carmel, where he stayed in an Airstream trailer and instantly became obsessed with the idea. “I really loved it,” he said. “And I was like, man, I want one of these.” 

Chet eventually bought his own RV, specifically a “Jayco Eagle,” which he proudly pointed out is “really nice” for anyone who knows trailer life. “I got my kitchen, I got, you know, a walk-in shower,” he said, adding that avoiding a dreaded “wet bath” setup was a major win. “Sometimes they combine the toilet and the shower. It’s called a wet bath.”

He showed off his lakeside view in a video from March © IG: @chethanx
He showed off his lakeside view in a video from March

He lives there with his dog, Queen, and despite whatever stereotypes people might imagine about trailer parks, Chet says the reality has been surprisingly wholesome. “I’m probably, like, the youngest person in the trailer park by like 30 or 40 years,” he joked. “It’s all just retirees.” He added, “Great people.”

The son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson even has a fire pit outside his RV, though his day-to-day life sounds less like a country song and more like a Netflix binge. “Most of the time, I just do exactly what I do at home, which is just stay inside and lie in bed and watch Netflix and things like that,” he admitted.

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He started sharing videos from his trailer back in March, showing his lakeside view and revealing that he decided to move there because of the peace and quiet of it all. He shared a day in the life, making coffee, sitting at his dinette, and enjoying 12MG "Southern" flavored tobacco chews.

The 35-year-old also shared a video saying living your dreams has nothing to do with money, consumerism, and a lavish lifestyle. 

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The move comes during a particularly chaotic chapter for Chet, who recently made headlines after getting temporarily stranded in Colombia while traveling abroad. Shortly after returning to the U.S., he leaned even harder into his country music era by teasing new music from his project Something Out West, including a song reflecting on his wild past.

“I’ve been soul searching,” he sings in the track, which references “cocaine and strippers” and being the “life and death of the party.” When posting the teaser online, Chet joked, “Do you think my parents are proud of me for making this song or am I cooked?” Rita quickly jumped into the comments with her approval, writing, “This gets the Mama Seal of Approval.”

Rita has also recently spoken candidly about motherhood and how losing her own mother changed the way she parents. “For my kids nowadays, I’m probably a bit more unfiltered with them,” she shared in a recent interview. “I just tell them things all the time, and we usually get a lot of laughs out of it.” 

She added that she always tried to be “the mom that was there when they got home, drove the carpool, and did all those things,” especially while balancing careers with Tom.

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