CURRENT ALUMNUS OF THE MONTH - FEBRUARY 2011

Name:
Colin Hanks

AIB Program:
New Europe Program Fall 1997

Current Job Position:
TV & Movie Star

 

About studying abroad:

"My Time at AIB was a monumental chapter of my young adult life. Before I had even left Germany, I had begun telling people that my decision to study abroad was “One of the the best decisions I have ever made”.

The friendships and memories I made while in Bonn are as strong now as they were when I attended and I cannot recommend the program enough. Anyone who has the chance would be a fool not to go!"

 

Bio:
Colin Hanks was born on November 24, 1977 in Sacramento, California, where he also grew up and spent his youth. After school, he decided to study acting and in 1998 he graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Westchester, California after spending one semester studying abroad at the AIB in Bonn, Germany. During his years at college, he participated in several school acting projects and played a small role in "The Thing You Do" (1996).

Colin started auditioning in the year after his graduation from LMU. Due to his famous surname "Hanks", he applied with a changed name to make sure he was chosen for his talent exclusively. Soon he was able to get hold of his first parts in TV series and in the movie "Whatever it takes".

In 2002, Colin joined Jack Black in the high school comedy "Orange County" and was given a leading role next to Hilary Swank and Rachel Leigh Cook in "11:14". The movie follows five plot lines and finally merges them to expose a story of murder and deceit. It was selected to be the closing movie at Germany's fantasy film festival 2003. Two years later, in 2005, Colin and Jack Black played together in "King Kong". Here, Colin acted in the role of the assistant Preston.

Until today, Colin has been participating in several TV series such as "The O.C.", "Numb3rs", "Mad Men" and was particularly popular with his roles in "The Good Guys" and "Roswell". Apart from his TV appearances, he could be seen in numerous movies. Recently he played with Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan in "My Mom's New Boyfriend" and next to John Malkovich and Tom Hanks in "The Great Buck Howard."

Colin Hanks is the eldest son of the well-known actor Tom Hanks and got married to New York publicist Samantha Bryan in 2010.