Chet Hanks Says He Heard Back from Woody Harrelson Through Some 'Obscure Email' When He Asked for Basketball Pointers forRunning Point

Mar. 15, 2025

Chet Hanks; Woody Harrelson.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty; Paul Morigi/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty; Paul Morigi/Getty

Chet Hanksgot some tips from fellow onscreen basketball player,Woody Harrelson, before starring in Netflix’sRunning Point.

While making his talk show debut on the Wednesday, March 12 episode ofTonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Hanks, 34 — who plays Los Angeles Waves point guard Travis Bugg inRunning Point— told the host he turned to Harrelson, 63, for advice before filming the series.

Hanks recalled reaching out toMatthew McConaughey, 55, in a bid to get Harrelson’s number. However, it was a while before he got a response.

“He doesn’t have a phone, which I totally respect,” Hanks explained of Harrelson, who played former college basketball player Billy Hoyle in the 1992 filmWhite Men Can’t Jump.

“I think he said somewhere that he doesn’t want to be readily available to anybody at any point because he lives in Hawaii. He’s in Hawaii. Why would you wanna have a phone, you know? So I totally respect it," Hanks went on.

“But he did get back to me. It was from some obscure email. You know when you get FaceTime but it’s an email, it’s not a number? It’s like an iCloud or whatever. I was like, ‘Who is this?’ He was like, ‘It’s Woody, man,’” he continued.

Chet Hanks in ‘Running Point’.Katrina Marcinowski/Netflix

Katrina Marcinowski/Netflix

The actor, who is the son ofRita WilsonandTom Hanks, admitted he’s “awful” at basketball, but said Harrelson was “actually really good at basketball.”

“So there wasn’t much he could tell me. He did tell me ‘just walk around with the basketball with you, when you’re going about your day-to-day,'” he told Fallon of the advice he’d been given.

“I did that a little bit, for a couple of days,” he laughed.

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Woody Harrelson in ‘White Men Can’t Jump’.Snap/Shutterstock

Snap/Shutterstock

“I’m awful. It’s actually, like, I’m a pretty athletic guy but that’s the one sport … It’s honestly pathetic. Like, watching me try to join in and play a pickup game? It’s really sad,” he insisted, joking that he “lied” to get passed theRunning Pointaudition stage.

Chet Hanks on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

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Running Pointis now streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com