Chet Hanks Says He's 'Awful' at Basketball Despite 'Running Point' Role: 'It's Really Sad'

While the world has known Chet Hanks for quite some time now, there’s no denying that his role as Travis Bugg on Netflix’s Running Point marks his true breakout moment. Fresh off word that the Lakers-inspired series has been given the go-ahead for a second season, Hanks, whose country duo Something Out West will release their second single later this month through Nashville’s Big Machine, made his late-night debut on Wednesday’s Tonight Show.

Speaking with host Jimmy Fallon about his preparation process for the part of Bugg, a point guard for the fictional Waves team, Hanks admitted that the level of basketball skills he possesses in real life leaves something to be desired. In fact, Hanks went so far as to deem himself an “awful” basketball player.

“I’m awful,” Hanks told Fallon, whom he first met as a child on the set of Band of Brothers with his father, Tom Hanks. “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.”

Asked how he managed to get through the auditions process given his lack of prowess on the court, Hanks revealed that he consulted with none other than Billy Hoyle himself, i.e. Woody Harrelson. Initially, however, Hanks had some difficulty getting in touch with the White Men Can’t Jump actor, though Harrelson’s fellow True Detective alum Matthew McConaughey ultimately helped make it happen.

“He doesn’t have a phone, which I totally respect,” Hanks told Fallon on Wednesday. “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. 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.’”

Harrelson, himself a “really good” basketball player, advised Hanks to carry a basketball around with him throughout the day as part of his Travis Bugg prep process.

See more from Chet and Jimmy above.

Running Point’s first season is out now on Netflix. The series is led by Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a Jeanie Buss-like character who’s made the president of the Los Angeles Waves. Last week, Netflix responded to fans’ demands for new episodes with confirmation that a second season is on the way.