Colin Hanks draws on his own experiences for ‘Life in Pieces’

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Photo by Tribune News Service

Zoe Lister-Jones and Colin Hanks in “Life in Pieces” (Photo courtesy CBS/TNS)

Colin Hanks has become a busier actor than his Oscar-winning father, Tom. Since the start of 2014, he’s been on the TV shows “Fargo,” “Bad Teacher,” “Mom,” “What Lives Inside,” “Talking Tom and Friends” and “Drunk History.” Toss in the film “Vacation,” and that’s lots of time on the job.

His latest job is on the CBS comedy “Life in Pieces.” The role has been a great fit for him because it’s an ensemble series, which means he gets to spend more time with his own family. That helps him play a new father on the show.

“It definitely helps if you’ve gone through an experience personally to be able to mine your personal experiences and remember what that’s like. That definitely helps in any sort of role,” Hanks says.

The writers are willing to listen to his life stories to add elements to the script. Hanks told the writers and producers about his own experience of driving home for the first time with his wife and newborn child. Both parents cried all the way home because they were so happy.

That story was written into the first episode. He is happy to be part of a production that is open to such input.

“It’s one of those scenarios, too, where we have an incredibly great writing staff that has already been put together, so everybody’s got stories,” Hanks says. “The thing that makes the show really unique, is that at any given stage in your adulthood within your family, there are these different chapters, these different eras of your life that you’re able to mine. This is a show in which we’re able to explore all of those, from teenage years all the way up until your twilight years, and so there’s a little something for everybody.”

“Life in Pieces” airs 8:30 p.m. Mondays on CBS.