Hank was born in the
Bronx and his parents moved to
Levittown, New York on
Long Island to raise him. In his pursuit to become a writer, he moved to New York City; and eventually, his talent and gift were noticed by the literary community. Hank met Karen Van der Beek at
CBGB and soon after she became pregnant in 1994, later giving birth to their daughter, Becca. After the publication of his third novel,
God Hates Us All, which grew his popularity, Hank, Karen and Becca moved to Los Angeles so that Hank could work on the screenplay for the movie adaptation. After his novel
God Hates Us All is adapted into a Hollywood film that he despises,
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Hank Moody is suffering from
writer's block and wallowing in alcohol, drugs and promiscuous sex. Karen is engaged to Bill Lewis, a man Hank despises. Hank meets a young woman in a bookshop reading his book and soon sleeps with her. Their brief encounter is memorably punctuated by her hitting Hank in the face with her fist. He later learns that she is Mia, Bill Lewis's sixteen-year-old daughter. Mia proceeds to provoke Hank during visits to his family at Bill's house. She uses the threat of
statutory rape charges to extort un-published short stories from him that she passes off as her own work for her high-school creative-writing class. During a stay in New York for his father's funeral, Hank writes a
manuscript drawing from his encounter with Mia. When the only copy falls into the hands of Mia, she slightly alters it and tries to have it published as her own, calling it
Fucking & Punching. Eager to publish a young, female, sexually explicit writing sensation the publishing world shows much interest in "Mia's" book. On Karen and Bill's wedding day, Hank behaves uncharacteristically selflessly and accepts the situation so as not to destroy his beloved's wedding day. But that evening, as he and Becca are about to drive away from the reception in his un-washed, poorly maintained Porsche cabriolet, Karen runs out and jumps into his car and they drive off. Although they planned to move back to New York, Hank and Karen split up after learning that Hank has possibly impregnated Sonja, Karen's friend that she set Hank up with while they were separated. Hank becomes fast friends with rock music producer Lew Ashby, who recruits the writer to pen his biography, which he finishes shortly after Ashby's death. After Hank has a cancer scare and Sonja gives birth to a mixed-race child, Hank and Karen reconcile. However, Hank volunteers to stay in California for Becca's sake while Karen goes to New York for work. With Karen in New York, the status of her and Hank's relationship is unclear. After causing writer/professor Richard Bates to compromise his sobriety, Hank is recruited as a creative writing college professor in his place. During a short visit by Karen, it is decided that Hank and Becca will finally move back to New York with her. However, Mia returns to Los Angeles with her manager/boyfriend, to whom she has confessed sleeping with Hank while underage and stealing
Fucking & Punching from him. When her manager suggests Mia and Hank reveal their story publicly, Hank attacks him, after which the manager calls the police. Hank returns home to confess everything to Karen, who breaks down and runs out into the street as cops arrive to arrest him. Before Hank is even out on
bail, the story behind
Fucking & Punching is reported in the media. Upon being released, he is hired to rewrite the screenplay for its film adaptation. Although the assault charges are dropped, Hank is newly arrested when the
district attorney decides to prosecute him for statutory rape. After an accidental overdose on alcohol and pills, Karen assumes Hank is suicidal and warms to him. But after learning he is not, she begins to date the father of Becca's new friend. Hank is found guilty, but is relieved when he only receives three years
probation, a fine and community service. Over two years later, Hank has been living in New York City while Karen is in California and married to Richard Bates, with Hank surprisingly accepting of the marriage. To get away from a break up with his year-long casual partner Carrie, who sets his apartment on fire, Hank visits California to write the script for
Santa Monica Cop starring rapper Samurai Apocalypse. He also comes to blows with Becca's boyfriend Tyler, an aspiring writer who shares several characteristic traits with a young Hank Moody. After falling back into alcoholism, Richard ends his marriage to Karen and gives his blessing for her to be with Hank, with the two eager to be with one another again. However, Carrie makes a surprise visit and tricks Hank into drinking a drugged alcoholic beverage in an effort to end both their lives. Although Hank recovers fully, Carrie is left in a
persistent vegetative state with her family deciding to end her life. Hank feels responsible and falls into severe alcoholism, until his friends and daughter stage an intervention. After an early-leaving of
rehab, he agrees to write the script to a
rock musical adaptation of
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love with rock musician Atticus Fetch writing the songs. Becca, having begun having sex and using drugs believing it will help her become a writer, much to Hank's chagrin, departs to travel the world on a "literary pilgrimage." Although he embarked on a tour with Atticus, Hank leaves hoping to finally be with Karen. Hank is contacted by a young man, Levon, who informs him that he is Hank's son.
Characteristics However shallow Hank may come across as being, most episodes of
Californication reveal at least some degree of depth to his persona, in many cases exposing a surprisingly vulnerable Hank, especially in relation to his long-term
on-and-off girlfriend Karen and their daughter, Becca. He is shown on more than one occasion to be broken, empty and desolate, seeing himself as beyond saving. Hank loves rock music and collects classic vinyl records. His favorite artist appears to be
Warren Zevon. Along with the consumption of whiskey and weed, Hank listens to Zevon songs, every time he completes a piece of writing. He also mentions
Black Sabbath lyrics from time to time. He owns a classic
Gibson Les Paul. In the second season, he reveals to
Lew Ashby that the first album he ever bought with his own money was
Led Zeppelin II. Three of Hank's novels,
South of Heaven,
Seasons in the Abyss and
God Hates Us All are named after the albums by the American
thrash metal band,
Slayer. During the first four seasons of the series, Hank is seen driving a 1990
Porsche 964 Cabriolet with one headlight smashed. The car is characterized by its messy and dusty look that Hank maintains with his daughter Becca's support. They both claim that it "has character". Hank buys a new
Porsche 996 Cabriolet in the
ninth episode of the first season but it's soon
carjacked, so Hank goes back to his original Porsche. In the fourth season when the car is crashed by Becca, Hank subsequently buys another of the same model and color. He is seen using a tire iron to break the right headlight of the new car, even before leaving the used car lot on Washington Boulevard in Marina Del Rey, to resemble his old car. However, in Season 5 Hank is given a new Porsche (initially a
997, then a
991) by Charlie and subsequently drives that for the rest of the series. The series finale ends with a shot of the car. This solidifies that Hank is leaving his lifestyle behind to finally be with Karen, as they fly to New York for Becca's wedding.
Publications •
South of HeavenWritten before the show. •
Seasons in the AbyssWritten before the show. •
God Hates Us AllWritten before the show. The movie adaptation has just been finished before the first season begins. In the sixth season Hank writes a musical based on the book with Atticus Fetch, although he is fired in the debut episode of the subsequent season. •
Fucking & PunchingWritten during the first season, it was stolen by Mia Lewis, who then got it published as her own work and received critical acclaim. Hank regains attribution for the novel between the third and fourth seasons, and assists in the development of the film adaptation after being hired to rewrite the script. •
Lew Ashby, A BiographyWritten during the second season. It was published posthumously after Lew Ashby mistakenly overdosed on heroin. •
CalifornicationWritten between the fourth and fifth season.
Other works Aside from his books, Hank has written the screenplay for the movie adaption of his
God Hates Us All novel, titled
A Crazy Little Thing Called Love. He also wrote the musical based on the movie before he was fired. In the first season, he writes a
blog for
Hell-A Magazine, which is owned by Bill Lewis. In the fourth season, he rewrote the
Fucking & Punching screenplay and dialogue for
Slowly We Rot 2. In season five Hank writes the screenplay for
Santa Monica Cop and the lyrics to a song for singer Kali. Season seven sees Hank becoming a staff writer for the television adaptation of
Santa Monica Cop. ==Development==