Little-known facts about 1994's 'Forrest Gump'

Forrest Gump began life as a 1986 novel by Winston Groom. It’s pretty much the only novel that Groom is known for, but it brought him a great deal of success. The book actually wasn’t super popular when it was released, but it sold over one million copies after the film came out.

The book, like the film, is about a slow-witted man making his way through life and finding himself in the middle of many noteworthy historical events and sometimes inadvertently causing them. Forrest catches the Watergate burglars, for example. The book featured some events in Forrest’s life that didn’t make the movie, though. For example, he goes into space and becomes a professional wrestler.

It’s hard to imagine anybody but Tom Hanks in the role of Gump now, but he wasn’t the first choice. They wanted John Travolta, but he passed. It could have been a truly amazing year for Travolta. In 1994, he had his “comeback” by starring in Pulp Fiction. Although Bill Murray and Chevy Chase were also considered, Hanks got the role.

In the book, Forrest is from rural Alabama and thus has a thick Southern accent. For the movie, Hanks wasn’t sure about that and tried to reel in the robustness of the accent. However, director Robert Zemeckis asked Hanks to lean into the thick accent described in the novel, and he agreed.

Osment would break into stardom as a child in The Sixth Sense. Even before that, he was in a hit movie. Osment plays Jenny’s son at the end of Forrest Gump. It was his first film, having been discovered thanks to a Pizza Hut ad he appeared in for their “Bigfoot Pizza” offering.

A lot of famous people from the past show up in Forrest Gump, thanks to archival footage and CGI. One person appears as themselves, though. That would be TV host Dıck Cavett, who has never been shy about self-promotion (but in a self-effacing way). Cavett merely used makeup to look like he did back in the day.

Zemeckis was already a successful director by the time production of Forrest Gump began, but he was not a lock to helm this movie. Terry Gilliam turned down a chance to direct the film, which makes sense. The man behind movies like Brazil and 12 Monkeys would have been an odd choice. Barry Sonnenfeld was also considered, but he chose to do Addams Family Values instead.

Field plays Forrest’s mother, both when he is a child and an adult. Some old-age makeup was required for the latter. Field is only 10 years older than Hanks. The two played contemporaries and love interests in the ‘80s comedy Punchline.

Zemeckis is known for his affinity for special effects. He’s the guy who made The Polar Express and Beowulf, after all. While he didn’t go all out for Forrest Gump, he used a lot of CGI, especially for 1994. With the help of ILM, Zemeckis used CGI to have Hanks interact with folks like John F. Kennedy and to create the illusion that Gary Sinise’s Lieutenant Dan had actually lost his legs.

Forrest Gump proved a populous smash. It made over $300 million at the box office in the United States, finishing second only to The Lion King. Overall, Forrest Gump has made over $683 million worldwide. It’s Zemeckis’ highest-grossing film, and he’s the man who directed all three Back to the Future movies, among other successes.

Apparently, the thick accent didn’t get in Hanks’ way. He won Best Actor for Forrest Gump. This was notable, as Hanks had just won Best Actor the year prior for Philadelphia. Only one other man has done that, the legendary actor Spencer Tracy, who did it way back in 1937 and 1938.

Hanks wasn’t the only one who went home happy at the Academy Awards. Forrest Gump took home six Oscars total. One of those went to Zemeckis for Best Director. It also took home the big prize (no matter what Steven Soderbergh might believe) in Best Picture. This has become controversial in hindsight. The year 1994 also gave us Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption, two much-loved movies.

One line from Forrest Gump ended up on AFI’s list of iconic movie quotes. You know the line: “Mama says life is like a box of chocolates.” Ah, but that’s not the actual quote. In the movie, Forrest says, “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” So yeah, maybe you were slightly off. In the book, the line Forrest says, “Being an idiot is no box of chocolates.”

Groom’s novel Forrest Gump sold a ton of copies after the movie was a hit. This led to a sequel novel that may have been a bit of a cash-in. Gump & Co came out in 1995, right in the wake of Zemeckis’ film. The book picks up in the ‘80s and gets a little meta. Gump even meets Tom Hanks!

Gump & Co was naturally optioned for a movie because why wouldn’t you want to make a sequel of a movie that made over $600 million and won Best Picture? A screenplay for the sequel was written in 2001 by Eric Roth, who also wrote the script for Forrest Gump. Then, 9/11 happened. All the key figures decided that rendered the script irrelevant, and the project was nixed.

There were plans for an Indian take on the Forrest Gump story, with Aamir Khan, a Bollywood star, attached to star and produce. The COVID-19 pandemic left the project up in the air, but it finally arrived in 2022.

In the film, Forrest is given a recommendation on how to improve at table tennis: Keep your eye on the ball. Forrest takes that literally. Hanks went so far as not to blink in any of the scenes where Forrest plays ping pong, and there are quite a few.

Sinise, who plays Lieutenant Dan, used his role in this movie to lend a helping hand. He is the frontman of the Lt. Dan Band, a cover band that has played at USO shows and has done extensive work to raise money for veterans.

Some actors just make magic together. Hanks and Sinise have been in three films together: Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and The Green Mile. All three movies were nominated for Best Picture, though only Forrest Gump emerged victorious.

Jenny, Forrest’s lifelong love, is a tragic figure. She’s also just “Jenny.” Her last name is never spoken in the movie. The only way to know is to look at some of the mail that is delivered to her. Jenny’s last name? Curran.