The Cast of Forrest Gump, Then and Now

Humphreys played the younger Forrest in the movie, which was actually the young actor’s debut in a film as a whole. Interestingly, Hanks even went as far as to say that he modeled the voice of the older Forrest Gump off of the way Humphreys himself spoke.

Following the film, Humphreys didn’t initially return to cinema, instead choosing to remain a normal kid in Mississippi. He served in the United States Army from 2005 to 2010, which included more than one deployment in Iraq. After enlistment, he actually did find his way back to Hollywood, starring in the 2011 war film Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers. Since then, Humphreys has been living a relatively normal life as a teacher, though he claims that he would like to return to acting at some point in the future.

Ah, Lieutenant Dan. Your lack of legs only added to your charm and character development. Gary Sinise, who played Lieutenant Dan Taylor, actually started his career in traditional theater, but he caught Hollywood’s attention after playing a starring role in the 1992 movie adaptation of the book Of Mice and Men, which he also had a hand in directing. It was that success that helped Sinise make the cut for Forrest Gump, and we’re glad he did: he played Lieutenant Dan better than anyone could have.

Since playing Lieutenant Dan, Gary Sinise has had roles in many shows and movies, including Apollo 13 and CSI: NY. Most notably, he started the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011, which raises money for disabled veterans and even helps provide them with smart homes tailored to their needs. His band, The Lt. Dan Band, has performed for veterans on hundreds of stages, including military bases and even warzones. In 2018 the foundation raised $35 million for veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

An odd fact that most people don’t know is that Mykelti Williamson used a prosthetic lower lip while portraying Bubba Blue, the shrimp-loving Army bud of Forrest in the film. Said role had actually been offered to Dave Chapelle, who said that he regretted turning it down after the fact. Williamson was previously a TV actor before Forrest Gump, starring on shows such as Midnight Caller and The New WKRP Cincinnati.

Williamson’s most recent role in the film was as Sergeant Hayes in the film The 24th, as well as a handful of episodes in the TV series Lethal Weapon. His acting career is still going strong, with a penchant for playing military men and tough guys, so we expect to see him continue along those lines. Ironically, many of is characters give the same vibe that Bubba Blue did, even when he isn’t playing military types.

This famous child actor “saw dead people” in the classic The Sixth Sense, but not before he took on the role of Forrest Gump Jr. Oddly enough, he was picked for the role by the director after being seen in an advertisement for Pizza Hut. At the time, Osment was six years old. We’re not really sure which particular Pizza Hut ad scored him the role, but it must have sold a lot of pies.

Unlike his fellow child actor Humphreys, Osment continued playing in various roles in many films and TV shows after his debut in 1994. Admittedly, most of the films weren’t extremely huge hits, but he’s been acting consistently regardless. More notably, he voiced the main character of the popular video game series Kingdom Hearts, Sora. Today he is still acting in various films and shows as well as playing voices in video games.

Forrest Gump didn’t really have an antagonist in the traditional storytelling sense: there was no big bad villain to be defeated by the protagonist. But if you had to pick someone that played an antagonistic role, it was Wesley, Jenny’s boyfriend, who got a bit rough with her and incurred Forrest’s fury. Wesley was played by Geoffrey Blake, an individual that had guest-starred on shows such as L.A. Law and Hunter.

Like many of the other actors that played in the movie, Geoffrey Blake has continued his acting career since 1994. Most recently, he had a role in Season 2 of Charmed, and a role in the 2019 World War Two film Midway. The latter film was a major hit last year as far as war movies are concerned, and out of all the movies the actors mentioned here have participated in, this is probably the one most people have seen recently.

The star of Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks was a celebrated actor before the film, having already possessed an Academy Award thanks to his performance in Philadelphia. It was just a year later when he won another Oscar for Best Actor thanks to Forrest Gump, playing a not too bright but big-hearted man thrust into the turmoil of post World War Two America. However, we never would have gotten Hanks at all if John Travolta hadn’t turned the role down first.

What Tom Hanks is up to now is a little surprising: selling peanuts and hot dogs at baseball team Oakland A’s games. He used to sell snacks in stadiums when he was 14. Making the whole thing even more amusing is the fact that there’s no one to actually sell anything to, as the stadiums are filled with cardboard cutouts while teams actually play during the 2020 pandemic. Tom Hanks’ voice will be selling hot dogs to these fake attendees for the amusement of fans watching on TV.

Not every cast member that played in Forrest Gump had a major role, but some of them were still pretty memorable nevertheless. Sam Anderson’s role as the Principal was pretty minor, but that role nevertheless went a long way in helping to establish just how much Mrs. Gump cared for her son, and in establishing how Forrest was going to have a tough time keeping up with other kids at school.

Since his admittedly minor role in Forrest Gump, Sam Anderson has played in somewhat more notable roles within films such as Water for Elephants. He has also played as memorable characters in TV series, including a role as Barnard Nadler in the popular series Lost. Even though he is well into his seventies by now, he seems to have no interest in putting a stop to his acting career, in film or television.

When Forrest joined the Army, it was a Drill Sergeant played by Afemo Omilami that whipped him and all of his fellow recruits into shape. It may have been a minor role, but as any Army personnel will tell you, the Drill Sergeant is the one who makes you the soldier you become. The role may have been a small one, but it’s also one of the roles people know Omilami for the most.

After Forrest Gump, Omilami continued his acting career, playing various roles ranging from major to minor. While many people probably wouldn’t readily associate the roles with the drill sergeant from Forrest Gump, his most recent films were The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One and Terminator Genisys. Those films are a few years old at this point, but it’s pretty likely that Omilami intends to keep acting, though with no indicator of when his next film may be.

Bear Bryant is the college football coach who ensured Forrest could get a scholarship to the University of Alabama, in order to run for its football team. Played by Sonny Shroyer, Bear Bryant is one of the only characters in the film who was a real person, but is not played by that person. The only other character to share that distinction was Elvis Presley, who, for obvious reasons, couldn’t play himself.

Despite being well into his 80s, Sonny Shroyer is still acting. Right now, he’s even playing roles in a film slated for 2021 and in the series Running. It seems he has no intention of letting old age slow down his career, and we can’t say we aren’t glad about that: Shroyer always manages to bring a certain enjoyable presence to the films he participates in, filling them with energy despite his age.

Just like someone had to play a young Forrest, Hanna R. Hall played a young Jenny in Forrest Gump. Like Humphreys, the movie was her film debut as an actor. Unlike Humphreys, who decided to call it quits on movies for several years, Hall went on to play in roles in Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the 1999 drama The Virgin Suicides. Maybe she found a taste for cinema in her performance in 1994.

Since her debut in 1994, Hall has been consistently carrying on with her career as an actor, with her most recent roles including characters in the 2018 film Dying for the Crown, with a role in the short film Another Skin coming one year earlier. It seems like she has no intention of stopping anytime soon, though there’s no word on when her next major role will be, especially taking the current state of the world into account.

He wasn’t in the movie for long, but Richard D’Alessandro’s brief role as Abbie Hoffman was a scene-stealer, to say the very least. Hoffman presents Forrest to thousands of people outside the White House who are protesting against the U.S. army’s involvement in the Vietnam war. Forrest comments how Hoffman liked to say the “F-word” a lot. Despite some tampering with the sound system, the public seems to warm to Forrest, and Hoffman definitely helped with that.

There is no denying that Forrest Gump was Richard D’Alessandro’s biggest movie at that point of his career. Since then, the talented actor has made appearances in big shows such as The Sopranos, As the World Turns, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, to name a few. His most recent role came in the hit TV series The Deuce, starring James Franco. D’Alessandro has been married three times, with his most recent marriage to a lady named Christine ending in 2016.

No one can forget the awkward moment when Forrest Gump gets on the school bus for the first time and is greeted by the bus driver, Dorothy Harris (played by Siobhan Fallon Hogan). Towards the end of the movie, we see an older version of Dorothy Harris driving the same school bus. This time though, it is Forrest’s son, Forrest Jr., getting on the bus and engaging in some awkward small talk with the driver, just like his dad did back in the ’50s.

Since her role in Forrest Gump, Siobhan Fallon Hogan has never struggled to find work and has appeared in over 30 feature films. These include classics such as Striptease, Men in Black, and We Need to Talk About Kevin, to name a few. She has also appeared on shows such as 30 Rock, Billions, and Elementary. One of her most recent appearances came on the hit vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows. She is married and has three kids.

After returning from Vietnam and becoming a national ping pong hero, Forrest Gump ends up on Dick Cavett’s show, alongside John Lennon, of all people. Producers used archival footage from an actual interview between Cavett and Lennon, with Tom Hanks being superimposed over where Yoko Ono was originally sitting. In order to change the dialogue to fit the fictional interview, Cavett played a ’70s version of himself and even applied makeup to make him look younger.

While the original run of The Tonight Show with Dick Cavett ended in 1986, versions of the show kept running on and off up until as late as 2007. Since then, Cavett has remained relatively low-key over the years, with the odd guest appearance on shows such as Gossip Girl and Children’s Hospital. Sadly in 2006, Cavett’s wife of 42 years Carrie Nye passed away from lung cancer. Four years later, Cavett tied the knot with author Martha Rogers and as of 2019, they have been living Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Throughout the movie, Forrest Gump seems to serendipitously encounter some of American history’s most important figures and also directly affects their actions. For example, Forrest’s mother hosts a young Elvis Presley, who is seen in one scene playing guitar for the boy. The way he dances ends up inspiring Elvis’s classic strut. Interestingly, it was only Dobson’s likeness that was used for the character of Elvis. The actor who lent his voice for the role was none other than Kurt Russell.

Truth be told, Peter Dobson has never exactly been a household name, as far as actors are concerned. With that says, he does have a pretty extensive filmography to his name, especially since his role as Elvis in Forrest Gump. He has appeared in movies such as The Frighteners, Protecting the King, and Fatal Instinct, to name a few. However, it’s not just acting that Dobson has done in his life. In the last few years, Dobson has had ongoing discussions to make his directorial debut.

Forrest Gump spends New Year’s Eve of 1972 in New York City with Lieutenant Dan, who is in a dark place after returning from his duty in Vietnam. During the New Year’s party, the two encounter two young women who take an interest in them. One of the women is Lenore, played by Marla Sucharetza. Although the four return to Dan’s apartment, the party soon comes to an end when Dan yells at Lenore for insulting Forrest about his mental health.

Over the years, Marla Sucharetza has held down a steady career in the world of acting. With that said though, she hasn’t actually had an acting credit since 2015. Up until that point she had appeared in movies such as Road Trip, The Fan, and One for the Money, amongst others. She also featured on TV shows such as Seinfeld, The Good Wife, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But nothing will quite compare to her role as Lenore.

He might not be the most important character in the movie, but Steven Griffith’s Tex does get a little bit of limelight when Forrest is name-dropping some of his comrades during his time in Vietnam. What’s funny is that one of the soldiers is called Dallas, who is from Phoenix, while another is called Cleveland, who is from Detroit. However, Forrest doesn’t remember where Tex came from. Forrest ends up saving Tex’s life during the ensuing battle.

Truth be told, Steven Griffith has had a fairly modest acting career since his role as Tex. Over the course of the last 25+ years, he has only managed to add four more acting credits to his name. His most noteworthy roles have come in the show Break a Hip. Fun fact though – Griffith was apparently edited out of an episode of Desperate Housewives because he was too tall. Since 2012, Griffith traded in his acting to begin a full-time career in writing.

The character of Louise (played by Margo Moorer) is a “blink and you will miss it” kind of situation. But if you rewatch the movie, it’s impossible to forget her. Louise is basically a maid who works for Mrs. Gump after Forrest has grown up and has started fishing for shrimp. When Forrest returns home because of a family emergency, a heartbroken Louise is there waiting by the porch to direct him to his ailing mother.

Another actress whose career did not exactly blow up after her role in Forrest Gump is Margo Moorer. With that said though, she has managed to stay busy in the world of acting, appearing on shows such as Kenan & Kel, Sheena, and Drop Dead Diva, to name a few. One of her most recent roles though came in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries The Outsider, based on the Stephen King book of the same name.

We have already alluded to the scene in which Forrest violently reacts to Wesley for slapping Jenny in front of him. But it is the fact that it happened at a Black Panther event that made the scenario particularly memorable. Michael Jace plays the leader of the group, who lectures Forrest about the injustices suffered by black people during this time and what he and the Black Panthers are trying to do. Forrest awkwardly apologizes to them for ruining the event.

Michael Jace arguably has the most tragic story since his role in Forrest Gump. The talented actor had minor roles in films such as Boogie Nights, Planets of the Apes, and The Replacements, to name a few. Sadly though, Jace’s career was cut short when in 2014, he was arrested and convicted for being responsible for the passing of his wife, April, who was a track and field athlete. In 2016, he was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison and is currently incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison.

In the film, Robin Wright was the love of Forrest’s life, Jenny, and played a huge role in his character development throughout the story. But the movie wasn’t her first major role, nor where she started. That would be the nighttime soap Santa Barbara, with her real rise to popularity being the role she played as the titular character of the classic The Princess Bride. There’s little doubt that her success in those roles influenced the decision to have her play Jenny in Forrest Gump.

Robin Wright’s career in film and TV hasn’t slowed down at all since Forrest Gump. In fact, one could say it has only accelerated. She was nominated for several awards due to her performance in the TV series Drama House of Cards, which ended in 2018, and she played in Wonder Woman as well. Her life has not changed that much since 1994: she was acting then, and she’s acting now, but she has a much more extensive repertoire.

Sally Field played Forrest’s mother in the film, a woman willing to go to any length for his well-being and the success of his future. She’s been a star in the industry since the ’60s, starring in shows such as The Flying Nun and Gidget. She’s a two-time Oscar winner, just like Hanks was at the time, and her 1984 acceptance speech is still one of the most well-known moments in the history of the awards show.

Over the years following 1994, Sally Field has received a Hollywood star of fame, and she still stars in many roles in various films and TV series, as well as theater. She has even written a book, which was published in 2018. Most recently, however, she has been focusing on activism and advocation for personal rights and liberties in the United States, going so far as to participate in public protests. Her voice has proved very influential in those causes.