Tom Hanks.Photo: CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockForTom Hanks, makingForrest Gumpwas similar to a box of chocolates — he didn’t know what he was going to get.At theNew YorkerLive event on Tuesday night at Symphony Space in New York City, the 66-year-old actor recalled to editorDavid Remnickthat he had some doubts while making the iconic 1994 movie.“I say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?’ " Hanks said, recalling a conversation he had with the movie’s director,Robert Zemeckis.” ‘This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full ofCurious Georgebooks and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?’ " he continued.“And Bob said, ‘It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a g—— minefield,’ " Hanks added. " ‘We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.’ “Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in the 1994 film.Sunset Boulevard/Getty ImagesRELATED GALLERY:Forrest GumpCast: Where Are They Now?Yet committing to “so much dialogue” — and shooting for 27 days straight, Hanks said, traveling to various locations while Forrest ran across the country — resulted in a movie that resonated with fans and critics.It also won him a Best ActorAcademy Award, netted Zemeckis a Best Director trophy and took home four other Oscars including Best Picture.In 2020, Hanks opened up about the rigors of shooting the movie. And on theIn Depth with Graham Bensingerpodcast, he talked about how Zemeckis, 70, came to him and said the studio wouldn’t befunding the scenes where Forrest runs across the countrybecause they were too expensive.But Zemeckis knew how crucial the sequence was to the movie and went to Hanks with an alternate plan. As the latter recalled, “He said, ‘Well, this run is going to cost X amount of dollars.’ And it wasn’t cheap. And I said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘You and I are going to split that amount, and we’re going to give it back [to Paramount]. We’ll give you the money back, but you guys [Paramount] are going to have to share the profits a little bit more.’ ““Which the studio said, ‘Fabulous, great. Okay.’ And it was good for us, too,” Hanks added.RELATED VIDEO: WhyForrest Gump"Would Be Very Difficult” to Make TodayThe gamble clearly paid off, with the movie turning into an instant classic and bringing in $330.5 million domestically and over $1 billion total worldwide.Forrest Gumpalso benefited Hanks, who reportedly made $65 million off the film, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.On Tuesday night, the actor paid homage to Zemeckis' vision.“Bob Zemeckis — God bless him, I’ve worked with him more than once — landed on the absolute truth of anybody who has gone forward and said, we are going to commit something to film today, and eventually we’ll cut this into something,” Hanks said. “You do not know if it is going to work out.“He added, “You can only have faith.”
Tom Hanks.Photo: CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
ForTom Hanks, makingForrest Gumpwas similar to a box of chocolates — he didn’t know what he was going to get.At theNew YorkerLive event on Tuesday night at Symphony Space in New York City, the 66-year-old actor recalled to editorDavid Remnickthat he had some doubts while making the iconic 1994 movie.“I say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?’ " Hanks said, recalling a conversation he had with the movie’s director,Robert Zemeckis.” ‘This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full ofCurious Georgebooks and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?’ " he continued.“And Bob said, ‘It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a g—— minefield,’ " Hanks added. " ‘We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.’ “Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in the 1994 film.Sunset Boulevard/Getty ImagesRELATED GALLERY:Forrest GumpCast: Where Are They Now?Yet committing to “so much dialogue” — and shooting for 27 days straight, Hanks said, traveling to various locations while Forrest ran across the country — resulted in a movie that resonated with fans and critics.It also won him a Best ActorAcademy Award, netted Zemeckis a Best Director trophy and took home four other Oscars including Best Picture.In 2020, Hanks opened up about the rigors of shooting the movie. And on theIn Depth with Graham Bensingerpodcast, he talked about how Zemeckis, 70, came to him and said the studio wouldn’t befunding the scenes where Forrest runs across the countrybecause they were too expensive.But Zemeckis knew how crucial the sequence was to the movie and went to Hanks with an alternate plan. As the latter recalled, “He said, ‘Well, this run is going to cost X amount of dollars.’ And it wasn’t cheap. And I said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘You and I are going to split that amount, and we’re going to give it back [to Paramount]. We’ll give you the money back, but you guys [Paramount] are going to have to share the profits a little bit more.’ ““Which the studio said, ‘Fabulous, great. Okay.’ And it was good for us, too,” Hanks added.RELATED VIDEO: WhyForrest Gump"Would Be Very Difficult” to Make TodayThe gamble clearly paid off, with the movie turning into an instant classic and bringing in $330.5 million domestically and over $1 billion total worldwide.Forrest Gumpalso benefited Hanks, who reportedly made $65 million off the film, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.On Tuesday night, the actor paid homage to Zemeckis' vision.“Bob Zemeckis — God bless him, I’ve worked with him more than once — landed on the absolute truth of anybody who has gone forward and said, we are going to commit something to film today, and eventually we’ll cut this into something,” Hanks said. “You do not know if it is going to work out.“He added, “You can only have faith.”
ForTom Hanks, makingForrest Gumpwas similar to a box of chocolates — he didn’t know what he was going to get.
At theNew YorkerLive event on Tuesday night at Symphony Space in New York City, the 66-year-old actor recalled to editorDavid Remnickthat he had some doubts while making the iconic 1994 movie.
“I say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?’ " Hanks said, recalling a conversation he had with the movie’s director,Robert Zemeckis.
" ‘This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full ofCurious Georgebooks and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?’ " he continued.
“And Bob said, ‘It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a g—— minefield,’ " Hanks added. " ‘We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.’ "
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in the 1994 film.Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images
RELATED GALLERY:Forrest GumpCast: Where Are They Now?
Yet committing to “so much dialogue” — and shooting for 27 days straight, Hanks said, traveling to various locations while Forrest ran across the country — resulted in a movie that resonated with fans and critics.
It also won him a Best ActorAcademy Award, netted Zemeckis a Best Director trophy and took home four other Oscars including Best Picture.
In 2020, Hanks opened up about the rigors of shooting the movie. And on theIn Depth with Graham Bensingerpodcast, he talked about how Zemeckis, 70, came to him and said the studio wouldn’t befunding the scenes where Forrest runs across the countrybecause they were too expensive.
But Zemeckis knew how crucial the sequence was to the movie and went to Hanks with an alternate plan. As the latter recalled, “He said, ‘Well, this run is going to cost X amount of dollars.’ And it wasn’t cheap. And I said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘You and I are going to split that amount, and we’re going to give it back [to Paramount]. We’ll give you the money back, but you guys [Paramount] are going to have to share the profits a little bit more.’ "
“Which the studio said, ‘Fabulous, great. Okay.’ And it was good for us, too,” Hanks added.
RELATED VIDEO: WhyForrest Gump"Would Be Very Difficult” to Make Today
The gamble clearly paid off, with the movie turning into an instant classic and bringing in $330.5 million domestically and over $1 billion total worldwide.
Forrest Gumpalso benefited Hanks, who reportedly made $65 million off the film, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
On Tuesday night, the actor paid homage to Zemeckis' vision.
“Bob Zemeckis — God bless him, I’ve worked with him more than once — landed on the absolute truth of anybody who has gone forward and said, we are going to commit something to film today, and eventually we’ll cut this into something,” Hanks said. “You do not know if it is going to work out.”
He added, “You can only have faith.”
source: people.com
