Tom Hanks reveals he had to pay back some of his salary to get Forrest Gump's iconic cross-country run sequence filmed. Hanks starred as the titular hero in the 1994 movie, adapted from the novel of the same name, was directed by Hanks' regular collaborator Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future trilogy, Cast Away). The unconventional tale of a simple man who manages to get involved in almost every major event of the mid-20th century, from influencing Elvis' iconic pelvic swing to the creation of tech giant Apple, and nearly everything in between, ended up being a smash hit with audiences and critics alike.
Winning six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Hanks (his second win in a row), and Best Director for Zemeckis, the movie remains popular today and is even being remade in Bollywood. Among the film's iconic sequences, one of the most popular is when Gump takes off on a three-year-long cross-country run to get over the love of his life, Jenny (Robin Wright), leaving him. The epic sequence has been parodied by countless movies and served as inspiration for several real-life cross-country runs. But it may never have happened if Hanks and Zemeckis hadn't stepped in.
Appearing on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Hanks tells the tale of how the studio didn't want to shoot the cross-country sequence, preferring instead to cut the scene to save money. Zemeckis didn't want to lose the scene, and so convinced Hanks to split the cost of filming the sequence with him, by taking a salary cut equal to the amount, in return for a cut of the profits. Hanks reveals the pair also paid for insurance to shoot another scene later in production that the studio refused to insure due to bad weather. You can read the full tale below:
The studio just said "we can't afford it [the cross-country run], you're not gonna do it." And Bob [Zemeckis] said, "it's too important a part of the movie just to cut. We can make this work [financially]." And they said, "no you can't." And it came around to me and my crack agent said, "Bob's gonna come talk to you about the run." And I said "Why's he talking to me? He's the boss, I'll do whatever he says. This is above my pay grade." And Bob drove out and we talked one night. He said, "You're Forrest Gump ... there is no movie without you playing him. I need you to not be an employee ... I will open up the cuts and talk about every aspect of the post-production of this with you if you will be my collaborator and not just my employee." And I said, "OK deal. OK lets do that. Now what?" He said, "Well, this run is going to cost X amount of dollars," and it wasn't cheap. He said, "You and I are going to split that amount, and we're gonna give it back." We [told the studio] we'll give the money back but you're going to have to share the profits a little bit. Which the studio said "Fabulous, great, OK." And it was good for us too. But then it happened again later on in the movie. They said "The weather is such that we can't get the insurance coverage on it, so you guys can't shoot." And Bob and I said we'd cover the insurance. And it ended up being very easy after that.
In hindsight, the decision by the studio to cut the sequence due to its cost seems astounding, given the fact that it's become so iconic in the 26 years since release. Thankfully, Hanks and Zemeckis realized this and decided to front the money. It turned out well on both fronts, as the pair reportedly each made around $40 million thanks to the decision.
The studio, too, would have been relieved that it got included, as, without it, the ending most likely would have fallen flat and not had the same emotional heft that it does. That probably would have seen the movie miss out on its Oscars and been consigned to history as another quirky Tom Hanks film. Luckily for them, Forrest Gump was anything but and is still seen as a success today.
Source: In-Depth with Graham Bensinger