Tom Hanks Helped Pay For Parts Of Forrest Gump Out Of His Own Pocket

Tom Hanks paid for part of the production costs for Forrest Gump out of his own pocket.

The Castaway actor has revealed he helped pay for his titular character's expensive trip across the country after the director of the 1994 flick, Robert Zemeckis, asked him to split the costs with him.

Speaking on I n Depth with Graham Bensinger, Hanks recalled: "And 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 also helped out with insurance costs, too.

He continued: "They said, 'The weather is such that we can't get the insurance coverage on it,' the studio said, 'So you guys can't shoot.' And Bob and I said, 'We'll cover the insurance.' And we did."

Hanks's investment paid off handsomely. Forrest Gump went to make over US$1 billion (S$1.37 bil) worldwide and, according to Hollywood Reporter, Hanks received an estimated US$65 million in profits. The film also won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Zemeckis and Best Actor for Hanks.

In the interview, Hanks also revealed that it took him a while to get into the character of Forrest. He remembered: "Bob said, 'Look, I know what you are trying to do. I know how nervous you are and how self-conscious this can be before we get into the groove.

"But we're not going to use any of these first three days because I don't think you've got it. You haven't got the character.' And I said, 'I don't. I don't. You're right.' And he just said, 'Don't try so hard.' And from that, everything settled down in a moment's notice."

Watch Hanks' interview here:

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos