Tom Hanks, the star of "Forrest Gump", revealed that some scenes of the movie would not be paid for by the studio budget, so he and director Robert Zemeckis invested their own money to keep crucial scenes in the film.
While speaking on the "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" podcast, the US actor said that, among the scenes for which Paramount did not approve a budget, was an iconic part where Forrest Gump runs across the United States.
"[Zemeckis] said, 'Well, this run is going to cost X amount of dollars.' And it wasn't cheap. And I said, 'OK'. 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. OK.' And it was good for us, too," Hanks revealed.
He also said that at one point he and Zemeckis had to cover the price of insurance when the weather was bad for shooting.
"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," the actor explained.
At the time the two were using personal money to make the movie, they could not know that "Forrest Gump" would hit over $1 billion box office worlwide and net them both an Academy Award - one for best actor for Hanks, and the best director for Zemeckis.
Hanks also shed light on how the iconic character of Gump - a kind-hearted man with an IQ of 75 that happened to get into the center of historic US events - was formed during the shooting.
"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", the actor admitted.
Hanks, who, apart from the role of Forrest Gump, has famous parts in "The Green Mile", "Saving Private Ryan" and the Robert Langdon movie series based on Dan Brown's book and many other iconic movies, has combatted the coronavirus infection, becoming one of the first notable celebrities to test positive for COVID-19.
