How 'Forrest Gump' Got His Voice #behindthescences

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Finding Forrest's Voice: How Tom Hanks Borrowed from a Child Star

Tom Hanks' portrayal of Forrest Gump is iconic, but the character's gentle Southern drawl almost never came to be. The original plan was for Hanks to create a distinct voice for Forrest, but a chance encounter with his young co-star, Michael Connor Humphreys, changed everything.

Humphreys, who played the young Forrest Gump, hailed from Mississippi and possessed a thick Southern accent. Director Robert Zemeckis realized that having a child actor mimic a different voice would be difficult, if not impossible. Hanks, ever the resourceful actor, saw an opportunity.

Instead of creating a voice, Hanks decided to emulate Humphreys' natural speech patterns. He spent time with the young actor, recording hours of casual conversation. Hanks paid close attention to Humphreys' cadence, the way he drew out vowels, and the characteristic "hard g" sound at the end of words ("thinkin'" instead of "thinking").

By basing Forrest's voice on a real person, Hanks imbued the character with an authenticity that resonated with audiences. The childlike innocence captured in Humphreys' voice carried over to adult Forrest, making him a sympathetic and endearing protagonist. This choice not only simplified production but also became a defining element of Forrest Gump's enduring legacy.

How 'Forrest Gump' Got His Voice #behindthescences

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[dewayneclair]

Quite easily one of the all time best actors.

[ivycutler]

Tom Hanks is one awesome actor and guy!!❤❤❤❤

[mattmccleary]

When I watched the movie I noticed Forest was wearing a 9th infantry division patch on his left upper arm . I was in the 9th as well in Ft Lewis Washington.

[debh]

Way to go young Michael ! What an inspiration !!! 😊😊😊

[rgyyuyrgg]

The runner with the beard in Forrest Gump is Tom Hank's younger brother Jim.
They are not twins, but they look like they could be.

[johntuel]

Saw that movie when it came out in theaters. Great film. Well, except for Jenny. She was just terrible to him the entire time and then dumps a kid on him at the last minute before she perishes from all of her bad choices.
I never liked that part about it.
But I even bought the making of it on VHS which was really neat because it was the time when blue screen and computers for special effects really started to take off and become more the norm. I had no idea how much time and effort it took to get the feather to float around the way the wanted. And the tricks they did to make Lt. Dan's legs seem like they were actually gone was genius at the time. Back then, I was obsessed with "making of" videos ever since Terminator 2 came out. I really wanted to be in the film industry in some way when I was a kid and learning everything about it was fascinating to me. Then I became a single dad and had to get to work instead and now everything movie making related is on computers and software that I don't understand since I didn't have time to keep up haha.
Now I'm curious if the kid grew up to look like a young Tom Hanks now haha.
Edit: no, he does not haha. He looks more like Emo Phillips now.

[Pedrm]

That kid looks like a young Christian Bale

[Dr.BenjiBuddy]

I love the accent. I do wonder how the adult Michael feels about this. Using his real accent to make a character sound "stupid".

[梁菁菁-kw]

女主有種愛撞南牆的拗脾氣！ 姨娘庶姊和寄養表妹時時謀害女主，這仨是趕著投胎？

[TonyWhite-np]

The movie was supposed to feature characters who sound unbelievably stupid, turns out it was a documentary about the US.

[tsua]

Forrest died from the STD Jenny gave him. SMH