Movies - TV
How Tom Hanks Helped Haley Joel Osment Through Forrest Gump's Final Scene
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
The end of Robert Zemeckis' 1994 mega-hit “Forrest Gump” saw the titular character — Tom Hanks in an Oscar-winning performance — presented with a young son that he didn't know he had, played by then child actor Haley Joel Osment. In a 2015 interview, Osment recalled a vital meeting with Hanks and Zemeckis, where he was given his final lines in a memorable way.
Osment recalled that his scene was written in a last-minute meeting between the three of them, at a point when the film’s final scenes were being quickly workshopped. He and Hanks were called into Zemeckis' trailer, where Hanks demonstrated his generosity toward the young actor. As Osment fondly remembered, “Tom wrote down my lines on a piece of yellow legal paper.”
That impromptu script page remains in Osment's personal collection, as he shared, “My parents kept it around, and I still have this little piece of film history.” Osment posted a picture of the page to his Instagram account in 2014, and when asked if Hanks was as kind as his reputation dictates, Osment confirmed, “He truly is,” and referred to Hanks as his “first great cinema dad.”