Tom Hanks admits doubting appeal of 'Forrest Gump'

Tom Hanks didn't have much faith in his 1994 hit Forrest Gump, the actor revealed recently.

During a conversation at New Yorker Live event in NYC, the Hollywood A-lister recalled sharing his concerns with the director Robert Zemeckis.

“I say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?’ ”, He reminisces.

‘This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full of Curious George books and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?’ ” Hanks said.

“And Bob said, ‘It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a g— minefield,’ ” Hanks added. ” ‘We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.’ ”

However, as luck would have it the doubts were put to rest following the film’s opening. Forrest Gump stole the Oscars, with Tom Hanks winning Best Actor, Zemeckis, Best Director, and the film was chosen Best Picture.

“Bob Zemeckis — God bless him, I’ve worked with him more than once — landed on the absolute truth of anybody who has gone forward and said, we are going to commit something to film today, and eventually we’ll cut this into something,” Hanks said. “You do not know if it is going to work out.”

Hanks recently added his two cents to the Writers Guild strike, opining that the ‘pie’ will have to be equitably shared. “The entire industry is at a crossroads, and everybody knows It.” he said.