Forrest Gump Is 30! All About Tom Hanks and Robin Wright's Bond as They Team Up for a New Movie

The costars reunite in 'Here,' a new movie from their 'Forrest Gump' director Robert Zemeckis

Robin Wright and Tom Hanks in <em>Forrest Gump</em> (1994)
Robin Wright and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994). Photo:

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

Three decades later, Forrest Gump's Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are still like peas and carrots.

The Robert Zemeckis-directed drama remains a staple in must-see movie lists as it marks its 30th anniversary on July 6, with its two main stars teaming up once again for the upcoming movie Here.

Adapted from the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and written by Eric Roth, Forrest Gump follows the titular Forrest (played by Hanks, now 67) from his childhood in Alabama to adulthood around the country and even the globe.

Struggling with developmental delays and a challenging home and school life, Forrest meets the troubled Jenny Curran (played by Wright, now 58), from whom he learns valuable life lessons about love, both platonic and romantic.

While they prepare to star opposite one another again in Zemeckis' Here, read on about Hanks and Wright's onscreen bond as Forrest Gump — which also starred Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Haley Joel Osment — turns 30.

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Robin Wright Penn and Tom Hanks Various events
Robin Wright and Tom Hanks.

Bei/Shutterstock

In February, Wright said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she was confident about her Forrest Gump audition, and was seven or eight months pregnant with her second child, son Hopper, at the time.

"I just felt like 'Mom' and I felt grounded, and Tom and I just had a great connection," recalled the actress, who was nominated for a Golden Globe and SAG Award for her role as Jenny.

"I walked out [of the audition], and then I went, 'Not only do I really wanna do this movie, I hope I get it. I think I got it,' " Wright added.

The House of Cards alum also praised the "hysterical" Hanks during a March interview with Drew Barrymore, recalling his hijinks as they prepared to film the scene where Forrest and Jenny get married.

'Forrest Gump' a 1994 American epic romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field.
Poster for Forrest Gump (1994).

Universal History Archive/Shutterstock 

"Bob says, 'I want you guys to just dance,' " Wright recalled of the director's instructions, about how he wanted her and Hanks to set the tone for the scene.

After she asked Hanks to give her an "example" of how Forrest would dance, Wright told Barrymore, 49, "I laughed so hard I peed in my costume."

The onscreen chemistry between Hanks and Wright is still going strong three decades later, as they are uniting once again under the direction of Zemeckis, 72, for the upcoming drama Here.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Richard McGuire, Here is about "multiple families and a special place they inhabit," according to a synopsis.

"The story travels through generations, capturing the human experience in its purest form," adds the description, which also calls the movie a "tale of love, loss, laughter and life, all of which happen right Here."

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright star in HERE
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in Here (2024).

Sony Pictures

Hanks and Wright play their characters at various different stages in life. As Zemeckis told Vanity Fair of their transformations, “It only works because the performances are so good."

"Both Tom and Robin understood instantly that, okay, we have to go back and channel what we were like 50 years ago or 40 years ago, and we have to bring that energy, that kind of posture, and even raise our voices higher. That kind of thing," he continued.

Of working with Hanks, Zemeckis and Roth again on Here, Wright said during a chat for DigitalSpy's This Morning in March, "The whole band got back together."

"It was incredible, reuniting 30 years later — it was like no time had passed," she added. "There was nothing awkward about it."

Forrest Gump is now streaming on Paramount+. Here is in theaters Nov. 15.

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