I imagine this has been floating around the internet in some form or another for years, but this is the first I’ve seen it (that I can remember, I mean. I drink). In any case, Forrest Gump will be getting an IMAX rerelease on September 5th in honor of its 20th anniversary, so this seems like as good a time as any to revisit Tom Hanks’ audition tape. Well, it’s labeled as an audition tape, anyway. It looks like all the people in it are in the roles they eventually ended up playing, making it more like a rehearsal tape. Whatever, semantics.
Thoughts:
– It’s strange to watch Tom Hanks play Forrest without the accent. It just sounds like a guy reading Forrest Gump’s lines. How am I supposed to know he’s dumb if he doesn’t talk like he’s from Alabama??
– After 20 years, Robin Wright has retained an incredible amount of hotness.
– It’s odd that Forrest Gump is the one getting the re-release. If you look at its competition for the 1994 Best Picture – Pulp Fiction, Shawkshank Redemption, Quiz Show, Four Weddings And A Funeral – it may have aged the worst (even Four Weddings looks pretty good compared with today’s rom-coms). If you held the voting today I can almost guarantee you Forrest Gump come in third.
– Young Forrest should share Tom Hanks’ Oscar, considering he basically taught him that accent.
– Every time I hear the catch phrases (“Stupid is as stupid does”) I can’t help but think of the Simpsons episode where Marge says “Bart, life is like a box of chocolates..” and before she can finish, Bart puts a metal bucket over his head and starts hitting it with a spoon. God the Simpsons was awesome back then.
– Here’s a picture of Young Jenny (Hanna Hall) in 2012, your OMG I’m so old lol for the day.
[hat tip: Joblo]