Who played the title character in Forrest Gump (1994)?

Tom Hanks played the title character in Forrest Gump (1994).

The film follows Forrest, an Alabama man whose life intersects with major events and figures in modern American history. Hanks portrays the character across several decades, using a performance built around Forrest’s sincerity, simple outlook, and unwavering loyalty to the people around him.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump was adapted from Winston Groom’s 1986 novel. It became a major commercial success and won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Hanks. Hanks’s Oscar was his second consecutive win after Philadelphia the previous year.

Some viewers confuse Hanks’s role with his later performances in Cast Away or The Green Mile. Those are separate films. Forrest Gump is also distinct from the novel in several plot details and in the more optimistic tone of its cinematic adaptation.