Paramount Pictures Refused to Pay for Tom Hanks’ Oscar Winning $678M Movie Scene After Actor Used His Own Brother as Body Double

Tom Hanks is notably among the world’s most popular actors and has been associated with some of the greatest films of all time. From making his breakthrough in Hollywood with leading comedy roles, he continued to explore his range which definitely helped him become what he is today.

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Among his acclaimed projects, Forrest Gump still remains close to fans’ hearts due to almost everything. It surely gave an immense jump to his career however many might be unaware of the hardships the actor went through during its filming. 

Tom Hanks Split The Bill With Film Director to Shoot The Running Scene

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Robert Zemeckis’ 1994 film, Forrest Gump won many hearts in addition to an Oscar. Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field, it got enlisted among the modern classics. While the film had many scenes that literally touched our heartstrings, one iconic scene involved Hanks’s titular character setting off on his running journey.

However, distribution company, Paramount Pictures suggested cutting off the scene to meet the filming schedule’s deadline. Not just that, they were against the iconic scene since it was deemed expensive that would eventually burden the film budget.

Hanks shared during his appearance on In Depth With Graham Bensinger quoted the studio,

‘We can’t afford it; you’re not going to do it.” He continued, “And Bob said, ‘It’s too important a part of the movie just to cut. We can make this work.’ And they said, ‘No, you can’t.'”

So the director suggested that Hanks and he would split the cost with the duo covering the cost for “the run.” He eventually agreed but the scene faced another issue which was solved when Hanks’ brother, Jim Hanks was hired as his body double in the film.

Tom Hanks Used His Brother, Jim Hanks as Body Double in Forrest Gump

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Not just a tight budget, but they were also quite closer to the deadline before they actually shot the running scene. The director even hired Hanks’ brother as his body double in the running scenes so that the production can be filmed in multiple areas at the same time.

However, Hanks’s unique way of running also added as a factor to take his brother as body double. In a 1995 PEOPLE interview, Jim Hanks shared,

“Tom had other doubles, but they couldn’t do the run.” He continued, “That’s a stupid Hanks thing.”