Gary Sinise Reveals the Heartbreaking Reason He Left Hollywood
Forrest Gump star Gary Sinise hasn’t graced any of our TV or cinema screens since 2020 — and he recently revealed the tragic reason why in an interview with Fox News Digital. The Academy Award-nominated actor, 69, who is best known for his role as Lieutenant Dan in the 1994 Oscar-winning film, left Los Angeles for Tennessee and put his acting career on hold in 2021 after both his wife and son were diagnosed with cancer within a two-month period in 2018.
Sinise’s wife, Moira Harris Sinise, was diagnosed with breast cancer, while his son, McCanna “Mac” Sinise, developed chordoma, a rare bone cancer that attacks the spine. “Our son was fighting this cancer with no cure,” Sinise said. “Plus, he became more and more disabled by the cancer as time went on.” Sinise recalled Mac needing “more and more care” as the illness progressed, requiring Sinise to spend most of his time planning treatment for Mac and speaking to medical professionals.
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While Moira’s cancer eventually went into full remission, Mac’s returned despite surgery. Mac, a songwriter, recorded a final album, Resurrection & Revival, with members of Sinise’s band, the Lt. Dan Band (of which he was also the drummer), before passing away in January 2024, at age 33.
“As parents, it is so difficult losing a child,” Sinise wrote at the time. “My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one. We’ve all experienced it in some way. Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard. Our family’s cancer fight lasted for 5 ½ years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on. While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it.”
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Sinise, who also has two daughters with Moira, did not say whether he planned to return to acting; his last film roles were in 2020’s I Still Believe and Joe Bell. But he did recall his experiences on the set of Forrest Gump to Fox News. While noting that none of that cast anticipated that the film was going to be “… a great classic,” Sinise recalled that, “Every time I was on set, it was fun, hard work. Some of it was pretty emotional and difficult sometimes. But you always felt like you were doing something pretty good.”
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