Life is like a box of chocolates … or so says Forrest Gump, the beloved Tom Hanks character who won over moviegoers in 1994 with his Southern charm and folksy proverbs passed down from his onscreen mother, Sally Field.
Based on the novel by Winston Groom, Forrest Gump hit theaters less than four months after Hanks won an Oscar for his performance in 1993’s Philadelphia. In 1995, the Captain Phillips star took home his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Gump, becoming only the second actor in history to win the trophy two years a row.
The film also took home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing and was nominated in seven other categories.
“I feel as though I’m standing on magic legs in a special effects process shot that is too unbelievable to imagine and far too costly to make a reality,” Hanks said during his acceptance speech. “But here is my mark, and there is where I’m supposed to look. And believe me, the power and the pleasure and the emotion of this moment is a constant the speed of light.”
Keep scrolling to see what the cast of Forrest Gump has been doing since the movie premiered: