Man who played childhood Forrest Gump actually went on to join the army after the film

You’ll probably recognise Michael Conner Humphreys’ name, but not necessarily his face.

Now 37, Humphreys was just eight when he played the child version of Forrest Gump, the iconic character played by Tom Hanks in the 1994 film of the same name.

But Humphreys ended up turning his back on Hollywood and instead joined the army, a move he opened up about when speaking on The Paul Leslie Hour back in 2020. Hear what he had to say below:

When asked by Leslie: “What was the biggest thing that made you want to serve in the US Army?” Humphreys replied: “I was already interested in military technology when I was a kid. Aircrafts and ships and tanks and all that stuff.”

He went on: “Then doing Forrest Gump, I had some direct contact with Marines. They took me to the Marine base and let me tour an F18 fighter jet and everything.

“They let me play around with that stuff as a kid, that got my interest a little more peaked. And I have family that have been in the military, my dad and uncle.

“So when I got to being a teenager, I didn’t really intend on being in there, and then when wars started happening - Afghanistan and Iraq - I was like, well now there’s a reason to be in there.

“My dad always told me, ‘don’t join the army in peacetime’. Because you’ll be pushing the same button for four years. There’s nothing to really do.”

Humphreys also revealed that he’d be open to getting back into the acting game and was in an acting group at the time of the interview.

Paramount

He shared: “I never did any professional training for acting. I didn’t really pursue acting [after Forrest Gump] and I did these occasional roles here and there.

“It’s only in the last couple of years I’ve decided to professionally train. I’m trying to get back into acting now.”

Humphreys continued: “It’s intense getting out of your head. The anxiety of being onstage is the first step. When I did stuff as a kid - kids are not nervous about doing things - the older I got the more nervous and anxious I became about doing any sort of role.

“So step one with my acting class has been to learn how to get past the anxiety. To not get stuck in my head with whatever I’m doing [and] to be more present.”