You'll Never Believe What The Kid Who Played Forrest Gump Has Been Up To
Run Forrest, run!
"Forrest Gump" is a classic, and of course we can't forget young Forrest, played by Michael Humphreys, who learns that he has a special gift for running after being chased by bullies.
And of course, his cheerleader/crush Jenny, who urges him to run.
It's been 22 years since the film came out, and shockingly enough, Michael took a very similar path to his character, Forrest. At 18 years old, he went on to enlist in the US Army.
Michael served four years in the US Army as an infantry soldier, which included an 18-month tour of duty as a Specialist in Iraq.
"When I joined the military I did my best to avoid being recognized or word getting out about the movie, but I think that lasted about two weeks before somebody figured it out," Michael said, adding that his nickname was "Gump."
Ever since the scene in the film where Tom Hanks fights in Vietnam, Michael became fascinated with joining the military, even though he just eight years old during the film.
"I would often tell the director and producers how cool I thought all the helicopters were and then one weekend they actually arranged for some of the Marine Corps to take me over to Parris Island and show me the fighter jets," he said.
Ironically enough, Michael is also a runner like Forrest. He ran in a 10K race in 2015 and people even shouted, "run, Forrest, run!"