Forrest Gump star Gary Sinise recently revealed the reasons behind his choice to leave Hollywood in 2021 and move his family to Nashville, Tennessee. He explained that the decision was taken after both his wife and his son got diagnosed with cancer.
He decided to move after pausing his acting career in 2019 in order to avoid having to be away from his family for long periods of time.
The actor moved to Tennessee for his family
The CSI actor explained that he left his career in Hollywood and moved to take care of his family, “We were in the cancer fight during that time.”
Sinise recalled to Fox News how different family members battling illness needed his support.
Sinise had his hands full
“My wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer, my son was diagnosed with this very rare cancer…within two months of each other….my dad had just had a stroke, and my mom was alone, and I had to…take care of her…I kind of had my hands full,” Sinise continued.
It’s clear that Sinise’s family needed him
It is obvious that the 69-year-old’s family needed his support at that time, and there’s no blaming him for leaving Hollywood behind for them.
While Sinise’s wife has since received treatment and is now cancer-free, unfortunately his son, Mac, didn’t win his battle against cancer.
Mac passed away at 33
The actor’s son, Mac, had been battling with chordoma, a rare form of cancer which he sadly could not beat. Mac passed away earlier in 2024 at 33 years old.
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Sinise shared that his son’s cancer was a rare one and it had no cure.
The actor spoke about his son
While speaking about Mac’s condition, Sinise got emotional, “Our son was fighting this cancer with no cure.”
“Trying to find drugs and doctors or anybody that could do anything for him was like a full-time job. Plus, he became more and more disabled by the cancer as time went on…He needed more and more care,” he continued.
Sinise assured that Mac lived a happy life
Losing a son is a tragic and devastating thing. But while the grief was heavy on Sinise’s family, he assured that Mac was “happy at the end of his life.”
Sinise explained that his son achieved exactly what he had set out to do.
Mac recorded an album
“I will say this about Mac and the album that he made last year…he had achieved something that he set out to do, which was to record all this music in May and make a full album of it…that gave me a lot of joy…just watching him kind of enjoy those moments,” Sinise added.
The album was released on November 10
The actor released his son’s album, titled Resurrection & Revival: Part Two, on what would have been his 34th birthday, November 10.
Sinise admitted that he hadn’t known his son created a lot of the featured tracks until he found them in his files.
Sinise continues work at his foundation
Today, the actor remains helping veterans through his charity Gary Sinise Foundation, and just this Veteran’s Day they helped provide a home for a retired US Army Sergeant who lost both his legs in battle.
The retired sergeant was thankful for it, saying, “it’s the greatest gift I could ever ask for.”
The foundation is doing great work
In talking about his foundation, Sinise said, “We provide specially adapted, smart technology, mortgage-free housing. Our team takes care of that, makes it specially designed for the needs of each individual.”
This is the 94th home the actor’s foundation has been able to provide a veteran.
