Gary Sinise Opens Up About Leaving Hollywood, Son's Legacy, and His Mission to Serve Veterans
Gary Sinise, known for playing Lieutenant Dan in 'Forrest Gump,' shifted his focus from Hollywood to family and service almost exclusively following his son's cancer diagnosis six years ago. In a recent EpochTV 'American Thought Leaders'
Stepping Away From Acting to Focus on Family
Sinise's decision to step away from acting was driven by personal hardship. In late 2019, as his son Mac's health declined due to a rare spinal cancer, Sinise wrapped up his last acting jobs, including roles in 'Joe Bell,' 'I Still Believe,' and the series '13 Reasons Why.'
'Leaving home was getting harder and harder as Mac was getting more and more challenged with things,' Sinise said. By December 2019, he finished his acting commitments and began focusing entirely on his family and the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Mac, a talented musician and foundation staffer, battled chordoma for nearly six years. Despite his condition, he completed an album, 'Resurrection & Revival,' in 2023.
'He celebrated his 33rd birthday in the recording studio, recording an album in 2023 that he envisioned doing, and he was very disabled by this awful, rare cancer that took his life,' Sinise said. Mac's music continues to support the foundation's mission, with proceeds from album sales benefiting veterans and first responders.
Sinise's wife, Moira, also faced health challenges, undergoing multiple surgeries for stage 3 breast cancer.
'A month before Mac was diagnosed with cancer, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. That was a hard summer—the 2018 summer. I had two cancer patients, you know, to care for, and that was tough,' Sinise recalled.
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Moira is now cancer-free, but the experience deepened Sinise's resolve to prioritize family and service.
A Life of Service Inspired by Family and History
Sinise's commitment to veterans began decades before his Hollywood fame. Influenced by Vietnam veterans in his wife's family and his own relatives who served in earlier wars, Sinise became aware of the challenges faced by veterans returning home.
'I started to feel very guilty and badly for what happened to them, you know, when they served in Vietnam and came home. So I wanted to try to do something back in the early 80s and in Chicago,' Sinise said.
This led to his involvement in the play 'Tracers,' written and performed by Vietnam veterans. The experience opened his eyes to the struggles of veterans and inspired his ongoing support.
Playing Lieutenant Dan in 'Forrest Gump' further deepened his connection to the veteran community.
'There's no question it played a greater role in my life than just a part in a movie,' he said. 'I very much wanted to honor our Vietnam veterans by doing a good job, you know, just playing a Vietnam veteran and in a way that they would feel was honorable and true and truthful.'
The Gary Sinise Foundation: Supporting Veterans and First Responders
Founded in 2011, the Gary Sinise Foundation supports veterans, first responders, and their families through a range of programs.
'We are here to support all those who serve and defend us on the military side—our veterans, our families that serve alongside them, our first responders, the families that serve alongside them, families of our fallen heroes and first responders—we have a role to play in supporting there,' Sinise said.
Key initiatives include:
Lieutenant Dan Band: Sinise's band has performed nearly 600 free concerts at military bases and hospitals worldwide over the last 20 years.
RISE Program: Builds specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded veterans. 'We just gave away our 95th house since I've been involved in this,' Sinise said.
First Responder Outreach: Provides support for first responders, including vehicles for those in need and memorials like the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance, honoring those lost on Sept. 11.
Snowball Express: Brings children and surviving spouses of fallen military and first responder heroes to Disney World for healing and community. 'Every year, we take over 1,000 kids and the surviving spouse of military heroes to Disney World,' Sinise said. 'And then a couple of years ago, we started adding families of fallen first responders.'
A Philosophy of Service and Healing
Sinise believes that service is a powerful way to heal personal pain and strengthen communities.
'Service. I always say this is a great healer for a broken heart, and it helped me a lot through our fight for our son and the difficulties and the challenges of fighting for him and then losing him,' he said, adding that he didn't stop doing service work during that time. 'It was the thing that was helping me with our own battle at home,' he said.
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'I just wish that all of the great philanthropists of America, and the world, would lead with, 'This is a temporary solution until we can figure out how to make a government of the people, for the people, by the people,'" Mac added. "Instead of, 'This is the solution: I should have all the money and then I get to decide how the world works.'' Don't let present day parallels distract you. The fundraiser's honored donor enters atop a fire-breathing bald eagle in a black graphic tee, blazer and cap much like Elon Musk's signature White House getup. He later dons the long red tie popular in MAGA world. But the resemblance doesn't mean Mac is meditating solely on recent events such as President Donald Trump's billionaire-filled administration and tightening grip over cultural pillars including the Kennedy Center. 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Mac said 'someone with power' commissioned a translation of French playwright Molière's 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,' which mocks a status-obsessed middle class social climber. Mac isn't surprised the original commissioner didn't want the final product. Molière is hardly present. And the play essentially advocates for an end to the perpetuation of culture that only the affluent deem worthy of funding. Mac is also unsurprised it took over a decade to land another interested producer. The initial 40-person ballet troupe had to be shrunk to a more affordable ensemble of four dancers. Plus, its style, in Mac's judgment, is still rather 'queer' for a 'heteronormative' theater industry. 'And then the other reason is because I insult donors," Mac said. 'I don't think I insult donors," Mac added. "I ask donors to consider. 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