Gary Sinise, who is best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Lt. Dan in the 1994 classic Forrest Gump, is speaking out this week to reveal why he fled California and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
Sinise Steps Away From Acting
Sinise, 71, made the decision to leave both acting and California behind during a difficult time in his life. His son Mac had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2018. Sadly, Mac would go on to pass away in 2024 at the age of 33.
“When I stepped away from acting in 2019… I had made some money. I had some investments going,” Sinise told Fox News. “Mac fought for the next four or five years, and I was his battle buddy and just fighting with him. And my wife had a lot of challenges and everything. My dad had had a stroke and died in 2021. My mom was aging and falling apart. I mean, they needed me and that was important.”
“I started to think, ‘Well, what happens if I don’t go back to work? Do I want to spend all the money here in California paying these big prices for gas and property taxes and all the different things?'” he continued. “The house we had was a house that was very good for our family because it was big enough. We could provide shelter for a lot of the family members that may have been struggling at the time, but we weren’t in need of that anymore.”
Sinise Flees California
After looking at all their options, the Sinise family decided to move to Nashville. Indeed, this is a city that Sinise had become very familiar with over the years.
“I really started zeroing in on the lifestyle here,” he said. “There’s a gas station where I was getting gas for $2.59 a gallon. And then I visited California, you know, and they’re up at like, you know, $5.79 a gallon. So they’re a full $3 more a gallon for gas in California. I don’t understand it.”
“They’ve got a lot of resources in California and I just don’t know what they’re doing,” Sinise added. “I like the gas prices [here]. I like the no tax state, I like saving a bit more money. If I was still in California and not working, that money would be moving a lot faster out the door than it is right now. So I wanted to save money and prepare for the future. I don’t want to give it all to California and property taxes. I’d rather give it to my kids later on.”
Sinise Has No Regrets
Though he’s open to returning to acting if the right project comes along, he has no regrets about leaving the profession when his family needed him most.
“I stepped away from acting in 2019 to focus on the family,” he explained. “And, you know, I’ll say it to anybody. You’ll never regret doing that.”
“You might pass up some good opportunities along the way, but if you pass up the opportunities to help your family through a difficult time, you’re missing something,” Sinise stated. “And I was fortunate. I had good years in the movie business and in the television business. And maybe in some ways, that was God just giving me something because we were going to be facing some very, very difficult things. I was being prepared in more ways than one.”
Sinise’s Charity Work
While Sinise is no longer acting, he’s still been as busy as ever. His focus has been on his charity work through the Gary Sinise Foundation, which goes above and beyond to help American military veterans.
Earlier this month, the foundation gifted an injured U.S. Army veteran a car in partnership with Wells Fargo during America’s Ball for The Mall event.
“I poured everything I had into [acting],” Sinise said. “And then, you know, having been involved with veterans, going back to the ‘80s and ’90s and everything, when our country was attacked on September 11, 2001, I just felt like that was a calling to a greater action.”
The Gary Sinise Foundation
Sinise launched The Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011. In the years since then, it has supported hundreds of thousands of veterans, severely wounded heroes, and families of the fallen.
“Once folks come into our program at the Gary Sinise Foundation, they’re just, they’re part of our family,” Sinise gushed. “And if they need ongoing support, we want to be there for them.“
“When I started my foundation 15 years ago now, it was with the hope that I could build something that would be lasting and be around for a long time, helping a lot of people out,” Sinise concluded. “So we don’t just bring somebody into the program, do one thing for them, and then we never see them again. They’re kind of part of the fabric of the Gary Sinise Foundation, and we want to be there in times of need.“
In the crazy modern world of Hollywood, it’s rare to find a star who loves and respects American veterans as much as Sinise does. In the end, we can see why a true patriot like Sinise would decide to leave California for a better life in Nashville.
God bless you, Gary Sinise!