After witnessing what this famous kid actor looks like now, moviegoers have been left speechless. Forrest Gump, the legendary feel-good picture that quickly became a Hollywood classic, has been on our screens for nearly 30 years. It is regarded as one of Tom Hanks’ greatest performances, and it received six Academy Awards, including greatest Picture (beating out Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction), Best Director, and Best Actor.
On a $55 million budget, it generated approximately $680 million at the box office, becoming a true smash. Many lines from the film have become indelible in popular culture (“life is like a box of chocolates,” anyone?). Another popular one is “Run, Forrest, Run” – who can forget tiny Jenny Curran yelling this to Forrest as he broke free of his leg braces to escape a band of bullies?
Hanna Hall, who was only 10 at the time of filming, captured hearts around the world in her dramatic role as childhood Jenny, with her wide blue eyes and flowing blonde hair. Fans are going insane seeing her all grown up 29 years later. When asked how she got the job, Hall told House Of Horrors that it was completely unexpected. “It was completely random.” “My manager, Nina Axelrod, got tired of LA and moved to Colorado to teach classes,” the now nearly 40-year-old explained.
“She had a relationship with an agency through which she was represented, and when I was seven years old, she advertised an open casting call in the newspaper.” “My mum refused to take me. It was a Sunday afternoon, and she didn’t want to go, so I went with a group of friends, and Nina ended up loving me. “They called me back a couple of times, sent my tapes from Colorado to LA, and ended up casting me.”
Following Forrest Gump, the young actor starred as Cecilia Lisbon in The Virgin Suicides in 1999, as well as in a few TV shows such as The Purge and Criminal Minds.Hall also starred as Judith Myers in the cult horror film Halloween (2007), where her character was savagely murdered by her younger serial killer brother, Michael. But there is no doubt that she is best remembered for her part as Jenny in Forrest Gump, with many moviegoers unaware of what happened to her following the film.
Interestingly, Hall stated that she did not see herself performing acting in the long run. “It wasn’t necessarily a career that I was interested in at the time, but it was definitely something that I always enjoyed doing,” she told Indie Outlook “I was so young that I don’t think I questioned it at all.” That first film was a really natural experience.
“At that age, you don’t dispute the fact that it isn’t you. You realize the character is not you, and the older you get, the more your character’s [struggles] get ingrained in your mind. “At that age, it was obvious that this was something I was doing. It was unrelated to me or my life. For some reason, the distinction is much clearer when you’re young.”