Forrest Gump is a 1994 American drama movie based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and fascinating facts about Forrest Gump.

1. Tom Hanks wasn’t paid for Forrest Gump, instead, he took percentage points which ultimately netted him about $40 million.

2. When Forrest gets up to talk at the Vietnam rally in Washington, the microphone plug is pulled and you can’t hear him. According to Tom Hanks, he says, “Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don’t go home at all. That’s a bad thing. That’s all I have to say about that.”

3. With every transition of Forrest’s age, one thing remains the same. In the first scene of each transition, he wears a blue plaid shirt.

4. Tom Hanks’ younger brother, Jim Hanks, doubled for him in many of his numerous running sequences.

5. When Forrest first learns to play ping-pong in the infirmary, he is told the trick is to keep his eye on the ball by another soldier. After that moment, whenever he’s shown playing ping-pong, he never blinks.

6. Bill Murray, John Travolta and Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest Gump. Travolta later admitted that passing on the role was a mistake.

7. The actor who plays the reported on the scene when Tom Hanks visits Washington, D.C. after his tour in Vietnam was, himself, an actual tourist from Atlanta, Georgia. He happened to be on Capital Hill that day with his wife and was asked to read the lines.

8. During the ping-pong matches in Forest Gump, there was no ball, it was entirely CGI, animated to meet the actors’ paddles.

9. Many of the extras in the hippie scene were actors from the Maryland Renaissance Festival, since the casting director, Ellen Lewis, realized that would be a good source of performers with long hair.

10. Gary Sinise’s lower legs were wrapped in a special blue fabric that allowed them to be digitally removed later.

11. Tom Hanks modeled his accent on the real life accent of Michael Connor Humphreys, the boy who played young Forrest Hump in the movie.

12. Robin Wright was sick with a cold while shooting the nightclub scene. In spite of this, she was still able to perform her own singing during a non-stop 24 hour shoot in which she was nearly nude, except for her guitar covering her.

13. David Alan Grier, Ice Cube and Dave Chappelle turned down the role of Bubba. Ice Cube refused to play an idiot and Chappelle thought the movie would bomb. Chappelle had since admitted to deeply regretting not taking the role, and would eventually go on to play Tom Hank’s best friend in You’ve Got Mail.

14. The house used in Forrest Gump is the same house used in The Patriot. some paneling was changed for the interior shot sin the latter film.

15. Kurt Russell has said that he did the voice of Elvis Presley in the movie, reprising his role from the 1979 movie Elvis.

16. The movie’s line, “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get,” was voted as the number 40 movie quote by the American Film Institute.

17. Forrest Gump’s Medal of Honor ceremony uses the footage of the actual ceremony for Sammy L. Davis, who was awarded the Medal of Honor on November 19, 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson for his actions in Vietnam a year earlier. Tom Hank’s head was superimposed on Davis’ body.

18. Forrest Gump is the fastest grossing Paramount movie to pass the $100 million, $150 million and $200 million dollar marks.

19. Forrest Gump’s hometown of Greenbow, Alabama is fiction. However, Bubba’s hometown of Bayou LaBatre, Alabama is real.

20. Every still picture of Forrest Gump during the movie shows Tom Hanks with his eyes closed.

21. Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman and Demi Moore turned down the role of Jenny Curran.

22. The shrimp boat used in Forrest Gump now floats in a moat surrounding Planet Hollywood Restaurant in Downtown Disney, at the Disney World Resort in Florida.

23. Sally Field, who plays Tom Hank’s mother in Forrest Gump, is only ten years old than him in real life.

24. When Forrest Gump became wildly successful, talk of a sequel arose. However, at the time, Tom Hanks adamantly refused to work in any sequel.

25. Warner Bros. gave up the rights to Forrest Gump in 1988 in exchange for the rights to Executive Decision, because the studio felt that the project had lost its commercial promise in the wake of the Rain Man movie.

26. Five benches were made for Forrest Gump. After filming ended, one went to the City of Savannah, one went to the Smithsonian, two went to Paramount Pictures, and one went to a security guard who was on patrol while filming. Many offers have been made to buy the bench, the largest being half a million dollars, but the security guard has turned them all down.

27. The helmet that Forrest and Dan picked up, while on “Jenny 1”, was Forrest’s old war helmet that he dropped in Vietnam.

28. On the day that Tom Hanks shot the football running scenes he had been suffering from influenza.

29. Tupac Shakur auditioned for the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump.

30. Jenny’s last name, Curran, is never spoken in Forrest Gump, although it appears in print on her postal deliveries.