The secret cameo of Kurt Russell in ‘Forrest Gump’
Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump is without a doubt one of the most famous movies of the 1990s, becoming a full-blown and widely-quoted phenomenon in addition to a colossal box office success and awards season darling.
Even today, several of the film’s most iconic quotes remain firmly lodged in the public consciousness, but a secret cameo from a recognisable star somehow stayed restricted exclusively to the realm of urban legend – until it was finally confirmed a full 12 years after Tom Hanks’ title hero unwittingly played a pivotal role in the 20th-century history of the United States.
During the scenes set in the early years of Forrest’s life, Hanks narrates that his mother had taken to renting out rooms in their home in order to earn some extra cash on the side, one of whom happened to be “a young man, and he had him a guitar case”. Of course, that turned out to be Elvis Presley, with Peter Dobson remaining either out of focus or filmed from behind as the legendary musician.
However, the singing voice emanating from the character didn’t belong to Dobson, but a household name who was more than familiar with Elvis on both a personal and professional level. It wasn’t until 2016 that Kurt Russell confirmed he was the one providing Presley’s singing voice, with Zemeckis opting to keep him out of the credits in order to maintain secrecy.
Finally letting the cat out of the bag in an interview with GQ, Russell came clean more than a decade after Forrest Gump’s release and admitted it was him all along lending his dulcet tones to ‘Hound Dog’. He said: “I did that as a thing for [Zemeckis]. He didn’t like what it was and said, ‘I need something real bad.’ I didn’t know if, to be honest with you, [Zemeckis] was doing it on the sly. In other words, the actor didn’t know. It was fun to do.”
That was far from Russell’s first brush with Elvis, though, given that he made his feature film debut at 12 years old in 1963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair, which starred ‘The King’ in the lead role. Not only that, but the actor had previously landed a Primetime Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special’ for headlining John Carpenter’s made-for-TV movie Elvis.
In a heavy dose of irony considering his secret contributions to Forrest Gump, Russell didn’t sing in Carpenter’s Elvis as he did in Zemeckis’ classic, with Ronnie McDowell performing the vocals instead. In the spoiler-heavy internet age, audiences are lucky if any movie featuring a top-secret cameo can make it to cinemas at all without being ruined ahead of time, making it even more remarkable that Russell waited a dozen years before confirming his involvement.
