Gary Sinise is prioritizing family over acting following the death of his 33-year-old son last year.
McCanna “Mac” Anthony Sinise died on January 5, 2024, following a years-long battle with the rare spinal cancer Chordoma.
Gary — best known for his role as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump — stepped away from acting in 2019 to care for his son full-time.
In a new interview with People magazine, the actor said of his return to Hollywood: “Something may come along and it’ll be right, but it’s harder to leave home now.
“I just want to be around family. Since losing Mac, I hold my daughters a lot tighter. You think about the things that are really important.”
Gary currently lives with his family in Tennessee and has five grandchildren, ages one to eight. “It’s just the most wonderful thing,” the actor told People.
Since Mac’s death, Gary has been focused on sharing his late son’s music. His album, Resurrection & Revival, was released in July last year.
“I want people to hear his music. I want people to share it. I’m on a mission,” said Gary.
Sinise shared a lengthy tribute to his son on his foundation’s website last January.
“Like any family experiencing such a loss, we are heartbroken and have been managing as best we can. As parents, it is so difficult losing a child. My heart goes out to all who have suffered a similar loss, and to anyone who has lost a loved one. We’ve all experienced it in some way,” he said at the time.
“Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s just damn hard. Our family’s cancer fight lasted for 5 and a half years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on. While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it.”
Chordoma affects, on average, only 300 people in the US per year. “In 70 percent of the cases the initial tumor can be removed, and it is cured. But in 30 percent of the cases, perhaps about 90 people per year, the cancer returns,” Gary wrote in his tribute.
Alongside his own projects, Mac served as drummer in his father’s band, the Lt. Dan Band, named after his Forrest Gump character. Best known for playing the commanding officer of Tom Hanks’s titular character in the 1994 classic, Sinise is also known for his roles in Of Mice and Men (1992), Apollo 13 (1995), Ransom (1996) and The Green Mile (1999).
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