20 Things You Didn't Know About Forrest Gump

8. Tom Hanks Only Agreed To Star If The Film Was Historically Accurate

Tom Hanks loved the movie's script and was keen to sign on immediately after reading it, but had one deal-breaker condition for Robert Zemeckis, that Forrest Gump had to be historically accurate.

Accepting the obviously playful nature of the film's engagement with real-world history, Hanks wanted to ensure that the events Forrest finds himself at the center of were otherwise depicted within the realm of authenticity.

And while the film does in fact have a number of factual errors, it doesn't wilfully play fast and loose with history for the sake of our entertainment.