- Sinise opens up about difficult family times
- He wanted to “find a miracle” for his son Mac
- Unsure if he’ll return to acting as “it’s harder to leave home now”
Gary Sinise has opened up on why five years ago he decided to pause his acting career.
Speaking to People, the actor best known for playing Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, revealed he stepped away from Hollywood to care for his son, who had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
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The 70-year-old revealed that in 2018, as his wife Moira was preparing to undergo treatment for stage 3 breast cancer, their family was dealt another devastating blow: their son Mac was diagnosed with chordoma – a rare form of cancer that affects only around 300 people in the U.S. each year.
“It looked like a monster grabbing my son’s spine,’ said Sinise describing the MRI scan.
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Thankfully, after a gruelling eight rounds of chemotherapy and 35 radiation sessions, Moira was declared cancer-free. With her recovery underway, Sinise turned all his focus to their son.
He made the decision to step away from acting, saying he “started putting everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac.
Gary Sinise lost his son last year at 33 years old
Mac tragically passed away in January 2024 at just 33 years old, after the cancer returned despite a tumour being removed. Sinise explained to People that his son “left us things that are beautiful”.
He likened his time away from Hollywood as being Mac’s “air traffic controller”.
“I didn’t want Mac to be thinking of the next treatment or to worry. So I thought about cancer all the time. You’re trying to take the pain away,” he explained. “A few times I felt like I couldn’t do enough, or I didn’t know what to do. Then you say a little prayer, get back up and go back into the fight”, he added.
Sinise found strength and guidance in the wake of his son’s death through his work with the Gary Sinise Foundation, which he founded in 2011 to support the families of fallen military personnel and first responders.
“I’ve wrapped my arms around lots of kids who have lost a mom or a dad,” Sinise said. “I’ve been around people that have persevered through difficult things. It’s given me strength. There’s no question God prepared me well for dealing with our loss.”
Is Sinise going to return to acting?
The CSI: NY actor hasn’t featured in any movies since the 2020’s releases of Joe Bell and I Still Believe. He’s also largely kept himself out of the spotlight. He told People that he may never act again, choosing instead to dedicate more time to his family.
“Something may come along and it’ll be right, but it’s harder to leave home now,” he admitted. “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.”
Sinise is now a grandfather to five children, and that brings him great fulfillment. “I’m Papa, I love everything about it,” he said. “Being around them is just always a joy and really, really fun. And that’s one of the things you don’t want to miss.”