After stepping back from the spotlight, Gary Sinise is letting fans in on his family’s private battle with cancer − and finding beauty after tragedy.
In an interview with People published May 14, the “Forrest Gump” actor opened up about leaning on his family after walking away from Hollywood in 2019 to help care for his son Mac, who was diagnosed with bone cancer.
“Mac left us things that are beautiful,” he told the outlet of his son, who died in 2024 at age 33. “I want people to know who he was.”
Mac’s diagnosis arrived shortly after Sinise’s wife, Moira, was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, which, for the “Apollo 13” actor, felt like “a one-two punch.” While Moira eventually recovered after chemotherapy, Mac did not, and the stress of his condition pushed his father to the brink, People reports.
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“Dad dove into the storm,” Sinise’s daughter, Ella, 32, told the outlet. “Whatever’s going on in his life, he goes full on. He did amazing, but it was hard to watch because it was traumatizing. It’s really a testimony to his character — he doesn’t let adversity slow him down.”
“That’s when I stopped acting,” he told People. “I started putting everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac.”
“I thought about cancer all the time,” he continued. “You’re trying to take the pain away. A few times, I felt like I couldn’t do enough, or I didn’t know what to do.”
The Hollywood veteran and longtime Catholic leaned heavily on his faith to find hope, he said, even when it was hard.
“Hope keeps you in the fight,” he told People. “You could see tumors on his body. You knew the drugs weren’t working. But I wasn’t thinking we were going to lose him.”
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After Mac’s death, Sinise said his family “pulled together quite a lot.” He’s also made it a mission to share the art that Mac, a composer and musician, left here on earth. After discovering some music on his son’s laptop, Sinise combined it with already existing compositions to release two posthumous albums, and his hope is to one day see them performed by a live orchestra, he told People.
“I want people to hear his music. I want people to share it. I’m on a mission,” he said.
As for a return to the big screen, he’s not in a rush.
“Something may come along and it’ll be right, but it’s harder to leave home now,” he told the outlet. “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.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gary Sinise son Mac’s cancer pushed him to stop acting
