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Child 'Forrest Gump' actor leaving Army



By JOHN MILBURN, AP
10 May 2008 @ 05:09 am ET


Soldier Gump
Army Spc. Michael Conner Humphreys stands at attention for the camera in Fort Riley, Kan., Friday, May, 9, 2008. Humphreys, who played "Young Forrest Gump" in the movie "Forrest Gump" served a year in Iraq and is now stationed at Ft. Riley. Humphreys' enlistment ends June 4 and he has landed a role in the upcoming film "Pathfinders." (AP Photo/Chuck France)
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"I tried to get him to do a fourth," Humphreys said.

He recalled that during filming he and Hanks worked closely to match the boy's running style and accent. Humphreys has since lost most of his distinctive Southern drawl but maintains the boyish looks, right down to the cropped Army haircut and lean body. His face looks a bit older, but doesn't appear to need to shave daily.

Humphreys said he chose not to chase an acting career as a child because he liked school and was content to continue growing up in the South, even though his parents would have backed him. There were offers, but until now, the only ones he took were in high school productions.

"No one really wanted to move to LA," he said.

He joined the Army in 2005, fulfilling a deep-seated desire to serve his country. He is an infantryman assigned to a tank battalion and was once stationed at the same post in Germany where Elvis Presley stayed. In the movie, Elvis stayed overnight with the Gumps, teaching the boy to dance.

After a year deployed to Iraq in its dangerous Anbar Province, Spc. Humphreys was transferred to Fort Riley. His unit is training to go to Iraq after he gets out.

"It was a good experience and you saw a lot of bad things, a lot of people got hurt over there," he said. "There was definitely a lot of violence. I just hope that we did some good. In the end, I learned a lot and I hope it made me a better person."

Humphreys said his movie career was always included in his personnel file but he never talked about it unless others broached the subject. At Fort Riley, he's affectionately known as "Gump." However, he said, acting and being a soldier aren't all that different.

"No doubt that being a soldier is something that you have to do. You have to force it," Humphreys said. "No human is designed to do certain things. You have to make yourself be that person, it's an engineered effect. The same thing as acting."

___

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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