‘Forrest Gump’ star unrecognizable 29 years later: ‘Hollywood wasn’t healthy’

nypost.com:

hailed as “unrecognizable” upon resurfacing years after leaving the industry. All grown-up now, Michael Conner Humphreys, 38, played the younger version of Tom Hanks’ title character in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump.”Humphreys was just 8 years old when he played the titular character, cast from an open call to play Forrest as a child.However, 29 years on from participating in cinematic history, he decided the spotlight wasn’t for him — instead choosing to finish school, then enlist in the US Army, spending four years as an infantry soldier, which included an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq.

He completed his military service in 2008. Meanwhile, Humphreys said his parents never pushed him to pursue a career in acting, as he doesn’t think “Hollywood is a healthy lifestyle for kids,” and his family wasn’t interested in uprooting from their native Oregon to life-in-the-fast-lane Los Angeles.“Back then, my parents just let me decide for myself what I wanted to do next, and they never pushed me to pursue other acting roles,” he told the Sun, adding he “mainly wanted to have fun and play with my friends.”“Especially as I liked school,” he added. “Offers came in, but I really wasn’t that concerned with trying to pick up more roles after that.”Humphreys said he enjoyed living a relatively “normal” life as a child — despite playing the title role in a film that won six Oscars and grossed $329,694,499 at the worldwide box office.“I honestly think that was a good thing,” he said, “as I never thought of Hollywood as anything glamorous or fame as something I wanted to chase.