Gary Sinise talks about what precipitated his departure from Hollywood.
The 69-year-old Academy Award nominee revealed this during an appearance on Fox News digital that he left California and moved to Tennessee after both his wife and son were diagnosed with cancer in quick succession.
Sinise said he and his family left their home in Los Angeles and moved to the Southeast in 2021, even though he hadn’t taken a major acting job in the two years prior.
“We were involved in the fight against cancer at that time,” Sinise said via video chat, adding that he quit acting so he wouldn’t have to be away from his family for extended periods of time while his wife and son were seriously ill.
‘My wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer. My son was diagnosed with this very rare form of cancer,” the Forrest Gump actor — who also shares two daughters with his wife — explained, adding that the diagnoses “came within two months of each other.”
Gary SInise, 69, revealed that he moved from Los Angeles to Tennessee in 2021 as his wife and son were both battling cancer; pictured with wife Moira Harris in Hollywood in 2017
Sinise’s wife Moira was diagnosed with breast cancer, while his son Mac (photo) developed a rare form of spinal cancer: cordoma.
To make matters worse, Sinise’s father had suffered a stroke around that time, leaving his mother in need of extra care.
“I had my hands full,” he said.
Sinise told Fox earlier in 2022 that he moved to Tennessee because of the lack of an income tax and the ability to leave his Lt. Dan Band – named after his character in Forrest Gump – around the music capital of Nashville.
The film and television star’s wife, Moria Harris Sinise, eventually went into remission, but his son McCanna “Mac” Sinise had a “particularly difficult” illness due to the rare chord of spinal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2018 stated.
In February, Sinise announced on his foundation’s website that his son had died at the age of 33.
“Our son battled this cancer with no cure,” he continued, becoming visibly emotional, describing the ordeal of finding medications and health care providers who could help Mac as a “full-time job.”
‘In addition, as time went on he became increasingly disabled by the cancer. …He needed more and more care,” Sinise explained.
Despite his grief over the loss of his son, he noted that Mac was “happy at the end of his life.”
At the time of his death, Sinise revealed that Mac underwent surgery in September 2018 to remove a tumor on his spine, followed by a second surgery in February 2019 to fight an infection.
Sinise’s wife’s cancer went into remission, but his son’s tragically progressed until his death in February this year at the age of 33; pictured with Moira in 2018 in Pasadena, California.
But Mac, who studied composition at USC, had one last passion project: an album of his original compositions, titled Resurrection & Revival
The family received bad news in May that year when a follow-up scan showed that Mac’s tumor had returned and the cancer had spread.
Despite his deteriorating condition and difficult treatments, Sinise wrote that his son continued to come to the foundation’s office regularly, and after he could no longer do so, he continued to work behind the scenes.
The actor revealed that Mac’s latest project for the foundation was a podcast interview with father and son.
But he also had a passion project that his father helped him complete in his final days.
Although Mac, who had studied at the University of Southern California’s Thorton School of Music, could no longer play an instrument due to his condition, he was still able to write a final composition.
His father signed members of his Lt. Dan Band to complete the arrangement, and the two worked together on recording sessions.
Mac even made it to the recording, having taken up the harmonica beforehand to leave a final personal touch.
The sessions went so smoothly that Mac and his musicians were able to record additional pieces, which became the posthumous album Resurrection & Revival.
“I will say this about Mac and the album he did last year… he accomplished something he set out to do, which was record all this music in May and make it a full album,” Sinise told Fox New Digital. . “That gave me a lot of joy…just seeing him enjoy those moments.”
Sinise worked with members of his Lt. Dan Band to record the album, which was released posthumously earlier this year
But the actor later discovered more of Mac’s compositions, so he used the same collaborators to record a follow-up album Resurrection & Revival: Part II; pictured in June in Nashville
The album was released earlier this year and on November 10, Resurrection & Revival: Part II was released.
The follow-up LP was made from Mac’s newly discovered compositions that were subsequently recorded with the same arranger.
‘This has really been a labor of very deep love. Because I heard a lot of this music, I didn’t even know he had it until I discovered it in… his files,” Sinise said. “I just started listening to the things he had written for the film, and I was very moved by it.”
Resurrection & Revival: Part II is on sale now.