Gary Sinise says he's unsure about returning to acting after son's death
Gary Sinise is prioritizing family following the heartbreaking loss of his son.
In an interview with People published Wednesday, the actor, known for his roles in "Forrest Gump," "Apollo 13," "The Green Mile," and "CSI: NY," opened up about life after the death of his son Mac Sinise, who died in January 2024 at age 33 from chordoma, a rare form of cancer.
Mac was diagnosed in 2018, the same year Sinise's wife, actress Moira Harris, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She is now cancer-free after undergoing months of treatment.
"It looked like a monster grabbing my son's spine," Sinise raid, describing the MRI scan that revealed his son had chordoma. "It was a one-two punch."
Chordoma is a slow-growing cancer of tissue found inside the spine, according to the National Cancer Institute, which states that 1 in 1 million people worldwide are diagnosed with the disease each year.
Also known as notochordal sarcoma, it is most often found near the tailbone (called a sacral chordoma) or where the spine meets the skull (called a clival chordoma), according to the NCI. The average survival is around 10 years after diagnosis depending on where the tumor is and how much can be removed by surgery, according to the agency.
Sinise shared that he first stepped away from acting in 2020, when Mac spent six of the first eight months of the year in the hospital.
"I started putting everything I had into trying to find a miracle for Mac," he said. "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. 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."
Now, in the aftermath of Mac's death, Sinise said he finds comfort in being close to home and is unsure whether he'll return to acting.
"Something may come along and it'll be right, but it's harder to leave home now," he explained. "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 previously addressed his son's death in a tribute page on the Gary Sinise Foundation website. The nonprofit offers programs and services for wounded military veterans.
"Over the years I have met so many families of our fallen heroes. It's heartbreaking, and it's just damn hard," he wrote. "Our family's cancer fight lasted for 5 1/2 years, and it became more and more challenging as time went on. While our hearts ache at missing him, we are comforted in knowing that Mac is no longer struggling, and inspired and moved by how he managed it. He fought an uphill battle against a cancer that has no cure, but he never quit trying."
"Mac loved movies, and we always told him he reminded us of the soldier at the end of the extraordinary film 1917, running through the battlefield, bombs going off all around him, knocking him down one after the other, yet he keeps getting back up, refusing to quit and keeps running forward," he continued. "I am so blessed, fortunate, and proud to be his dad."
