SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center:Who is Jenny in 'Forrest Gump'? What to know about the cast of the cinema classic.

"Forrest Gump" is SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Centerone of those movies with a dozen quotes the average person could rattle off – “Stupid is as stupid does,” “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get,” “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”

But it’s Jenny, not Forrest, who delivers one of the movie’s most iconic lines: “Run Forrest, run!” Whether you’re an avid “Gump” fan or just trying to stay hip with one of America’s beloved classics, here’s what you need to know about Jenny. Reader beware – this article contains spoilers for “Forrest Gump.”

Who was Jenny in "Forrest Gump"?

Jenny Curran is first introduced in “Forrest Gump” as Forrest’s childhood friend. On Forrest’s first day of school, Jenny offers up the bus seat next to her. Robin Wright plays the adult Jenny and Hanna Hall plays young Jenny.

Forrest later recalls: “I had never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life, she was like an angel.”

The two become fast friends, “like peas and carrots” Forrest says. Jenny helps Forrest learn to read and climb trees. Jenny’s mother died when she was young, and her widowed father physically and sexually abuses Jenny and her siblings. Forrest and Jenny’s friendship serves as a refuge away from her abusive home. 

Jenny is the first person to encourage Forrest to run (“Run Forrest, run!") when he’s being chased and taunted by bullies. Jenny plays a pivotal role later in Forrest’s life as his love interest, but it’s in this scene where she influences him the most. Shouting after him, Forrest runs faster and faster, destroying his leg splints and discovering a natural talent that propels him throughout the rest of the movie.

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What happens to Jenny after she marries Forrest?

Jenny and Forrest reunite several times throughout the film, but most poignantly when she introduces him to her son, Forrest Jr., later revealing that Forrest is the father. 

She also tells Forrest that she’s sick and dying of an incurable virus. Forrest asks Jenny and Forrest Jr. to live with him, and Jenny proposes to Forrest. The two marry in the backyard. 

After some time of living together as a family, Jenny dies at age 32. Her illness is never explicitly stated, though screenwriter Eric Roth confirmed in a 2019 interview that she died of AIDS. She’s buried under the oak tree where the two used to play as children. Standing over her grave, Forrest tells her that he demolished her father’s house where she was abused for much of her childhood. 

Jenny’s storyline contains darker elements like abuse, drug addiction and illness, though actress Robin Wright told the LA Times in 1994 she doesn’t see Jenny as a tragedy:

“She’s a lost soul who finds herself. But she is not a tragic figure, at least not more than any other girl going through her 20s and that catharsis,” Wright said. “Maybe the difference is that we get to see her through every transformation over 30 years in a movie, as opposed to a therapy session.”

Who is Robin Wright?

Robin Wright is an American actress. She began her career as a dancer at age 10 and in modeling at 14. 

At 18, she rose to fame after her 1984 role in the soap opera “Santa Barbara” and later as the titular role in the cult classic “The Princess Bride” (1987). Wright’s role in “Forrest Gump” in 1994 earned her a Golden Globe nomination.

Wright’s other notable works include “House of Cards” (2013-2018), “Adore” (2013), “Land” (2021) and “Wonder Woman” (2017). 

She married fellow “Santa Barbara” cast member Dane Witherspoon from 1986 to 1988. Wright has two children with actor Sean Penn. Penn and Wright were together from 1996 to 2010 before divorcing. She married Clément Giraudet, a Yves Saint Laurent executive, in 2018 but filed for divorce last year. 

Aside from acting, Wright directs and is a co-founder of a social enterprise that supports women in conflict zones.

In 2022, Wright spoke to Harvard Business Review about her roles in the beloved “Princess Bride” and “Forrest Gump”: 

“There was some pressure: Stay in the game, or you will be forgotten,” she said. “But I chose not to adhere to that, because I had a long-term vision. I knew I wanted to act until I couldn’t anymore, so I needed to be selective. Where are you in your life, spiritually and mentally, when projects come your way? Do you connect with material? I would see what resonated.”

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