He’s got a good reason to be sad – Jenny has effectively just ghosted him – but soon enough, he rises and, “for no particular reason” decides to “go for a little run”. He’s sitting on the bench outside it, sullen-faced, staring into space. The starting line is Gump’s whitewashed wood Alabama home. Seven minutes of heartwarming cinema in which the lovable hero traverses beautifully shot all-American scenery. It is, of course, Gump’s iconic cross-country run. The sequence only exists because Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis agreed with Paramount that they would personally foot the bill for shooting it. It almost didn’t appear in the film either. The film’s pièce de résistance – an iconic sequence in contemporary Gump-lore and the moment that created a spark of inspiration in Pope’s mind – was a scene that didn’t occur in the book. The 1994 film, however, starring Tom Hanks, was a hit and won six Oscars, including best picture, best director and best actor. Oh, and there’s Jenny, his first-grade crush and lifelong love. Gump pops up in the Vietnam war and plays ping-pong in China. It tells the story of a man born in Mobile, Alabama with a low IQ who innocently drifts through several decades of social churn. The character originated in a novel by Winston Groom, published in 1986. Pope had no sponsors and the budget was tight Then we have the most iconic quote from the film, though it was not actually uttered by Gump himself: “Run, Forrest, run!” This was a DIY operation. Like Rocky or Mia Wallace or BA Baracus, he mostly exists as a jumble of catchphrases and easy-to-assembl fancy-dress party accessories: “My mama always said, life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” That’s classic Gump. Gump is one of those archetypal screen characters who captured the public imagination. Just like Forrest Gump, he didn’t stop until he’d run across America almost five times.Įven if you’ve never seen the film or read the book you’ve probably heard of Forrest Gump. He donned his red Bubba Gump Shrimp Co cap and, well, started to run. His hair was groomed into a “high and tight”, as the barber described it, and he was decked head to toe in Gump attire: chinos, checked shirt and a brand new pair of white Nike Cortez sneakers. Photograph: Nadine Pope/PRĪ brisk buzz later, Pope stepped out on to the street. Shore to shore: Pope as Gump at Bayou la Batre, Alabama. Before she died she asked him to make a promise: “Do one thing in your life that makes a difference.” These words echoed in his mind as he sat in that Alabamabarbershop, awaiting his turn beneath the clippers. To Pope she was a best friend, a rock, an inspiration, a support-crew leader. Cathy would take him to his races, which soon became marathons. He’d shown promise at the sport since his school days when he took part in the oft-dreaded cross-country and excelled at it. She raised Pope with grit, determination and heartfelt support of his passion: running. Cathy was a medical laboratory scientific officer and a single parent. That was the year Pope’s mum, Cathy, died after a cancer diagnosis. In many ways, the seed for this adventure was sown in 2002.

He quit and, along with his partner and fellow vet, Nadine, headed west. As his job became ever more miserable – he was working 13-hour days, five days a week – the urge to escape became insurmountable. He’d spent countless hours daydreaming about it, building the momentum to go. It had taken years of planning for Pope to embark on this trip to America, to make it to this barber’s chair. “So what would you like?” the barber asked him. O n 15 September 2016, Rob Pope, a chipper veterinarian from Liverpool, sat down in the chair of Fluke’s Barbers in Mobile, Alabama, and readied himself for a haircut.

Forrest gump bus driver