An iconic wooden bench used in the movie Forrest Gump miraculously survived the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
The bench from the 1994 classic has been in the backyard of production designer Rick Carter’s Pacific Palisades home since the movie wrapped.
The two-time Oscar-winning designer, 74, told the LA Times that he was staying in Paris last month when he heard from a neighbor that fires were threatening his family home, which has a number of Hollywood trinkets from his movie days.
Carter, who also worked on blockbusters including Jurassic Park and Avatar, said his family lost their three-bedroom home and an array of movie keepsakes, including his two Oscar statues.
But the bench in the backyard miraculously survived.
The outlet showed images of the bench singed and slightly charred from the fires, yet still standing despite the surrounding area being razed to the ground.
‘Just as Forrest seemed to exist in some sort of protective bubble, so did this bench,’ Carter said.
An iconic wooden bench used in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump miraculously survived the devastating Los Angeles wildfires
The bench, seen before the fires, has been in the backyard of production designer Rick Carter’s Pacific Palisades home since the movie wrapped, but was left as one of the only ornaments standing after Carter’s home was lost to the wildfires last month
Eric Roth, who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Forrest Gump, told the LA Times after hearing the bench was still standing: ‘To me, the whole movie is a miracle.
‘That the bench survived doesn’t surprise me at all.’
Carter said he had over 1,000 pieces of movie lore in his home, but the bench and an original John Lennon book are among the last remaining trinkets after the fires tore down his property.
The home was among almost 7,000 structures that were destroyed in the Palisades Fire, which spanned over 23,000 acres and killed at least 12 people. At least 29 total people died in fires last month across Los Angeles.
Images from Carter’s neighborhood near the Pacific Coast Highway and Temescal Canyon showed entire lines of homes were left as ashes after fires tore through the area.
The designer said that even after losing so many prized possessions from his career, now that he looks back, he says he ‘would’ve loved this job when I was 10… I’m getting to be a swashbuckler.’
To design the bench in Forrest Gump, Carter and set director Nancy Haigh made three 11-feet-long benches, with two as backups.
Carter took a bench home after production wrapped, and fans of the movie have since traveled for years to the filming location in Savannah, Georgia only to be disappointed that the bench is gone.
Two-time Oscar winner Rick Carter said he lost a number of prized possessions to the fires, including his two Oscar statues, but said that the bench’s survival reminded him how ‘Forrest (Gump) seemed to exist in some sort of protective bubble, so did this bench’
Images from Carter’s neighborhood near the Pacific Coast Highway and Temescal Canyon showed entire lines of homes were left as ashes after fires tore through the area
Fans of the movie have since traveled for years to the filming location in Savannah, Georgia only to be disappointed that the bench is gone, and only a concrete slab remains to sit on
Asked if his could have been one of the backup benches, Carter insisted to the LA Times that he believes he has the original.
He said he even considered testing for Tom Hanks’ DNA to prove it, but found that it had been outside for too long to be accurate.
Carter said the bench has served as an idyllic spot for friends and family to sit in his yard, adding: ‘Over the years, we’ve had a lot of very interesting conversations on that bench.’
‘Certain symbols allow themselves to be seen,’ he said.
‘That’s why that bench still exists… it means something for it to survive.’
