Gary Sinise Isn’t Ruling Out a Return to Acting After 6-Year Break: ‘If It Feels Right’

Gary Sinise may not be done with acting just yet.

In his new memoir, Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through, the CSI: NY alum, 71, opened up about his decision to care for his family full-time.

Sinise’s family went through a difficult time in 2018, when his wife, Moira, and son Mac were both diagnosed with cancer. With his father also unwell, the actor decided to put his career on hold after 13 Reasons Why wrapped.

“Home needed me more than Hollywood did,” Sinise explained in an excerpt shared by People.

Sinise acknowledged that being able to step away from acting during such a difficult period was a blessing: “I’d had success in movies, and television, and the success allowed me the opportunity to step away from it and focus on the immediate needs of our son, and the family, and Moira.”

The Forrest Gump star continued, per the outlet, “We thought a lot about other people who may not be in that similar situation, who couldn’t afford to do it. I was fortunate. We kept our eyes on the blessings all the time.”

Following Mac’s death from bone cancer at the age of 33 in 2024, Sinise and his family have opted to live close to one another outside of Nashville. He has also kept himself busy with his foundation, the Gary Sinise Foundation, which he launched in June 2011.

The actor, who is also a founding member of Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company, admitted that there are times he misses acting.

“Do I miss it? There are times when I do,” Sinise wrote. “But the mission that I’m on here now, taking that success and the good fortune that I had in the business and dishing it out to a lot of other people and doing a lot of things with the foundation, that mission is so fulfilling. Will I go back to acting? I may for the right thing with the right people — if it feels right.”

As for what would make him return to showbiz, Sinise said it all revolves around his family.

“I don’t think I can do the kind of thing I used to do, which is pick up and go away for two or three months,” he explained. “Actors have to pick up and move sometimes because you’re shooting for two or three months somewhere. And if you have a big role, you’ve got to be there all the time. I can’t do that anymore. Nor would I want to leave the family for that long.”

“I want to be around them. I want to be around my little grandkids. My wife, I want to be around her. And my mom,” he added. “I can go away for two or three nights, not two or three months.”

Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through will be released on November 10.