Tom Hanks personally paid for this iconic scene from Forrest Gump

Tom Hanks in a scene from 'Forrest Gump'. Photo / Getty Images

Tom Hanks paid for one of the most iconic Forrest Gump scenes from the movie, after the studio said they couldn't cover it.

In an episode of In Depth with Graham Bensinger, the actor said that director Robert Zemeckis wanted to film the running across America scene, but that they couldn't secure the funding.

Hanks, who was the protagonist in the 1994 film, said that he and Robert came together as "soulmates" to make the scene happen.

Tom Hanks in a scene from film 'Forrest Gump'. Photo / Getty Images

He told Bensinger: "We called it The Run and I said, 'Why is he talking to me? He's the boss I'll do whatever he says. This is above my paygrade.' And Bob came and we talked and he said: 'Look, you are Forrest Gump, you're the title role in this. I need you to be not an actor but my soulmate. I will open up the cuts and talk about every aspect of the post production of this with you if you will be my collaborator and not just my employee.'"

Tom Hanks in a scene from film 'Forrest Gump'. Photo / Getty Images

"I said, 'Deal, let's do that' He said, 'Well this run is going to cost X amount of dollars' and it wasn't cheap. I said 'Okay you and I are going to split that amount and we're gonna give it back'. He told the studio, Paramount, at the time that the scene would be paid for, but it would have to 'share the profits a little bit more'."

"To which the studio said, 'Fabulous, great, okay, it's good for us too.' It happened again, they said 'We can't get the insurance so you can't shoot' and Bob and I said, 'Okay we'll cover the insurance', and we did. So it ended up being very easy after that."

Tom Hanks, with his trophy for Best Actor for his performance in Forrest Gump. Photo / Getty Images

The movie went on to make $1,043 million ]at the box office, with Hanks taking home an estimated $99 million.

He also went on to win Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance.