10 Quick Questions for Actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna

Is there a favorite patriotic song you look forward to hearing at the National Memorial Day Concert, a tribute to America that moves you most?

JM: One of my favorite things is when they play the service song for each different branch of the service. We do that every year. Gary and I will sometimes take turns — depending on the way the show is blocked out — saying “And now the Marines… And now the Army…  And now the Air Force… ” while the Color Guard marches onstage. That in itself is a moving moment because you’d see a couple hundred thousand people out there.

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GS: It was wonderful to have our family members there and to see them stand up. My dad passed away in October 2021 and every year he’d stand up while the Navy song was playing, and it was always good to see him and my uncles.

What should we all be thinking about this Memorial Day weekend?

GS: If you’re not connected specifically to somebody who has served or has a family member, you may not be totally aware of what our service members go through on a daily basis when they’re active and then when they retire, and when they leave, the challenges that they face. They, after all, are our freedom fighters and they sacrifice so much. That’s what Memorial Day weekend is all about: paying tribute to them and their families.

Do you have a favorite movie featuring our military, our veterans?

GS: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), a very powerful movie that I’ve seen many times that I think emphasizes what it’s like to come home from war and the difficulties that our veterans face. We try to highlight these types of stories as well. While Memorial Day is designated to honor our fallen, we try to recognize the families that go through difficult times, losing a loved one, of course, in our Gold Star segments but also just to recognize the sacrifice by others in service and defense of our country.

JM: Gary’s choice is a great one. One I would acknowledge: Saving Private Ryan. I acknowledge it because I know my Uncle Willie and other veterans have told me that they felt that was the one movie that portrayed what it was really like.

Gary, did all this work for veterans and the military really begin for you with your Forrest Gump role?

GS: Like Joe, I have veterans in my family, and so it starts there. I have Vietnam veterans in my family so back in the ’80s, I got very focused just trying to help Vietnam veterans in the Chicago area in various ways and then 10 years later along comes Forrest Gump. I auditioned for it; I got the part. He was a wounded veteran and that really started me focusing on supporting our wounded. The years rolled on, I kept doing different things and working for different organizations and then realized it was something I was going to be doing for a long time, so I started the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011.

Joe, in your acting, you found ways to highlight the military.

JM: Yeah, my character on Criminal Minds, I told them it was important to me that I give my character a military background so we could open up stories pertaining to that. I was especially happy we were able to do a three-episode arc that dealt with the fact that I happened to find my commanding officer from the Vietnam era now homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, which allowed me to bring into the story line an organization called New Directions, which is a real place in Los Angeles that takes care of the homeless and the drug addicted. The only requirement [is that] they be a veteran. 

On a lighter note, Gary, inquiring minds want to know, is it more fun to be a rock star or a movie star?

GS: Thank God I stumbled into acting because I was able to actually find something I could make a living at, which allows me to play rock star on stage. I don’t make any money playing the bass in the band. I make my living as an actor, and I was able to use that platform, as Joe has, to shine a spotlight on different folks. My character on CSI: NY was a Marine veteran of Beirut, and we were able to craft stories in the nine years that we were on the show that occasionally focused on service members and what they were going through. Television has allowed me to do wonderful things for the military. 

You’ve got some great talent coming to this year’s National Memorial Day Concert. What are you most looking forward to?

JM: My dear friend, [actor] Jean Smart [Hacks, Designing Women], is coming in. I was the best man at her wedding. Her late husband [Richard Gilliland] was one of my oldest friends in the world. We did the play Godspell together in 1972 in Chicago and he was my friend for 50 years. Unfortunately, he passed away about a year ago. She’s agreed to do a segment with me. Gary and I both have that opportunity to bring talent in. Denis Leary always calls me and says “If you ever need me again. I’m there,” which I’m always grateful to hear.

GS: [Broadway actor] Brian Stokes Mitchell [will be there as well]. He’s such a powerhouse. He always hits it out of the park. It should be a great show.