Mykelti Williamson, the actor who played Bubba in the iconic 1994 film Forrest Gump, has never been to a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant. Williamson revealed this surprising fact on the June 2 podcast, Still Here Hollywood with Steve Kmetko.

When asked if he gets a free pass at Bubba Gump, Williamson replied, "I've never been. You're speaking of the restaurant? I've never been to one in my life." Williamson explained that the reason for this is that he never felt "properly invited" to a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant.

Williamson went on to explain that he doesn't feel that he was ever extended a genuine invitation to visit the chain, which was a partnership between Paramount and the Rusty Pelican restaurant chain. "Sometimes, when you invite someone somewhere, it should be... highly considerate of what the possibilities could be with a union," he said.

Williamson also shared that he helped to make shrimp a defining characteristic in the film. Before auditioning for the role, he coached two students who auditioned for the part and didn't get it. He had to fight to get an audition at all, but once director Robert Zemeckis saw his tape, he brought him in to read with Tom Hanks, who played Forrest Gump. The two became "kindred spirits" who took the relationship as it was written in the original 1986 novel and in the screenplay and made it like "brothers."

Williamson also explained the inspiration behind his famous shrimp monologue, in which he lists many ways to eat shrimp. He said that there were originally only five different kinds of shrimp in the script, but he and Zemeckis decided to make Bubba a "shrimping fool." He came up with 40 different shrimp dishes and during his first scene, he gave 15 types, which made the crew "roar" with laughter.

Williamson said that fans often used to send shrimp to his table in restaurants and he would meet fans to take a photo. It's unclear if Hanks has visited one of the chain's 21 locations in the United States (plus 12 more worldwide). Forrest Gump, meanwhile, made more than $670 million at the box office and won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Hanks.

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