Before finding success on television, Sinise honed his acting skills on the stage. After developing a love of the theater, he co-founded the critically acclaimed Chicago-based Steppenwolf Theater Company. Steppenwolf brought its first production to New York, and Sinise appeared opposite John Malkovich in Sam Shepard's True West. As he continued his stage work, he started gravitating to projects in film and television, steadily increasing his prominence and earning praise for intense performances. In 1994, he officially won over Hollywood with starring roles in the classic film Forrest Gump and on the popular ABC miniseries The Stand. A stream of film roles quickly followed, and he switched easily between playing heroic types (as he did in 1995's Apollo 13 and 2000's Mission to Mars) and villains (as he did in 1996's Ransom and 2000's Reindeer Games). In 2004, he settled into a more permanent heroic role when he joined the cast of the TV drama CSI: NY. Off-screen, he spends time with his wife and children, maintains his Steppenwolf roots, and continues charitable efforts to support the military.