Wilson tells PEOPLE he tapped the iconic 'Forrest Gump' and 'Apollo 13' star because of his ability to represent the song's identity "in the purest of spirit"
Stephen Wilson Jr. is truly the people's champion.
The singer-songwriter has seen a meteoric rise in country music as of late thanks to a 2025 CMA Awards win, appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Howard Stern Show as well as a completely sold-out headline tour. Now, he's relishing in another notable success in the genre: his first single at country radio with "Gary."
The song was released in November 2025 as a tribute to blue-collar workers and inspired by a roadside memorial to a teen named Gary that Wilson stumbled on during his travels. Featuring Wilson's signature gothic undertone, "Gary" is a new interpretation of the America that artists like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp have framed through song for decades.
Accompanying the hard-hitting track about a type of individual lost to yesteryear is a touching music video starring none other than Gary Sinise of Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump fame.
Across its six-minute runtime, Sinise takes on the role of a hard-working day laborer, living in a modest home while he works on his vintage car, offers to fix plumbing for neighbors without accepting payment and reflects on the loss of loved ones.
After seeing the financial circumstances of his community members, Sinise's character enters a bank — where Wilson is the guard — and robs it for cash. The video closes with Sinise driving through his community, flinging money out of his car's window for his neighbors to gather in a pseudo Robin Hood moment before police arrive.
Credit: Acacia Evans
PEOPLE can exclusively premiere behind-the-scenes footage from the music video shoot, as Wilson explains, "Gary Sinise embodied the character not just in name, but in the purest of spirit."
"An endangered species of fixer. dwelling naturally in a habitat of grease, oil & stereo static. drawn to the roar of 8 cylinders firing in perfect unison or the sound of restricted PVC stably flowing once again. a fixer by nature – born into a broken world. bigger than money. principle is his primary currency," Wilson describes in overtures of the character he designed through "Gary," which Sinise fully embodied.
Referring to Sinise's work as "the highest level of the craft," Wilson adds, "Shot after shot, scene after scene. A master artist on display in Bon Aqua, Tenn., bringing a vivid vision I had to life with all the life he has."
In the behind-the-scenes footage, Sinise is seen angling himself under the hood of the car from the music video as Wilson gives cues about the natural placement of a mechanic working. Other moments find Wilson sharing positioning with Sinise for interior scenes, with the singer joking to the actor, "Yeah, I know, it is trippy, but, um, we do lots of drugs."
During cuts from the bank robbery scene, Sinise at moments breaks into a smile after holding a straight face while his character threatened bank employees with a gas can and a lighter, demanding money be thrown into a cooler.
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Calling the project "masterfully directed & edited by Tim Cofield," Wilson adds that "Gary showed up to work representing a man that shows up to work. it worked."
For Cofield's part, he tells PEOPLE, “Working with Gary Sinise was a dream. He is a true master of his craft and watching him bring 'Gary' to life was very emotional. Many scenes were shot in one take, given we had eleven hours with him."
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In a statement shared to PEOPLE, Sinise gushed, "I heard Stephen’s song and loved it. Two weeks later he reached out to me to be in the video. He’s got a great team, a great song and it was a blast to work with them all on the video. And you know … there ain't a lotta boys named Gary these days."
"God is good and I am grateful for Gary the song and Gary the human. Fuel for my empty tank, forever. Thank you, Gary," Wilson notes to PEOPLE of working on the video.
"Gary" is out on all major streaming platforms now.
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