13 Things You Never Knew About 'Cast Away'

Wilson and Chuck Noland is one of the best love stories in cinematic history.

Well, not really. But hyperbole is the name of the game here.

Cast Away was one of most compelling stories about man being crushed by his environment and being shaped by it. When the writer came up with the idea he said Tom Hanks' journey "wasn’t just a physical challenge... it was going to be an emotional, spiritual one as well.”

So here's some stuff you didn't know aboutCast Away!

1. The screenwriter purposely stranded himself on an island and basically did what Tom Hanks' character did.

William Broyles Jr. spent several days alone on an island in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. He learned how to crack a coconut, tried to make fire, stabbed and ate stingrays and even became friends with a Wilson-brand volleyball.

“That's when I realized it wasn’t just a physical challenge,” Broyles told The Austin Chronicle. “It was going to be an emotional, spiritual one as well.”

2. There's someone who loved Wilson the volleyball more than Chuck: One of he original balls sold for $18,400 in an online auction.

In January 2001, one of the three original Wilson volleyballs that Tom Hanks caressed sold for that much online. PS just get a replica for $19.99 on the Wilson Sporting Goods’ website.

3. The cult show LOSTwas literally ripped off the movie.

Lloyd Braun, the chairman of ABC Entertainment, wanted a show based on the movie and tasked writers to come up with something. Eventually the idea was pitched to nerd visionary J.J. Abrams, who added the sci-fi and supernatural aspects to the show.

4. Tim Hanks got fat on purpose to make himself look like an average out-of-shape dude – and then production had to stop for a year so he could lose 50 pounds and grow out his beard.

He didn't exercise, got himself a belly, and while he lost the weight, director Robert Zemeckis used the same crew to shoot 2000's What Lies Beneath.

5. Wilson and Tom Hanks were nominated for the Best On-Screen Duo during the 2001 MTV Movie Awards...

...but they lost because the world doesn't make sense.

6. In fact, actual lines of dialogue were written for Wilson to help Tom Hanks have more natural interactions with the volleyball.

They were actually reunited at a NY Rangers game and he genuinely looked happy to see his BFF again!

7. If you put -17.609277,177.0397 into Google Maps and zoom in all the way, you can see the beach that Tom Hanks wrote the word HELP on.

Basically look for the eastern-most part of Monuriki, Fiji.

8. Fed Ex didn't even pay a dime for the the MASSIVE product placement.

They didn't find anything wrong with the final script (not that they'd have a say) and even hooked up the filmmakers by letting them film on location at their hubs in Memphis, Los Angeles, and Moscow.

9. None of the audio during filming was even close to being usable. The waves crashing on the shore were too freakin' loud and ruined all the takes.

All the audio in the scenes on the island had to be replaced in post-production. Sound man William B. Kaplan definitely tried but he couldn't edit out the wave noises.

That HAD to be annoying...

10. Tom Hanks nearly died during filming and they had to shut down filming for three FREAKING weeks...

Just as production in Fiji was wrapping up he got a Staph infection after getting his leg ripped open and not treating the cut. The blood poisoning is what sent him rushing to the doctor. Tom says the doctor told him: "‘What’s the matter with you, you idiot? You could have died from this thing!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ But they literally had to take out a big chunk of the stuff in my leg.”

11. If you abbreviate Chuck Noland's name it turns into "C. Noland" or "see no land."

Clever girl...

12. Tom Hanks couldn't figure out what Chuck would become when he got back to land, which lead to the ambiguous ending.

"He was loaded with self-pity; he was loaded with Rip Van Winkle, kind of like jeepers creepers, look how small the computers are, all of that kind of stuff. We thought, look, he’d probably be turned into some media celebrity and what’s he going to do? Be sitting in the secret square [Hollywood Squares] with Susan Anton right next to him?”

13. Tom Hanks never opens the package in the movie – but he should've because the director says that there was a waterproof solar-powered satellite phone...

When Chuck Noland delivers the unopened package the song playing in his car is Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender."

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