The one movie scene that made Tom Hanks crazy: “That stuff drove me nuts”
The greatest movies of all time stick in our minds like glowing orbs of inspiration, but within each one, there is a memorable scene that makes the film such a personal gem. It’s the moment when Tom Hardy battles the insane War Boys in Mad Max: Fury Road, or when Sigourney Weaver escapes unharmed from the Xenomorph in Ridley Scott’s Alien, and even when Tom Hanks announces that “life is like a box of chocolates” in Forrest Gump.
More than most Hollywood stars, Hanks has an abundance of memorable moments in cinema history, with the ‘box of chocolates’ scene in Forrest Gump being one of many in that film alone. Elsewhere, he is well-known for playing Captain Miller during the immersive D-Day landing scene in Saving Private Ryan or for screaming “Wilson!” as the deserted islander Chuck in Cast Away.
Challenged with commanding the whole movie as both the lead actor and practically the only performer in the film, Hanks was sensational as Chuck, a FedEx executive who becomes stranded on a desert island after a plane crash. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards, with Hanks rightfully earning a nod for ‘Best Leading Actor’, even though he missed out on the win to Russell Crowe and his performance in Gladiator.
Although the entirety of Cast Away is an utter treat, it is remembered for a handful of special scenes that Hanks discussed with Phoebe Robinson on the Sooo Many White Guys podcast back in 2018.
“On the day, when you have to show up, you have to make some emotional truth actually occur in a very specific time and place on a very specific day,” he told the podcast, “All these things that come from any movie, speaking for myself, I could sit down with you and we could watch Cast Away together and you could pause it and say, ‘Okay, what about this scene?’”
Continuing, he added, “I could talk to you about all the fears, all the worries, all the options we either weighed actually there on the set when we were trying to figure out how we were going to shoot it, or inside my own head that led up to what that moment was”.
But, there was one scene that was particularly challenging for Hanks, revealing the moment when he had to say goodbye to Wilson, the volleyball which became his imaginary best friend in the movie. “I have to wake up on a beach and wonder what’s going on,” Hanks stated, “That stuff drove me nuts because you don’t have an immediate emotional river to jump into like the scene where you say goodbye to Wilson. That’s just cold water. You jump in, the river takes you downstream, you’re done”.
The movie was a big hit with audiences and critics, grossing $429million worldwide and earning Hanks an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Actor’. It has gone down in history among the actor’s finest performances and a movie that is an essential watch for those who enjoy heartfelt blockbuster cinema.
“We just had bold adventures when we were making that movie,” Hanks told Simmons. “We were out in the middle of the ocean trying to grab shots. And we were off in Fiji on two different occasions and, again, had my whole family with me. There was nothing but adventures every single day.”
Take a listen to Hanks speaking about the scene in the podcast below.
