Truth behind Cast Away the movie - facts you may not know (2024)

You may be surprised by how true to life Cast Away was despite not being based on a real story

Truth behind Cast Away the movie - facts you may not know (1)

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TOM HANKS STARS IN 'CAST AWAY' (2000)

Released in 2001, Tom Hanks'Cast away was an instant hit, winning Hanks a Golden Globe for his star-turn as fedEx executive Chuck Noland whose plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during a storm.

Hanks' character spends four years on an island in the middle of the ocean and only has Wilson, a washed-up volleyball, for company.

Some have likened the story to that of legendary novel Robinson Crusoe and it's not hard to see the similarities between the film and the novel.

There have also been some suspicions that the film was based on a real-life story. These are false.

However, whilst Cast Away wasn't based on one specific case in general, there are many cases through history that are similar. Read on to find out.

Alexander Selkirk

Regarded as the real Robinson Crusoe, Selkirk was a Scottish man who fended for himself on a deserted island for four years - although how he ended up there was more down to his own decisions.

In October 1704 Selkirk was on a ship called St. George when it stopped at the archipelago of Juan Fernandez, west of Chile. Selkirk thought the ship was in bad shape and said he'd rather be left on Juan Fernandez.

He was left with clothing, a musket, some tools, a Bible and tobacco, feeling confident another ship would be by soon.

Four years and four months later a ship finally crossed his path and in the meantime he ate feral goals and steered clear of sea lions in heat.

The island he stayed on was eventually renamed Robinson Crusoe and a nearby one was called Alexander Selkrik.

Leendert Hasenbosch

As punishment for "homosexual activity", the Dutchman was left on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic in 1725.

His diary revealed he had a tent, seeds, a month's worth of water, books, writing material and extra clothes but when his water ran out he couldn't find anymore.

He drank his own urine and turtle blood and died after six months.

The most tragic aspect of the story is that there were two sources of fresh water on the island.

Marguerite de La Rocque

A French noblewoman, Marguerite was on a voyage to Newfoundland with her uncle. Aged 19, she began sleeping with a man on the ship and her uncle removed them.

They were marooned on the 'Isle of Demons' near the Saint-Paul River in Quebec.

She was left on the island for about two years, long enough to get pregnant, have the baby, and watch it and the father of her child die.

She was rescued by Basque fisherman and returned to France where she became a schoolmistress and settled in Nontron, France.

Tom Neale

Unlike most castaways, and definitely unlike Tom Hanks' character in the film, Tom Neale voluntarily marooned himself on one of the Cook Islands in October 1952.

In May 1954 he hurt his back and had to return to civilization to see a doctor and got married and had two children.

He returned to his island to 1960 for three and a half years but had to leave again when pearl divers moved into the area.

His last stint on the island was in 1967 and lasted ten years when he died on stomach cancer in 1977.

While Castaway wasn't based on a specific real-life story, the man behind it did get into the spirit of things - here are all the facts from Cast Away.

Screenwriter William Boyles JR. deliberately stranded himself on an island for research

The committed and daring writer spent several days alone in Mexico's Sea of Cortez trying to fend for himself.

He learned how to open a coconut, speared and ate stingrays befriended a washed-up Wilson volleyball and tried to make a fire, which ended up in the movie.

This experience deepened his understanding of Chuck as a character, he told the Austin Chronicle: "That's when I realized it wasn't just a physical challenge.

"It was going to be an emotional, spiritual one as well."

Tom Hanks nearly died when filming

Before Hanks left the production in Fiji he was cut which became infected, leaving him with a staph infection in his leg which nearly gave him blood poisoning.

It was only two weeks later after swelling refused to go down that Hanks saw a doctor who told him he was close to death.

Hanks said: "He said, 'I have to put you in hospital as soon as possible....because you're about an hour away from having blood poisoning that will kill you.'"

The movie led to the creation of Lost

The chairman of ABC Entertainment, Lloyd Braun, wanted a writer to come up with a TV show based on his favourite film Cast Away.

According to Chicago magazine Jeffrey Lieber was picked to write the pilot for a series based on Cast Away and came up with Nowhere, which was handed onto J. J. Abrams and became Lost.

For the entire run of the show Lieber was listed in the credits.

The Wilson balls are worth a lot of money

In January 2001 one of the three original Wilson volleyballs featured in the film was sold at an online auction.

The Los Angeles Timesreports that it sold for $18,400.

There you have it: Cast Away was not based on a a real-life story but there have been many stories in history that are similar.

Tom Hanks nearly died during filming whilst the screenwriter went to great lengths to write an authentic screenplay, which seems pretty real to us.

It's not hard to see why Cast Away was such a successful film.

Truth behind Cast Away the movie - facts you may not know (2024)
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