Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories That Will Change The Way You Watch 'Cast Away' (16 items)

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  (#10) The Musical Score Doesn't Begin Until Chuck Leaves The Island

  Zemeckis and his long-time musical collaborator Alan Silvestri opted not to introduce a musical score until two-thirds (one hour and 43 minutes) of the way into the movie. There could have been several instances where the director and the composer added a score to highlight Chuck's struggle and loneliness; however, Silvestri's score does not begin until Chuck finally gets off of the island.

  Evan Carter from AllMusic describes Silvestri's score, which won the composer a Grammy Award in 2002:

  Silvestri's theme isn't introduced until Hanks finally escapes from his island, and then it is stunning in large part because of the simplicity of the melody. Slow, steady, characterized by long notes and unusual moments of silence, it opens emotional floodgates in ways that a more expressive piece would not. The excerpt included on the CD is the seven-minute end title theme, which boldly intersperses the music with several long segments of softly crashing waves. It is an exceptional achievement for director and scorist alike and a fitting culmination to this summary of their collaboration.
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  (#1) Almost Everything About Cast Away Is Completely Unconventional

  It took a lot of guts to make Cast Away - the $85 million film that defied nearly every big-budget movie convention. The entire second act of the film features only a single actor alone on a deserted island with almost no dialogue. Tom Hanks said of the film,

  Look, it’s all a Hail Mary pass. It’s a huge risk. And part of it is, ‘Well, why do it if it’s not a huge risk? Why go through all this stuff?’ The whole movie itself is, I think, bodaciously treading new territory.

  Even the movie's director Robert Zemeckis initially didn't think that Cast Away would work because it was so unconventional. "It was a really hard movie to write because it didn't have any conventions,” he says. "There are no bad guys, no one’s running around chasing after microfilm...and we didn't want to junk it up with desert island clichés."
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  (#5) There's A Draft Where The Audience Finds Out What Was In The FedEx Box

  What was inside the one FedEx package that Chuck refused to open during his entire stay on the island? The ending of Cast Away is one of those open-ended, ambiguous conclusions that leaves many spectators pulling their hair out. However, there was at least a brief time when the "what was in the box" question had an answer.

  The third draft of the film had a few important differences from the final draft. In this third draft, on his 1,000th day on the island Chuck figures, "what the heck," and opens up the mysterious package with angel wings. What was inside? Two bottles of salsa verde and a note from a woman named Bettina trying to convince her husband to come back home.

  Chuck reads the letter:

  You said our life was a prison. Dull. Boring. Empty. I can't begin to tell you how much that hurt. I don't want to lose you. I'm enclosing some salsa, the verde you like. Use it on your sticky rice and think of home. Then come home - to me. We'll find the spice in our lives again. Together. I love you. Always. Bettina.
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  (#13) The Russians Were Extremely Accommodating To The Film's Production

  Zemeckis opted to open the film in Moscow, Russian, in the middle of winter in order to illustrate that Chuck was "a man of the world." Any major city would have done the trick, but the Russians were especially amenable and let Zemeckis and his crew film wherever they needed to.

  In fact, the Russians even shut down Red Square for almost a week and allowed the film's production vehicles to drive through the Square.
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  (#14) It Took A World-Wide Search To Find The Perfect Island Location

  Parts of the film were also made in Memphis and Los Angeles. However, a majority of the filming took place in Monuriki, a semi-remote island in Fiji. Location scouts selected Monuriki because Cast Away's island was not supposed to look like paradise, instead the location was intended to help convey Chuck's struggle to survive.

  In order for Zemeckis to get permission to film on the island, he needed the approval of the Fijian family who owns it. The director learned Fijian customs and met with the island's owners. He even participated in a Fijian ceremony.
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  (#7) Tom Hanks Suffered From A Horrible Infection

  Hanks accidently cut his right leg while shooting a scene for Cast Away on the island of Fiji. He didn't think the cut was a very big deal - that is until he got an infection that could have ended him. Hanks explained,

  Just before we left the island, I had this little cut and something got in there... I flew home and, boy, was my leg hurting!

  The weekend we were home it swelled up really big so I finally went to the doctor, thinking he was going to clean out my knee and give me some antibiotics, but it turned out I had a staph infection that was close to giving me blood poisoning.

  The doctor said to me ‘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.

  It was also still highly infectious, so I had to take these super-duper antibiotics which just dried me out so much — and I was in the hospital for three days. Then we had to shut down production for three weeks because the doctors said, ‘No way is this kid getting in the water.'

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