How Long Was Tom Hanks Stranded on the Island in Cast Away?

Tom Hanks is one of the most famous Hollywood actors in the world, not just currently but in history. He had countless awesome roles, but perhaps none was more iconic and influential on pop culture than his role as Chuck Noland in the movie Cast Away. The character gets stranded on a desert island and barely survives there. But just how long was Tom Hanks stranded?

In Cast Away, Tom Hanks’ character, Chuck Noland, was left stranded on a desert island for about four years. After his plane crashes, Chuck is the only survivor left without even the bare necessities for life, like food, water, or shelter.

While the character was stranded for four years, the production of the movie was also incredibly long – almost two years. That was due to Hanks gaining and losing weight for the role, growing hair, and a beard, but also due to some delays in production due to a dangerous leg infection of the main actor, and more. Here’s all you need to know about the amazing Cast Away film.

Cast Away: A brief look

Cast Away is a movie that came out in late 2000, though production started in early 1999. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by William Broyles Jr., while Tom Hanks portrayed the lead role of Chuck Noland – the guy that gets stranded on a desert island.

Interestingly, although Broyles Jr. was responsible for the script, Tom Hanks told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that the main plot of the movie was actually his idea:

“I made Cast Away because I wanted to examine the concept of four years of hopelessness, in which you have none of the requirements for living—food, water, shelter, fire, and company. But it took us six years to put together the alliance that would actually examine that. I only had a third of it, and Bill Broyles only had a third of it, until Bob Zemeckis comes along and provided that other third. I had that original idea. I was reading an article about FedEx, and I realized that 747s filled with packages fly across the Pacific three times a day. And I just thought, “What happens if that goes down?”

The film has a solid 7.8/10 IMDb rating, and after its release, it became a huge pop-cultural phenomenon – mostly because of Wilson the Volleyball.

How did Tom Hanks get stranded on the desert island in Cast Away?

In Cast Away, Tom Hanks portrays a guy named Chuck Noland, who is a system analyst executive for FedEx that’s insanely dedicated to his profession – so much so that he constantly travels the world to solve issues in FedEx outposts. It puts a strain on his long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Kelly, as the pair just can’t seem to find the right time to tie the knot.

During one expedition to Malaysia on a FedEx cargo plane, the aircraft crashes, and Chuck is the only survivor. He is left stranded on a desert island with nothing and no one. Even when it seems somebody is floating towards him, it turns out it is the plane’s pilot – but long gone, drowned in the ocean.

With no food, water, shelter, or any company, Noland slowly goes insane before getting a hold of life in solitude and becoming content with the situation he’s in. His only companion was a volleyball he had found that floated to the island. It was actually from one of the FedEx packages from the crashed plane. 

Hanks left a bloody handprint on it, drew a face, and called the ball Wilson, as it was the name of the brand that made the ball.

Where was the desert island in Cast Away?

In the movie, the plane was traveling across the Pacific Ocean from the US to Malaysia, and the desert island was located somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. The exact location was, of course, undisclosed – if they knew where it was, they’d find Chuck easily.

In real life, the film was shot in Fiji. Precisely, the island of Manuriki, which is a part of the Mamanuca Island archipelago, is just off the coast of Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu. Of course, after the movie was such a huge hit, the island became a huge tourist attraction.

How long was Tom Hanks stranded on the desert island in Cast Away?

The movie starts in 1995, and Chuck Noland returns home to the United States in 1999, meaning he was stranded on the desert island for four years. During that time, he went from despair and horror to adaptation, learning how to spear-fish, light a fire, and use available resources to survive.

The four-year period is actually the main reason why the production of the movie lasted for so long. There was a year-long hiatus between shootings, during which the director made a totally different movie. The reason behind such a long hiatus was to give Hanks time to change physically.

In pre-production, Hanks actually gained a whopping 50 pounds (23 kg), so the transformation would be more apparent and dramatic once he loses weight as a result of four years of living in deserted solitude. During the year-long hiatus, Hanks grew his hair and beard on top of losing a ton of weight.

The production was delayed a couple more times, though, one time being due to a nasty cut on Hanks’ leg that caused an infection that started to spread. Hanks was hospitalized and almost died, so the production was delayed again to give Tom time to heal.

Overall, Chuck Noland was stranded in Cast Away for four years, during which his girlfriend, Kelly, had already married and had a child. On the other hand, the real-life production lasted for almost two years due to the complex nature of the plot and the physical transformation Hanks had to endure.

Was anyone else with Tom Hanks on the island?

I wanted to include this little subheading because there’s no Cast Away without Wilson. Tom Hanks (or Chuck Noland) was all alone on the island. Heck, not even many animals were there. He thought another person had survived, but it turned out to be a floating dead body.

The only other ‘person’ on the island with Hanks was Wilson the Volleyball. Chuck drew a face on a bloody handprint on the ball and started talking to him. It was his only comfort, as he’d probably completely lose his mind if that silly volleyball had never floated his way. That’s why it was so emotional for him – and for us – when Wilson was taken by the waves. Long live, Wilson! 

Fun fact: You can still get Wilson the Volleyball on the company’s website to this day!