The love Tom Hanks has for his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, is truly one of a kind. After 33 years of marriage, the actor is still revealing ways that she has been a part of his different projects, including his 2000 drama film Cast Away.
Recently, Tom joined fellow actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett for an episode of their SmartLess podcast. Over the hour-long episode, which premiered on November 3, Tom went down memory lane about his 40-year career working on TV projects and movies. After sharing stories about Bosom Buddies, Happy Days, Big and Saving Private Ryan, Tom opened up about the backstory of his sidekick in Cast Away.
As fans may know, the drama follows the story of a FedEx systems analyst executive named Chuck who troubleshoots issues all over the world for the carrier. After he’s called away from Christmas dinner to resolve a matter in Malaysia, the FedEx cargo plane he’s on crashes on to a deserted island, and he must figure out how to get back home to his girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) in Memphis.
Following several failed attempts to get off the island and a hand injury, Chuck lets out his frustration by tossing objects around from FedEx packages, including a Wilson Sporting Goods volleyball. But after drawing a face on it and naming it Wilson, the ball becomes his inanimate companion for the next four years. That is, until Chuck loses Wilson in the ocean.
“In Cast Away, the volleyball is named Wilson. Now, you’re married to the wonderful Rita Wilson, who I love, I adore, we all do,” Sean said on the podcast. “Was that by design because it could have been called Spalding?”
“It could have been,” Tom said. “[Cast Away] was written by Bill Broyles and that movie took about six years to figure out. Bill Broyles and I started talking about it and we didn’t shoot it until six years later. He came up with the idea of a volleyball and he named it Wilson in honor of my beautiful bride.”
So, little did viewers know that he was actually keeping Rita close to him, even on set. Today, Tom and Rita are happier than ever, and Wilson the volleyball was just auctioned off for a whopping £230,000 (about $308,565) in the U.K. The more you know!
