When one thinks of a dedicated actor, who is renowned for his transformation and bringing the roles to life, Tom Hanks is the name that is surely one of the first names that comes up. The actor steals the limelight without even trying and he has built a reputation for going beyond his limits and his efforts have been recognized by The Academy Awards as he has won the prestigious award twice.
Tom Hanks tends to take a meticulous approach while taking on his roles, and his research skills easily help him to transform into the character he takes on, and one of the most iconic transformations of the actor was in Cast Away. The transformation was challenging and it was dangerous for the actor, but he pulled it off, but even while going through the transformation, the actor chose not to cut coffee from his diet.
Tom Hanks Did Not Give Up on His Coffee While Undergoing Transformation For Cast Away
Tom Hanks’ performance in Cast Away remains one of the most iconic and intense performances which captured the physical and mental struggle for survival with authenticity. The actor played the role of Chuck Noland, who has been stranded alone on an island, which beautifully captures Chuck Noland’s transformation from an ambitious FedEx employee to a resourceful survivor on an island.
Critics praised Tom Hanks for his outstanding physical transformation, where he had to put on 50 pounds to play the role of a FedEx employee, and the production had to wait for a year to drop his weight and grow out his hair to look like a survivor on a stranded island. The transformation was not easy at all, and when Hanks was giving an interview to Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film’s release, he shared how he absolutely refused to give up on coffee, despite some serious changes in his diet.
“The only thing I did not give up was coffee. Nope, wasn’t about to! Can’t do it! Excuse me, no, I’m not! Ain’t gonna happen, pal!”
It was exclusively the efforts of the Forrest Gump actor, which made the film a massive hit, earning $427.2 million which was massive in comparison to its production budget of $90 million. And Hanks’ performance earned him praise from the critics as well, but did the transformation put a massive toll on his health?
What Effect Did The Transformation in Cast Away Have On Tom Hanks’ Health?
During the same interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Terminal actor shared how “it was a burden,” for him as he had to change his diet to gain 50 pounds, and then lose it to play the role of a survivor.
“And it was a burden because I knew when the time came there wasn’t going to be anyone else to work off of.”
In a separate interview, he stated that playing the role has put him under immense mental stress, as he was mostly working in isolation, which almost affected his sanity.
“When Wilson was born, I had dialogue with him, and I heard his dialogue in my head. I did go crazy cause I never had a day off. I never had a shot off. I was never off camera for anything. It was the whole movie was point and shoot.”
“Yeah, I don’t even recall hearing ‘action’ and ‘cut’. You just kind of like wander into the frame and wander out, and that’s how we shot the movie. It could have been very, very undisciplined, but Bob got what he needed, so thank god.”
While his transformation earned him immense recognition from fans around the world, on the other hand, it has immensely affected his health, and he might not go under such transformation in other movies, due to suffering from diabetes.
Cast Away can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
