Over 20 years ago, Tom Hanks pulled off one of the boldest tricks an actor can do: He did a movie where he spent most of it alone. (He also lost 50 pounds, which is impressive, too.) The movie was Cast Away, in which he played a man stranded on a remote island after a plane crash. His character spends four years by himself before being rescued. But Hanks wasn’t entirely alone: His character makes “friends” with a volleyball he names “Wilson” (because it’s a Wilson-brand volleyball, of course). And now, some 22 years later, the two have finally reunited.
As per Entertainment Weekly, Hanks attended the opening game for the Cleveland Guardians. The Oscar-winning actor and future Elvis co-star threw out the first pitch, but he wasn’t alone on the mound: He brought Wilson along with him.
Accompanied by a rather uncooperative Wilson, @tomhanks delivers the ceremonial first pitch to Larry Doby Jr.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/tbmkcwqHuH
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) April 15, 2022
Alas, Wilson wasn’t entirely cooperative. The ball kept blowing away from the mound, forcing Hanks to repeatedly delay his throw so he could rescue him.
This isn’t the first time Hanks reunited with his sporting goods pal. In 2015, the two appeared together at a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden.
In Cast Away, which reunited Hanks with his Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis (the two are back at it with the forthcoming Pinocchio), the actor’s increasingly desperate character keeps his sanity by talking to Wilson, which features a blood stain faintly resembling a human face. The film’s emotional peak [SPOILER] comes when Wilson is lost at sea, prompting Hanks to scream his name in agony.
Cast Away currently streams on Amazon Prime.
(Via EW)