The recent DVD release of Cast Away was a big event for fans of the movie. The 2-disc set is chock full of extras, including deleted scenes that were cut from the movie for one reason or another. However, not everything made the disc. Luckily, Cultureshark delivers the goods with an exclusive transcript of a scene (including commentary by director Robert Zemeckis and star Tom Hanks) that was pulled from the DVD at the last minute.

Zemeckis: Hello, this is Robert Zemeckis, director of Cast Away, and this is a deleted scene from the movie that we are viewing here.

Hanks: And this is Tom Hanks, I'm the scraggly-looking guy you see stumbling around there.

Zemeckis: This scene was deleted for a variety of reasons, which we will get into, but to set this up, we wanted to explore-this guy is stranded on an island, you know, how is he gonna-you know, "take care out of business" out there? How long would it take him to do that? But ultimately, there were some problems with tone, and of course, the PG-13 rating –

Hanks: Not to mention, I don't think America even wants to think of me doing that, let alone SEE it. Hey, I don't even want to think of myself doing that.

Zemeckis: Well, we won't go there –

Hanks: Oh, we won't go there NOW, but on the set, it was like, "Come on, Tom, don't act like you've never done it before!"

Zemeckis: (chuckling) This is true. This is true.

Hanks: And we should point out, we don't want to offend our extremely talented screenwriter, Bill Broyles, but this was all improv-right there on the set.

Zemeckis: You know what, Tom, this didn't make the movie-so why would we be offending him?

Hanks: Good point! He's probably sitting at home saying, "I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! IT WAS THEM!" But, yeah, this is our spontaneous "creation," if you will.

Zemeckis: Yeah, we spontaneously decided, "How can we humiliate Tom even more on this picture?"

Hanks: Mission accomplished, Bob...

Hanks: OK, here we see me looking longingly at Helen's picture.

Zemeckis: Helen Hunt, of course, who played Kelly.

Hanks: Yes, a very talented, very lovely woman. I'm sorry that she was even indirectly associated with "Dirty Old Castaway" here!

Zemeckis: OK, now we dissolve to nighttime, and we have this moonlight effect which sort of lights this cave where Chuck is lying down. I thought it looked really good, actually. A nice balance of beauty and baseness.

Hanks: Here we should talk about, a lot of people are gonna say-"What's the big deal? It's only a volleyball, why is he so embarrassed to, you know, do his thing?"

Zemeckis: But that misses the point.

Hanks: Exactly, because the movie makes clear this is my real friend out there. I'm talking with him, sharing survival tips with him, confiding in him-so it's only natural that I would be a little reluctant to, you know...

Zemeckis: Even though we indicated pretty strongly that Wilson has seen you naked –

Hanks: Right, but it's a big step up from that to –

Zemeckis: Right, and it is an uncomfortable thing to show off for others.

Hanks: I wouldn't know, of course, about that. I really had to get extensive direction from Bob on this whole subject, really.

Zemeckis: Here we go again! (laughs) I seem to recall Mr. Method Actor here did extensive research for this.

Hanks: Rita, honey, this man's lying! And please tell me the kids aren't watching!

Zemeckis: The point is, though, we thought this really captured a sort of poignancy about human interaction.

Hanks: True story...when we shot this – we are seeing the insert, now, but when I pulled ut that locket and opened it here-somebody had switched Helen's pic with a picture of-I am not making this up-Elmo from Sesame Street.

Zemeckis: Yes, I remember you totally broke up for about five minutes. I'm not sure who was responsible for that.

Hanks: Nothing against Elmo, but, sad to say, he is a bit of a mood killer in that situation. I did not keep the picture.

Zemeckis: We had a lot of fun making this picture, didn't we?

Hanks: Oh, sure, the starvation, the physical strain and the heat exhaustion – loved every minute of it.

Zemeckis: We wanted to show the comedy of it, but with the tragedy of it as well, because it s really kind of pathetic at the same time. It is really a delicate balance, and I don't know that we achieved it.

Zemeckis: And of course, Wilson says nothing, but it does kind of look like he is staring at him.

Hanks: Yeah this is some great blocking by Bob. I mean, you really get a sense of why Chuck is nervous about this.

Hanks: In character, now, I was thinking, well, I have this light. I have this picture. I have what I need. But still...I feel embarrassed.

Zemeckis: And Wilson really underplayed it there.

Hanks: Oh, he was brilliant.

Hanks: Now he walks away…then he walks back…Chuck is frustrated, really. On many levels.

Zemeckis: We've been joking about this, but really, a man has certain needs...

Hanks: And this whole movie was about, hey, take a look at what you really need, and it ain't just the reservations at...Spago's, I don't know...

Zemeckis: And this is a need.

Zemeckis: So why did we cut this scene? Several reasons.

Hanks: One, my wife would never look at me the same way again if it was in there…hey, can we leave this off the DVD? (laughs)

Zemeckis: Well, there was that! (laughs)

Hanks: Right now I sort of turn him around so he's not looking at me.

Zemecksis: We also shot footage, which we won't see here, where Chuck really gets frustrated and he sort of punts Wilson across the island so he won't be looking at him.

Hanks: I was hesitant to do that-it felt very evil, for some reason.

Zemeckis: Yes, a lot of us were concerned, but the thing is, we had a scene right after that, where you go find him, and hug him and apologize. It was very powerful and it made your bond even stronger.

Hanks: But nobody wanted to see me punt Wilson! People would be watching it and thinking, "Oh, maybe the pervert'll find a stray dog he can go kick next."

Zemeckis: Tom says that, but I should state that he was very cooperative and willing to try anything, even if it hurt that so-called "nice guy" image.

Hanks: Hey, at this point in filming, I was desperately trying to pleasure myself without a volleyball watching me. My image was ALREADY out the window!

Zemeckis: Anyway, we cut this because it just wasn't coming off with the mix of pathos and humor we wanted. There was only laughter when we first screened those dailies...

Hnaks: I'm laughing on the inside, but since it's goofy old me up there doing that…my actual reaction is more like "cringing." I'm glad we cut the scene.

Zemeckis: And of course, there he passes out. He just had no energy left.

Hanks: Really kind of an "anitclimax," if you'll pardon the pun.

Zemeckis: (laughing) Quite literally, yeah…but watching this now, it does sort of play out kind of weakly.

Hanks: Oh, just tell it like it is, Bob. It was lame! We've been kidding ourselves!

Zemeckis: Well, there was some potential there.

Hanks: Yeah, the potential to make me look like an even bigger goofball than I did in the rest of the film!

Zemeckis: Oh, we haven't even made it to the scene where you make that little skirt for Wilson!

Hanks (with mock anger): Oh, no-that is NOT on this DVD! That is NOT on this DVD. End this commentary, people! Stop the tape!