Tom Cruise starred in one of his most famous films for free

The comedy-drama Jerry Maguire, released in the mid-90s, is one of the outstanding films in Tom Cruise’s career.

At that time already enjoying the status of an international star, with his roles in Top Gun, Rain Man, Days of Thunder or the first part of the Mission: Impossible saga, the actor played a rich and famous agent of sports stars who decided to question him at night. The pitfalls of his profession by making a radical decision.

But while many Tom Cruise fans cite Cameron Crowe’s feature film as a minor classic (which even includes Jake Gyllenhaal’s favorite scene), the lead role in the film was originally intended for another famous actor.

Indeed, as he recently revealed on a podcast Here’s the thing Along with Alec Baldwin, the Jerry Maguire director dreamed of working with Tom Hanks. The latter, who at the time was working on the production of his feature film That Thing You Do!, politely declined the offer.

Cameron Crowe then decided to call another tribe and sent his script to the Top Gun star without any fear:

“My friends pulled me aside and said, ‘When Tom Cruise gets a role, you lose your power. You can’t do anything anymore. It turns into a freight train that is out of control. (…)And you can count yourself lucky if you even see a caboose.'”– said the film director.

“So I was really scared. Then Tom Cruise called me from England and said, ‘I read your script. I hope I am the right person. Let me come and read it to you.”

Once hired as Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise fully invested in the project. Nevertheless, according to Cameron Crowe, the actor even offered to play his role for free, but was still paid to participate in the promotion of the film, which he did with full commitment:

“He started on Monday, he did the Rosie show, the Larry King show, he did everything”said the director, still in the podcast Here’s the thing. “By the end of the week, our numbers were through the roof. He came out in full force and said, ‘Okay guys, I’m going to play for free.’ Here’s what you’ll pay me. for that. I’m going to play for free. Watch it and give yourself to this movie.”

A strategy that paid off in a big way as soon as it hit theaters, Jerry Maguire grossed $273 million worldwide (on a budget of just $50 million).

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