Tom Cruise has been in the Hollywood industry long enough to know just how to make a movie big and how to attract a tired audience back into movie theatres. Whether the movie is an action thriller, comedy, romance, or adventure, he always leaps forward and grabs the role. He is on top of the industry with some of the greatest films having his name on them.
Despite rising to the top, he did start off somewhere, planning strategically as to just how he could get more movies, gain more experience, and have all of it benefit his career. Now, basically, everyone knows his name. However, early on in his career, he was ready to work with no salary whatsoever just to gain experience and work with big-name directors.
Tom Cruise Was Ready To Work On Low Pay For Francis Ford Coppola
When Tom Cruise was in his early years as an actor, he was jumping from one movie to another, trying his best to get as many roles as possible. He was making his mark on the industry and was doing a brilliant job at that. He very quickly became an icon from one genre to another. So when an opportunity appeared for him to work with Francis Ford Coppola, he had to try his best to get the role no matter what.
“I just went to Francis and said, ‘Look, I don’t care what role you give me, I really want to work with you. I want to be there with all these young actors.’ That was a hell of a good time. I just wanted a wide body of work. After Taps came out I was offered every horror film, every killer-murderer part. I told this one agent that I wanted to work with Francis. He said, ‘Francis! He’s not going to pay you anything!’ It was never a main role, but I created something. That was where I learned I had a sense of comedy. I still wanted to work with Francis again.”
He was warned about not being paid nearly enough if he was going to work for Coppola but that did not matter to Cruise. He just wanted to explore and experiment with his career and make sure it would grow more and more. Suddenly, after doing The Outsiders in 1983, the actor found out that he was also good at doing comedy films.
Tom Cruise Used His Celebrity Status To Meet Dustin Hoffman
During his early days as an actor, Tom Cruise was not one to use his status as a celebrity to get something he wanted. However, there had been one occasion in particular where he tried to do so. While at dinner with his sister, they discovered that the two had been dining in the same restaurant as Dustin Hoffman.
I feel really shy about going up to people and saying hello, telling them I appreciate their work, but I went up and said, ‘Hey, Mr. Hoffman,’ and he turned around and said, ‘Cruise?’ He was so cool. He said, ‘Look, we’re having the last performance coming up, why don’t you and your sister come by into my dressing room and watch me get made up for it?’ He made sure that we had seats and everything. Afterward, we went to dinner with his family and his cousin.”
So the actor got up to say hi. Lucky for them, the actor offered them tickets and seats to watch his performance in Death of a Salesman. It had been an experience of a lifetime for him, one he could never forget.
Source: The Uncool
