Not every Oscar-winning film has aged so greatly in recent times and one of those involves Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Main. Despite giving a wonderful performance in the role, many claims that the film’s portrayal of autism was just a surface-level exploration of the subject, eventually creating a stereotype that affected the community for years.
Although the movie did garner an Oscar for Best Actor under his belt, Hoffman initially didn’t figure out the perfect manner for the depiction of his character Ray. And in one point, Hoffman did consider quitting the job, as he wasn’t liking his work.
Dustin Hoffman considered quitting Rain Man
After Mel Gibson turned down the role of Ray, Dustin Hoffman would eventually take the role under his belt and would start researching Autism to perfectly portray the autistic lead. However, considering that it was never done on such a big screen, Hoffman had a huge responsibility and the actor was adamant about doing the character justice. But after two weeks into shooting, Hoffman wasn’t satisfied with his work, as the actor believed that the actor wasn’t doing Ray justice and Hoffman did consider quitting the job. He stated,
“It was the worst work I had ever done…Get Richard Dreyfuss, get somebody, Barry because this is the worst work of my life”
However, it wasn’t long before he eventually felt an epiphany in his character while filming a sequence where Ray talks about his underwear. Hoffman explained,
“I suddenly realized… he is nowhere if he’s not in the now… I know something about obsession, and I’m comfortable being obsessive. The rest of it just took care of itself.”
But on the flip side, Tom Cruise, who was seen as an odd casting for the role of Charlie in the film, loved working on the film and taking up this challenge.
Tom Cruise loved working in Rain Man despite the challenge
When he was cast for the role of Charlie in the film, not many saw this as the right step as before Rain Main, Tom Cruise was mostly known for playing the good-looking action and romantic lead. However, even though playing the role of Charlie was a new challenge for Cruise, as his character does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the film’s emotional arc, the Top Gun star loved it. Even though the actor admitted that the role was a challenge, he loved every second of it. He said,
“It was different… It was the best role that I’ve had in my career to date.”
Although the movie might not have aged well, considering the questionable depiction of autism in the film, it did showcase Tom Cruise’s range as an actor, as he eventually rose to the top.
Rain Man is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: Associated Press
