As everyone knows by now, Tom Cruise is a man of many talents and one who doesn’t shy away from taking huge risks to get what he wants. For example, he trained to base jump with a wingsuit and a parachute for his role as Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning.
But on the flip side, it’s not always that the star is seen taking a deadly gamble with his films, in fact, in his 1988 film Cocktail, the star wanted to learn the art of juggling for his role.
Since his role was that of a bartender, the star wanted to learn all the mixing and juggling skills that a professional bartender would have at their disposal. Sadly, despite Cruise taking long and extensive learning periods to become a master at this craft, his film would end badly in the eyes of the critics, who nominated it for a Razzie.
Tom Cruise Made Extensive Efforts To Learn Juggling And Bartending For His Razzie-Nominated Cocktail
While in modern times he mostly focuses on defying death at every turn in his action films, there was a time when Tom Cruise used to dominate every single genre of movies in Hollywood, which is why he is also considered to the top-tier star in the industry.
One such film that he prepared for day and night was his 1988 romance/thriller film Cocktail, where he was deeply invested in learning how to do trick shots and juggle liquor bottles as a bartender does.
In a past interview on the CBC network, the Edge of Tomorrow star was asked by the interviewer about his time spent trying to learn bartending from scratch for his role.
Cruise revealed that he had spent days on end, interviewing almost 35 bartenders in New York City and Toronto to learn all there was to learn about making drinks and artistically serving them synonymous with bartenders. He said:
“Mostly, when I was starting out, I interviewed about 35 bartenders and trying to find, you know, a common denominator and what, you know, the problems that we had were trying to show something visual.”
But despite his and his co-star Bryan Brown’s hard work preparing for that film, it ultimately was reviewed harshly by the critics, which led to it being nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award.
What Was Cocktail About?
Though not Cruise’s most exceptional masterpiece, Cocktail is a film that still has the charm and attractiveness that the star was known for back in the day.
The film tells the tale of a young man named Brian Flanagan who wishes to climb the corporate ladder and secure a high-paying marketing job, for which he needs money to apply for a business degree. Thus, to make that money, he gets employed as a bartender, where he meets his veteran bartending boss, Doug Coughlin.
Little did Flanagan know that this chance encounter and the events that would later transpire would change the trajectory of his life forever.
Cocktail, streaming on AMC+.
