Benny Safdie is slowly becoming a high-profile name in Hollywood as he and his brother Josh became household names with films like Good Time and Uncut Gems. Safdie has also starred as an actor in recent hits like Oppenheimer, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
The brothers seem to be a big fan of Paul Anderson’s Magnolia. They recently sat down with Anderson and talked about a wild fake commercial that was used to promote the film featuring Tom Cruise’s character in the film.
Tom Cruise’s Fake S*x Ad Shocked the Safdie Brothers
Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie recently sat down with Paul Thomas Anderson for the A24 podcast, where they talked about the filmmaker’s influence on the brothers. They discussed Anderson’s films like Punch-Drunk Love, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia. The Safdie brothers had a rather wild anecdote about the latter, which involved Tom Cruise‘s character from the film.
Safdie told Anderson about one wild experience before Magnolia came out where he saw a fake s*x ad involving Cruise’s character in the film. The filmmaker was flabbergasted and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He even called the number that was linked to the video to see if the ad was a legit one. He said,
“Here is an amazing story. So I was sitting at home and there was like the channel 35 in New York, and it was like the s*x channel at nighttime. So I’m sitting at home and I’m watching it, and I’m watching the commercials, and all the sudden I’m like, ‘What is going on right now?’ I see Tom Cruise, doing an ad for this sex thing and I’m like, what the fuck. I’m like literally, like my head exploded.
I clocked the number. I remembered the number and I was like, alright, when we got to a movie theater… I went into the payphone ‘cause I wasn’t gonna call from the home phone. … So I called from the pay phone, and I was like, ‘Josh listen, listen.’ And it was him doing the recording and I was like, This is insane!”
Anderson revealed that the fake ad was a promotional tactic for the film and many people like Safdie called in and left voice messages to the fake number. According to Safdie, some people even went on to think that Cruise had ventured into the p**n industry after seeing the ad.
Dwayne Johnson is Incredibly Excited About His Film With Benny Safdie
It was announced that Benny Safdie will direct Dwayne Johnson in a film called The Smashing Machine, which is based on the life of real-life wrestler and mixed martial artist Mark Kerr. The film will be a big departure from Johnson’s usual star-driven films and will show the dramatic side of the actor.
Johnson recently talked about the film to Variety and revealed his intention to make films that matter from now on and the desire to challenge himself as an actor. The actor also praised Safdie as a director and expressed excitement about working with him. He said,
“Benny Safdie is the perfect, collaborative, hungry partner for me. Benny wants to create, and continues to push the envelope when it comes to stories that are raw and real, characters that are authentic and at times uncomfortable and arresting.
I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past. I’m at a point in my career where I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain.”
It will be interesting to see Johnson finally get to sink his teeth and get deep into a role. The film is expected to start shooting sometime this year. As of 2024, Johnson has the Christmas-themed action film Red One releasing in theatres on November 15, 2024
