Tom Cruise and Jessica Chastain have been a part of the entertainment industry for a long time and have delivered some of the most memorable performances on the big screen. Over the years, Cruise has established himself as one of the best actors of all time. He has starred in numerous blockbuster movies, including the Mission: Impossible franchise. On the other hand, Jessica Chastain is also a renowned actress, who has won critical acclaim for her performances in movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Interstellar.
It was once revealed that Chastain rejected two movies in which she was asked to star alongside Tom Cruise. Both movies grossed a combined $700 million at the global box office.
Jessica Chastain left Oblivion after signing the contract
In the early 2010s, Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain agreed to play the role of Julia alongside Tom Cruise in his 2013 sci-fi film, Oblivion. Right before the shooting of the film started, Chastain recalled that she got a call from Megan Ellison,
“I got cold-called by [director] Kathryn Bigelow. I was in Toronto, and I had heard from [producer] Megan Ellison. We had done a film, Lawless, together. And she said, ‘By the way do you know Kathryn Bigelow’s trying to get a hold of you? She wants to meet with you on something.'”
The director then got in touch with Chastain and sent her the script of her 2012 movie Zero Dark Thirty. However, she already signed a contract that didn’t allow her to quit Oblivion.
Tom Cruise helped Jessica Chastain in exiting the project
Jessica Chastain was not interested in Oblivion at that point. Tom Cruise then helped her in quitting the project to be a part of Kathryn Bigelow’s project. The actress told Vanity Fair,
“Someone contacted him from my agency and said, ‘Listen, she wants to work with you. And she would love to, but there is this other film, and it’s so important. And with his support, I was able to do this movie. He’s a pretty incredible human.”
Tom Cruise then pulled a few strings and helped Chastain in abandoning the project. The role then went to Olga Kurylenko.
Jessica Chastain abandoned another project with Tom Cruise
It was revealed that Jessica Chastain was once again approached to star alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), however, she once again refused to star in the movie because she didn’t want to train for six months for the role. Director Christopher McQuarrie then approached Rebecca Ferguson as he liked her work in The White Queen (2013). In both scenarios, Tom Cruise was understanding and wanted to support Chastain.
Source: IMDb
