Action star Tom Cruise is known for his intense commitment to his roles. As the lead in the Mission Impossible franchise, the actor has scaled the Burj Khalifa, hung from a cliff without ropes, performed an intense action scene underwater, broke his foot while jumping from one building to another, and then jumped off a cliff with a motorbike.
However, the actor’s stunts are not just limited to the outside. Cruise, who performs his own stunts, once seems to have claimed that he refused to use a body double during a s*x scene in Stanley Kubrick’s last film Eyes Wide Shut.
Tom Cruise In Eyes Wide Shut
Based on a novel by Austrian author Arthur Schnitzer, the Tom Cruise starrer Eyes Wide Shut was directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick. It was the final film he directed as he passed away soon after showing the final cut to Warner Brothers studio. The film follows the story of Bill, played by Tom Cruise, a doctor who goes on a two-day spree of s*xual encounters and cult-like rituals after knowing that his wife was considering having an affair.
Kubrick termed the film as his ‘greatest contribution to cinema’, and was planning on adapting the novel since the 1960s. The director offered the role of Bill and Alice Harford to real-life husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman after meeting them at his estate. He also made sure that they did not commit to any other project until the film was complete.
The theatrical cut of the film had several explicit scenes removed to secure an R-rating. However, the uncensored version was released on home video. The film opened to positive reviews and was considered to be one of the greatest films of the 1990s. It earned over $162 million at the box office against a $65 million budget.
Did Tom Cruise Actually Perform The S*x Scenes In Eyes Wide Shut?
Stanley Kubrick made it a point to keep many aspects of the production a secret. He was known for his tight-lipped secrecy during the filming process and even during promotional campaigns, nothing about the film was revealed. Kubrick is also known for pushing his actors to their limits, Tom Cruise is also an actor who does not back down.
According to the entertainment website Hard Drive, Cruise once claimed that he performed the s*x scenes featured in the film by himself. He also revealed that he refused to use a body double, despite director Kubrick’s insistence on the same. He said,
“How do I do it? Simple: speed, endurance, strategy, energy, speed…Stanley would tell me ‘Tom, we can use a double.’ ‘Tom, usually we cut around and you don’t actually have s*x.’ ‘Tom, why are you wearing a large prosthetic p*nis?’ The man could direct, but Tom Cruise doesn’t bow down to a challenge.”
However, the tone of the article seems to be satirical and there are chances that the above statements might not be true. The article also claims that Tom Cruise even performed the scenes during the o*gy. His statement read,
“That f*cking? That s*cking? It was all CRUISE, baby! Even the scenes where I’m just walking around in the o*gy…that s*it’s ALL ME…If the script says ‘Tom f*cks’ then Tommy f*cks, I’ll tell you that much.”
The phrasing of the article seems to be very off-character for Cruise, and there are no reports that confirm that Tom Cruise had s*x in the film for real. However, the actor’s reputation for performing his own stunts does speak for itself. Is this satire or just a case of overconfidence from the actor? The viewers should decide on this one.
Source: Hard Drive
