With heart-pounding stunts and chilling terror, director Alex Kurtzman also embarked on an impromptu journey to the funny side in his 2017 flick, The Mummy. And what better way to seize the moment than with the offbeat idea of having Sofia Boutella, as the menacing Princess Ahmanet, licking Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton face in an essential scene?
Among all the spectacle and weirdness that the 2017 film offered, the sequence that really stood out was the licking scene that appeared during a battle. This section truly stuck out, and many have probably wondered why it was included in the first place. Thus, credit it to Kurtzman, the film’s director, who impromptu decided to include it as a lighthearted diversion. And it appeared that the 41-year-old Algerian actress had no issue with the scene.
Sofia Boutella Found ‘Licking’ Tom Cruise Appealing?
Remade from Karl Freund’s 1932 original picture of the same name, The Mummy was a contemporary take on the classic monster movie, starring Tom Cruise as the protagonist in the fight against an ancient evil portrayed by Sofia Boutella. The film featured the latter as the daughter (Ahmanet) of the Pharaoh, buried alive for not being able to succeed on her father’s throne following the birth of his son. The actress shed light on her character, saying (via WWD):
“She’s been heartbroken by the person that is supposed to love her the most – her father. Her internal motivation is to get justice and get what she was always promised to become.”
According to Boutella, the mummy Ahmanet was a fierce woman who would not accept “no” for an answer. In a dramatic scene in the film, she licked Cruise. The actress stated that the scene was added by director Alex Kurtzman as an impromptu, lighthearted diversion from the main story. Was it really as tempting as it sounds to lick the Top Gun actor? She said:
“Yes. We should have done more takes of that! He reminded me that anything you do, if you love it truly, you should be excited about it, and you should be loving it every time like it’s the first time.”
The cheek-licking incident may have made some people laugh, but others may have seen it as an obsessive touch that revealed Ahmanet’s possessiveness toward Nick. Boutella most certainly did, as she said in the interview she and Kurtzman did with USA Today.
Also Read: Top Gun 3 Must Save Tom Cruise from Ever Being Humiliated by the Oscars Again
Why Did Sofia Boutella Lick Her The Mummy Co-Star Tom Cruise?
In an interview with USA Today, director Alex Kurtzman and Sofia Boutella talked about the history of how the ‘licking scene’ in The Mummy actually came to be. The Algerian actress gave the following reasoning for Ahmanet’s need to lick Tom Cruise in the scene:
“It’s destabilizing. It comes out of nowhere. That’s how Ahmanet treats things. She owns stuff. She owns people.”
Meanwhile, Kurtzman gave his explanation for why he thought the scene needed to be included in the sequence:
“You’re always looking for moments that are spontaneous and different and interesting and frankly weird. I had this strong instinct that there needed to be a laugh at a very weird moment. And I said, ‘I think you have to lick his face.’ And she did.”
Boutella also revealed that filming the scene was fun for both her and Cruise:
“It was fun. Honestly, we had such a good giggle. We laughed about it.”
Also Read: Paramount Reportedly Suffered a Gargantuan Loss in Mission Impossible 7 Due to Tom Cruise
Still, the movie was not well received. With a 15% approval rating, The Mummy has an average rating of 4.2/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 314 reviews. Despite earning $410 million worldwide, it lost up to $95 million because of exorbitant marketing and production expenses. Russell Crowe, Courtney B. Vance, Jake Johnson, and Annabelle Wallis were also featured in the film.
The Mummy is streaming on Hulu.
