Tom Cruise is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood today. From the 1980s, the actor managed to make a name for himself in the world of cinema, thanks to commercial successes like Top Gun or through deeper roles as in Rain Hand or in Born on the 4th of July. The 90s finally marked a turning point in his career since the actor then launched into action cinema, with Impossible mission. But his career, now very impressive, could have taken a completely different turn. Indeed, the irresistible Tom Cruise, before playing Agent Ethan Hunt in the 90s, was considered to play another cult role, ultimately played by Johnny Depp.
Tom Cruise could have played this cult role for Tim Burton, instead of Johnny Depp
It was during a retrospective dedicated to one of Tim Burton’s cult films, Edward Scissorhands and an interview with the site Dazed that the anecdote was revealed by screenwriter Caroline Thompson. She returned to the casting, explaining that several actors, including Jim Carrey and Tom Hanks, had shown interest in this romantic gothic character. Ultimately, other actors were chosen. Among them, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., but also Tom Cruise.
However, the screenwriter then explained, still during the interview, that Tom Cruise ultimately did not meet the criteria and did not fit the tortured character of Edward. Indeed, the Hollywood actor kept asking questions about this role, for which the film team had no answers: “Cruise wanted to know how Edward went to the bathroom. He was asking the kind of questions that don’t apply to this character! That’s part of the delicacy of this story, we can’t answer ‘How does he shower, or how can he live for years without eating?’. Tom Cruise clearly didn’t want to be in a movie without answers to these questions.”
The rest is known to everyone: Johnny Depp obtains the role which marks the beginning of his fruitful collaboration with Tim Burton. The actor in fact became in the following years the muse of the director, who gave him the main role in many of his productions, such as Sweeney Todd, Charlie and the chocolate factory or Alice in Wonderland.
So no Tom Cruise at Tim Burton. Which is ultimately a blessing in disguise, since since this director’s choice, the now 61-year-old actor has made a name for himself in action cinema. He thus led the Mission: Impossible franchise with an iron fist, as evidenced by the last installment, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1currently in the cinema, transforming it, thanks to strong plots and impressive stunts (which he often performs himself) into a real phenomenon.
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