Tom Cruise's 'pushy' sister helped him gain a role in a famous Oscar winning film. Speaking at an evening celebration at the BFI Southbank on Sunday (May 11), where he had earlier been pictured standing on top of the IMAX, Cruise told the audience he landed the role of Charlie Babbitt in 1988 hit Rain Man after a chance encounter inside a London takeaway with the film's star Dustin Hoffman.
Cruise told interviewer Edith Bowman that he and his younger sister, Cass Capazorio, had spotted Hoffman while getting food in the capital. The 62-year-old told the audience: "She said: 'You've got to go over and say you love him.'
"She doesn't usually do stuff like that and I don't walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy. She said, 'If you don't, I'm going to.'
"He had his hat on and was ordering takeout. I stood next to him and said, 'Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I'm sorry...' and he looked at me and said, 'Cruise!'
"That's how I met him. As I was leaving, he said, 'I want to make a movie with you,' and I said, 'That would be nice'. A year later he sent Rain Man to me."
The 1988 film became one of Cruise's breakthrough dramatic roles, with eight Academy Award nominations and four wins, including best picture and best actor for Hoffman. Cruise also recalled an early visit to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where he was driven by a studio driver who had once worked with British filmmaker Sir David Lean.
"I always ask drivers what movies they've worked on – and one said he drove David Lean during Lawrence of Arabia," Cruise said. "He started telling me stories and eventually took me to the parking place where he used to drop him off."
Sir David is considered one of the most important figures of British cinema, behind epics such as The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia. Cruise also revealed how he turned down an immediate sequel to Top Gun after the film's 1986 release.
"The studio wanted me to make Top Gun immediately – they were talking about the sequels," he said. "I said no. As a young artist, I felt I wanted to develop my talent in different areas.
"I wanted to understand myself more and challenge myself more with different types of movies." Cruise was appearing at BFI Southbank as part of a special event celebrating his career and marking the upcoming release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
