Alec Baldwin Couldn’t Digest Tom Cruise’s $600M Fortune Amid Gender Pay Gap Debate Controversy: “My annual salary is the budget for Altoids on one of Tom’s movies”
Tom Cruise is one of the most popular actors of his generation. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, he has been on the receiving end of an Honorary Palme d’Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. He is one of the most profitable actors in the industry, with his movies grossing over $11.5 billion worldwide.
Some of his most notable works include the Top Gun series, Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, the Mission: Impossible franchise, Collateral, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, etc.
Even though Tom Cruise is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, he can easily be seen as the most controversial one as well. From saying psychology should be “outlawed” to his involvement in the Church of Scientology, the negative conversation surrounding him is significant.
Over the years, many celebrities called out Cruise, despite his huge stardom in the industry. One of them is Alec Baldwin, who held a grudge against him due to the massive pay gap he faced.
Alec Baldwin speaks up against Tom Cruise’s fortune amidst gender pay gap debate
Alec Baldwin has worked with Tom Cruise in two of his Mission: Impossible movies. Years prior to that, at the 2009 Elle magazine annual Women in Hollywood dinner, Alec Baldwin aired his grievances against Tom Cruise in public and did not hold back. He even jokingly made a jab at his huge fortune and how his greed plays a part in Hollywood’s gender pay gap.
During his speech, he addressed Cruise by his name and said that gender pay inequality could be significantly remedied if Tom Cruise “would lower his quote by a mere $29 million.”
He said (Via E! News),
“I realize this may be a bit unfair since he’s not here to defend himself and I really don’t want to put this all on one man, but if I had to, that man would be Tom Cruise…I assure you my salary would not make a difference. My annual salary is the budget for Altoids on one of Tom’s movies.”
According to Celebrity Networth, Tom Cruise stands at a staggering $600 million, which makes him one of the wealthiest actors in Hollywood. Lately, many women in Hollywood are opening up about the unfair pay gap, like Sofia Coppola or Taraji P. Henson. So, one cannot say Baldwin was completely off the mark.
Filming this Mission: Impossible scene was a nightmare for Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is seen as the best movie to come out of the Mission: Impossible franchise. However, its shooting went through many difficulties due to Cruise and Baldwin’s respective injuries and ailments. There is a particular scene in the movie where Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) accuses Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) of being John Lark and it becomes a nightmare scene to pull off for both actors.
Also Read: Bill Hader Freaked Out Watching Tom Cruise Without Makeup After Shooting Tropic Thunder With Him
The audience might have wondered why the scene only focused on Cruise and Baldwin’s faces instead of their whole bodies. In Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘s audio commentary, director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that Tom Cruise had a broken ankle and finished a chase scene with it a day prior, whereas Alec Baldwin was overdue for double hip surgery. Hence, they were both using a table for support and McQuarrie decided to cut them some slack by only focusing on their faces. Check out what he said below:
“So here Tom has a broken foot and had finished the foot chase the day before, and Alec is overdue for a double hip replacement to come and shoot this scene … And by the way, to understand the pain of a hip replacement, it is like having a knife stuck in your hip when your hip is given out like that. And Tom is absolutely blind with pain. He had finished the foot chase on an ankle he had broken five months before, and that’s why I blocked this scene the way that I did. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got an idea, how about you don’t walk in this scene? Let’s have this whole scene happen around you.’”
Cruise further mentioned in the audio commentary that he was unable to even walk while filming the scene so they really had no other option at the time.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is available to watch on Prime Videos.
