“I vowed to do two hours more”: Will Smith Unsuccessfully Tried to Copy Tom Cruise but Ended Up Praising the Mission Impossible Star
Will Smith is one of the most renowned names in the world of entertainment. The actor’s acting prowess speaks volumes which is quite evident from his spectacular filmography. Despite being a proud recipient of multiple accolades the actor had no idea how things work in Hollywood.
In his memoir Will, the King Richard actor spoke about his encounter with one of the leading actors of the entertainment industry, and how it went on to change his outlook on Hollywood.
When Will Smith Tried To Copy Tom Cruise But Ended Up Becoming His Fan
Tom Cruise is a living example of age is just a number. At 61, when other actors bid goodbye to Hollywood or are busy planning their retirement retreat, Tom Cruise is gearing up for the second part of Mission Impossible 7. It is very normal for any actor to be intimidated by the Mission Impossible star.
As reported by IndieWire in 2021, the Men In Black star Will Smith mentioned meeting Tom Cruise in his memoir Will. The incident dates back to his initial years in Hollywood when he tried to copy the megastar. He mentioned in his memoir-
“I started quietly monitoring all of Tom’s global promotional activities. When I arrived in a country to promote my movie, I would ask the local movie executives to give me Tom’s promotional schedule. And I vowed to do two hours more than whatever he did in every country.”
Will Smith further mentions in his memoir-
“Unfortunately, Tom Cruise is either a cyborg or there are six of him. I was receiving reports of four-and-a-half-hour stretches on red carpets in Paris, London, Tokyo… In Berlin, Tom literally signed every single autograph until there was no one else who wanted one. Tom Cruise’s global promotions were the individual best in Hollywood.”
According to Will Smith, it was a learning experience for him, and despite being unsuccessful in trying to copy him during his global promotions, the Aladdin actor was all praises for the Mission Impossible actor.
How Tom Cruise Helped Will Hospital With His Movie I Am Legend?
Tom Cruise helped Will Smith with one of the most important movies of his acting career. I Am Legend is one of the biggest projects of Will Smith’s career which went on to amass a box-office collection of $585.4 million. However, not many people know that Tom Cruise helped Will Smith with the script of I Am Legend. During an interview with Newsweek in 2008, the Academy Award-winning actor confessed that Tom Cruise did more work on the script of the sci-fi horror movie than he did, he revealed-
“When I did I Am Legend, I sent him the script, and he sent me back four hours of notes and changes. He did more work on I Am Legend than I did. Now we’re looking at some projects to work on together because we have that basic understanding of each other,”
While talking about the down-to-earth behavior of Tom Cruise, Will even mentioned-
“Tom is one of the most open, honest, and helpful people I’ve met in Hollywood, or really anywhere. I mean, how many people in his position would want me to win, want me to be a bigger and better movie star? Few people in this business want me to win like that. I was so used to competition between other artists that I just didn’t get him at first.”
Tom Cruise had even advised young Will Smith that there was no competition between them, and the latter was surprised by this great advice from the legendary actor. He said-
“That blew my mind because that is not how this business works at all,”
With an IMDb rating of 7.2 out of 10, I Am Legend is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime.
Source: IndieWire/ Newsweek
