Tom Cruise Turned Down Oscar Winning Movie for His $202 Million Film With Penélope Cruz
Tom Cruise is a global cultural icon who has continued to give blockbuster movies for over four decades. He has put his stamp on some of the iconic roles and established himself as a brand in the Hollywood industry. His charismatic on-screen presence and intense commitment to executing his role perfectly are one of the reasons fans can’t help but love the actor. With such great talent, one couldn’t deny that he has a great acting career however it would have been on another level had he chosen a different direction.
With a successful acting career, he has also turned down some of the amazing opportunities that came to him. From rejecting the offers to portray Edward Scissorhands, and Iron Man among several others, there was a role that could have further heightened his career.
Tom Cruise Left A Beautiful Mind to Work in Vanilla Sky!
Tom Cruise was offered to play the role of John Nash in the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind which was helmed by Ron Howard. The makers of the film shared that he was their first choice to play the role of mathematical genius in the film however he passed on the offer which eventually went to Russell Crowe.
The former rejected the role to work with his ex-girlfriend, Penélope Cruz in the sci-fi thriller film, Vanilla Sky. This film was the remake of the Spanish film, Open Your Eyes starring the actress who then reprised her role in the remake. Following the premiere in the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, the former bought the remake rights and started working with Cameron Crowe who helmed the remake.
While he gave much attention to his preference, it was only nominated for Best Score meanwhile the film he turned down became a critical and commercial success. A Beautiful Mind grossed over $313 million worldwide and won four out of eight nominations at the 74th Academy Awards. Had Cruise chosen the first film, his career might have been slightly different as his sci-fi film is among the lowest-rated films of his career.
Tom Cruise’s Relationship With Penélope Cruz
While the actor turned down to be in an Oscar-winning film, he won the heart of his co-star from Vanilla Sky. After meeting on the very set of their first film, the duo developed feelings for each other. While there is no confirmation about when they began dating, the actress in a 2008 interview with The Telegraph hinted that it began after the movie wrapped up.
“I’ve never fallen in love with someone I’m working with. It’s always been afterwards.”
At the time, Cruise was married to Nicole Kidman. A few months after he filed divorce papers in 2001, he went public with his then-new beau. Their relationship was quite low-key however they never missed a chance to boast about their sweet moments to the press. In a 2003 interview with Marie Claire, the Top Gun actor shared how he pampered the actress.
“She’ll come home, and I’ll have her favorite kind of food made, have a bath drawn. I like doing stuff like that. She likes my food, so I cook for her. It’s always the little things I like in a relationship.”
While their relationship was indeed a fairytale, they were not meant to last as the duo called it quits in 2004. Though their breakup was an amicable decision, it was reported that the actress felt his Church of Scientology played a third wheel in their relationship. Even after that, the duo has continued to be good friends.
Source: Collider
