“I don’t walk up to people, but she was so pushy” — Tom Cruise says he landed ‘Rain Man’ role after his sister’s insistence to approach Dustin Hoffman

Tom Cruise reflected on his decades-long career at the BFI Southbank on Sunday (May 11). The actor shared how he got cast in the Oscar-winning 1988 comedy drama Rain Man, which Barry Levinson directed.

Cruise stated that in 1984, he and his younger sister, Cass Capazorio, were having a meal at a New York City restaurant when his sister noticed Dustin Hoffman at the restaurant. The actor said Cass was being "pushy" and insisted he approach Hoffman.

"She goes, 'There's Dustin Hoffman.' I looked up and there he was, in a hat, he was doing 'Death of a Salesman' and he was ordering takeout. She goes, 'You go over there and say hello to him.' I was like, 'I'm not going to say hello. She goes, 'You know him, you know his movies.' And she doesn't do stuff like that. And I don't walk up to people, but she was so pushy," he said.

Tom Cruise said that when he talked to Hoffman, he invited the two to the 1984 Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, in which Dustin Hoffman played Willy Loman. Cruise and his sister then attended the show and got invited backstage.

As they were leaving, Hoffman told the actor he wanted to make a movie with him. A year later, Dustin Hoffman sent him the script of Rain Man.

"As I was leaving he said, 'I want to make a movie with you.' And I said, 'That would be nice, sir.' And that's what happened, and basically a year later he sent Rain Man," the actor stated.

 

 

 

 

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Tom Cruise revealed that Paramount Pictures wanted to make multiple Top Gun films

On Sunday, Tom Cruise stated at the BFI Southbank that after the success of Top Gun in the 1980s, Paramount Pictures wanted to make the film "over and over." The actor claimed he had denied the offer every time because, as a young actor, he wanted to act in different kinds of films and develop his acting skills.

"They really wanted me to make Top Gun over and over. But I wanted to develop my talent in different areas, and I wanted more challenges," Tom Cruise said.

While discussing the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise said he wanted to experiment with the action genre and incorporate good storytelling with action. He then started studying the art of stunt performance and how different cameras work.

"It was about looking at Mission [Impossible] and thinking, 'What can we do with action?' It was about how I can evolve action and storytelling and imbue that kind of storytelling with greater amounts of emotion. That's my interest. So I studied stunts and different cameras to develop my abilities and develop the technology," the actor said.

According to Variety's May 11 report, the actor will receive the British Film Institute's highest honor, the BFI Fellowship, on May 12 at the BFI Chair's Dinner.

Tom Cruise's latest film, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, will be released in theatres on May 23, 2025.