MOVIE NEWS – Though Rain Man became a defining moment in Tom Cruise’s career under Barry Levinson’s direction, landing the role was far from a calculated career move. Now the actor has revealed the unexpectedly awkward moment that led him to star alongside Dustin Hoffman in the Oscar-winning drama.

According to Variety, Cruise was in London at the British Film Institute over the weekend to receive the prestigious BFI Fellowship. While promoting Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, he looked back on his earlier career and shared how a random encounter in 1984 almost never happened — were it not for his sister, Cass.

“She goes, ‘There’s Dustin Hoffman.’ I looked up and there he was, in a hat. He was doing Death of a Salesman and ordering takeout,” Cruise recalled. “She says, ‘Go say hello to him.’ I said, ‘I’m not going over there.’ She insisted, ‘You know him, you know his movies.’ And she never does this kind of thing. I don’t approach people, but she just kept pushing.”

Eventually, Cass played her trump card: “If you don’t go, I will go over and tell him who you are.” Cruise caved. “I said, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman, I’m sorry,’ and he went, ‘Cruise!’” Hoffman not only offered them theater tickets but also casually closed the deal on what would become an Oscar-winning project:

“As I was leaving, he said, ‘I want to make a movie with you.’ And I said, ‘That would be nice, sir.’ A year later, I got Rain Man.”

In the film, Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, a selfish car dealer who discovers his estranged father has died — and left most of the estate to Raymond, an older brother Charlie never knew existed. Raymond is autistic and has an astonishing gift for math. Though Charlie initially kidnaps him to get to the money, their cross-country road trip shifts everything, turning greed into genuine connection.

Rain Man received widespread acclaim, scoring eight Oscar nominations and winning four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay. Cruise didn’t get a nomination, but the film catapulted him to new heights. It became the top-grossing film of 1988, proving Cruise didn’t need explosive action to be a box office powerhouse — just great acting.

Source: MovieWeb