Ben Stiller narrates how Tom Cruise created THIS iconic character on a whim: ‘It was his idea’
During an appearance on the New Heights Podcast, Ben Stiller discussed how Tom Cruise helped shaping Tropic Thunder.
Ben Stiller, while appearing on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights Podcast, has revealed how his biggest films came about in an unexpected way because of Tom Cruise.
Stiller, who is currently enjoying the success of his Apple TV+ series Severance, recounts his friendship with the Mission: Impossible star and how it led to the creation of ‘Tropic Thunder’ most iconic characters.
The two actors initially bonded after working on a “fun and weird” short film for the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, and they kept in touch. “We stayed in touch, a few years go by,” he said.
“And actually, we’d been talking about trying to figure something to do but [we] hadn’t figured it out, and then, I was working on the Tropic Thunder script.”
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Stiller reveals how Cruise shaped the hilarious home video
During the development of Tropic Thunder, Stiller had filmed a humorous homemade video for his wife, Christine Taylor’s, birthday. The video was a parody of the Fox show 24 and featured his brother-in-law Brian Taylor, whom Stiller jokingly described as “the worst actor ever.”
The Night at the Museum star thought it would be amusing to pair Brian with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. “Tom, we’re doing this home movie for Christine. Would you maybe come and do a scene in it where my brother-in-law’s gonna recite the Jack Nicholson speech to you?’ And he said yes,” Stiller expressed.
Cruise agreed to chime in the video and he was a total “professional” during filming. The scene shows Brian reciting Jack Nicholson’s famous speech from A Few Good Men directly to Cruise.
Shortly after completing the parody, Stiller asked Cruise if he would be interested in playing a role in Tropic Thunder. After reading the script, Cruise felt something was missing from the story.
Stiller recalled how Cruise then proposed adding a new character—Les Grossman, a brash, foul-mouthed Hollywood producer. “He looked and he said, 'You know, you make fun of the actors, you make fun of everybody and the agents and all that, but you don't make fun of the studio heads. You should add a studio head,'” Stiller said.
“It was his idea, that character. That character did not exist before he suggested it.”
“And then it became such an important part of the story – and this was three months before we started shooting the movie,” Stiller told the Kelce brothers.
Cruise also came up with the idea for Les Grossman to dance in the film, shaping the character’s outrageous personality through his instincts.
Stiller ultimately wore multiple hats in Tropic Thunder, serving as the lead actor, director, co-writer, and producer.
