Tom Cruise discusses the possibility of reprising his role as Tropic Thunder’s vulgar studio executive Les Grossman. In his 40+-year acting career, Cruise has portrayed many iconic characters—from Jerry Maguire and Mission Impossible's Ethan Hunt to naval aviator extraordinaire Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in 1986's Top Gun. Now, 36 years after first appearing in Tony Scott’s action flick, the 59-year-old actor is set to return to the skies in Joseph Kosinski’s long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
While adventure-seeking characters like Maverick are generally the actor's bread and butter, Cruise’s role in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder (2008) certainly broke the mold. The comedy follows a group of actors making a Vietnam film and finding themselves in real danger. In the movie, Cruise dons a fat suit, fake large hands, and a bald cap as loud-mouthed studio executive (with an affinity for Ludacris) Les Grossman. The scene-stealing character was created almost entirely within the mind of Cruise and, despite being small, is arguably no-less iconic than some of his leading roles. And, with the actor breathing new life into Maverick this month, some were wondering if Grossman may one day return.
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com at the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise was asked whether he’d be interested in reviving his Tropic Thunder executive. Having previously taken the stage as Grossman for a performance alongside Jennifer Lopez at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, Cruise said, “we’ll have to see.” Read the full quote below:
"I don't know. I did Les Grossman for the MTV Awards ... We'll have to see, that could be fun. I really don't know, at this moment. I'm just enjoying this night, I gotta finish [the Mission: Impossible sequels], you know what I mean? I'm enjoying this night, I'm gonna put all my Mission stuff away for a moment to just breathe tonight."
Wednesday, Cruise arrived at the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in San Diego by helicopter as the franchise’s anthem played in the background. Being that he’s a certified pilot who’s flown for films such as Mission: Impossible—Fallout and the Top Gun sequel, many assumed he piloted the helicopter himself. He did not, though it would have been far from his most dangerous spectacle and he's got even more coming. Director Christopher McQuarrie’s final two entries in the Mission: Impossible franchise, entitled Dead Reckoning Part One and Part Two, have required a lengthy shooting schedule as they up the action ante even more.
As is the case with Top Gun: Maverick and its groundbreaking aerial sequences, Cruise seems very much concerned with legacy projects at this point in his career. Once he wraps production on Mission: Impossible 8, he’ll exit Earth's atmosphere alongside McQuarrie and Doug Liman for a space movie that will shoot scenes on the International Space Station. While it "could be fun” to revisit parodies like Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman, it’s clearly at the back of Cruise’s mind.
Source: ComicBook.com
