There was a time when Tom Cruise displayed what was referred to as a ‘diva-like’ behavior just before he became famous. And that may be responsible for where the ‘Mission Impossible’ actor is today.
At least, that’s what Rob Lowe wants fans of the movie star to believe.
The Podcast Revelation
On Monday, Rob Lowe recalled a time when fellow actor Tom Cruise was not so happy about sharing a cozy room hotel. The revelation occurred during an appearance he made on Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast.
At the time, Cruise and Lowe were virtual unknowns in Hollywood and participated hard in the months’ long audition that took place for ‘The Outsiders,’ the 1983 movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
The film starred Lowe as Sodapop Curtis and a very young Cruise as Steve Randle. At the time, the teenaged Cruise carried himself as if he was already a superstar in the lobby of New York’s Plaza Hotel.
“All of the L.A. people survived the L.A. auditions, and then the hand-picked people had to go to New York to face the New York version; so it was me and Tom Cruise and C. Thomas Howell and Emilio,” Lowe said, adding that they were staying at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
The ‘Ballistic’ Moment
“We check in, and Tom finds out that we are sharing a room and just goes ballistics,” said the former ‘Parks and Recreation’ star. He continued: “To me, what’s great about the story is, there’s certain people who have always been who they are, and that element of them has powered them to where they are today, and the rest is history.”
Lowe said at that moment, he remembers going “‘Wow, this guy is the real deal.’ I mean it made me laugh, it was gnarly.”
“And the notion that an 18-year-old actor with a walk-on part in ‘Endless Love’ and like a seventh lead in ‘Taps’ could have that kind of like wherewithal.”
It was humorous, but what that incident did was to reveal Tom Cruise’s drive. The 56-year-old ‘9-11: Lone Star’ superstar did not see the incident as a bad thing in any way.
No One Can Argue with the Results, Lowe Says
According to Lowe: “But at the end of it, you can’t argue with the results. He’s had his eye on the ball since day one.”
Dax Shepard agreed, stating that there is something that’s “oddly interesting” about that kind of personality.
“No one knocks on anyone’s door and say ‘Hey, you want to be in 12 Mission Impossibles?’ That’s not how it works. Like those people, they are that way, and they make it work,” Shepard said.
‘The Outsiders’ was a coming-of-age drama that was set in the 1960s and served as a springboard for several future movie stars, including Diane Lane, Matt Dillon, Thomas C. Howell, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Emilio Estevez.
And of course, Lowe had a few incredible stories to share about the bunch and all that transpired at that period.
