The role of Jerry Maguire may have had Tom Cruise at ‘Hello,’ but according to Cameron Crowe, who wrote and directed the hit ‘90s movie, he had a different Tom in mind for the role.
Jerry Maguire is a heartwarming drama movie about the titular sports agent who decides to go independent after struggling with the morality of the agency he works for. The uplifting tale is not only incredibly quotable with lines like “show me the money,” but also sparked the career of rom-com star Rene Zellweger, who played Cruise’s love interest in the film.
However, in 2017, Crowe revealed that he wrote the role of Jerry Maguire specifically with Tom Hanks in mind. He made the revelation during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. ”
“It was originally written with Tom Hanks in mind,” he explained. “He read the script and I had this wonderful conversation with Tom Hanks and people were waiting in the next room for the answer”.
“And Tom Hanks was so complimentary and so great and said ‘You know I’d love to do this but I’m doing That Thing You Do, I should be doing that instead of this movie but good luck,'” Crowe added. “I was so high on the Tom Hanks personality charisma that I walked into the next room and I was like I just had the greatest conversation with Tom Hanks and they said ‘Is he in or out?’ And I said ‘No he’s not doing it but he’s so great!'”
If this has given you an appetite for the Toms, check out our guides to the best Tom Cruise movies and best Tom Holland movies.