The 2001 movie Kurt Russell didn’t even bother reading the script for: “I don’t care”
Most actors will tell you that the first thing they’ll do before deciding whether or not to sign on for a movie is to read the script. If you don’t, then there’s always the chance they’ll end up in a stinker with nobody to blame but themselves, not that Kurt Russell cared in the slightest.
Even the most secretive filmmakers in the industry will let prospective cast members have a gander at the screenplay, with Christopher Nolan famously handing over copies printed on red paper so that they can’t be copied, and having somebody sit there the entire time an actor is perusing the pages.
That wasn’t why Russell didn’t bother to read the part in front of him, though; he simply trusted his gut. Having been a working actor since the early 1960s, you’d imagine that he’s developed some decent instincts about the who, what, when, where, and why of his next picture, not that it spared him from experiencing the highs and lows the profession has to offer.
In 2001, the cult hero made the single worst-reviewed film of his entire career in 3000 Miles to Graceland, which may or may not have been Kevin Costner’s fault. We get it, Russell loves Elvis and has long had an affinity for ‘The King’, but his instincts were miles wide of the mark on the wretched crime comedy.
Several months later, Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky was released in cinemas. A quarter of a century later, it continues to be a polarising movie, but since it starred Tom Cruise in the leading role, it comfortably soared past $200 million at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing entries in his filmography.
When he was offered the role of Curtis McCabe, he accepted on the spot, despite his team suggesting otherwise. “Back before I signed on to Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe, my agent and I were talking on the phone, and I said, ‘Yeah, I want to work with those guys,'” the actor recalled.
“And he said, ‘Well, do you want to read the script first?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t care if it’s one line or 100 lines, if they kill seven people, or what,'” Russell explained. “I want to work with those people, I think they’d be fun to work with.” He heard Crowe and Cruise, and that was all he needed to be convinced.
To be fair, he’s far from the only name in the business who’d agree to co-star with Cruise, no questions asked. You haven’t been able to say the same about Crowe for a while, mostly because he’s done fuck all since 2015’s Aloha, and he’d gone off the boil a while before that anyway, but when he was in his pomp, he’d be on that list for a lot of people, too.
Was the decision vindicated? For Russell, absolutely. Vanilla Sky might not be the best thing he’s ever been in, but it gave him a significant character to sink his teeth into, and he got to share plenty of scenes with Cruise under Crowe’s direction, so from a personal and professional standpoint, it was a win.
