Tom Cruise’s secret contribution to Martin Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’: “He needs it”
If there’s one thing to know about Hollywood, it’s that some stars have the power to get whatever they want, and Tom Cruise is a prime example. The actor has been an active member of Hollywood since the 1980s, and despite spouting some controversial views over the years – from his dedication to Scientology to his criticism of therapy (he even inspired Christian Bale’s performance of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho) – he has remained incredibly popular.
It’s his slightly uncanny persona, with his love for sending expensive cakes to everyone in Hollywood and his penchant for insane stunts, that makes him one of Hollywood’s most bizarre yet fascinating figures. There’s something beyond normal about Cruise, who you can’t ever imagine willingly strolling into a Tesco or a Greggs, not just because he’s an American superstar who would naturally get hounded by fans, but because he’s just got something about him that suggests he wouldn’t even understand the appeal of a mid-morning sausage roll. It’s what normal people do, and he’s simply so far removed from the mundane. Cruise seems to exist on another plane of being entirely.
With roles in everything from Top Gun and Mission: Impossible to more artistic endeavours like Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia, Cruise stands as the ultimate Hollywood star, guaranteeing commercial success in basically anything he simply coughs near. In fact, he harnesses so much power that he has been able to help massive filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, simply for being Tom Cruise.
The actor worked with Scorsese in The Color of Money back in 1986, the same year he got his big break in Top Gun, but it wasn’t until years later that the power he’d since gained came in handy. Cruise had been spending some time with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, who certainly ran Hollywood at the time with Miramax, and the pair ended up heading over to the set of Gangs of New York for a cheeky visit. Weinstein was co-producing the film with Alberto Grimaldi, but instead, he brought Cruise along with him for a mini-break in Rome.
Here, the actor was also reunited with Interview With the Vampire production designer Dante Ferretti, who told him that Weinstein wasn’t complying with requests for a church to be made that could be shot in a 360-degree panning shot. In an article published by Entertainment Weekly, Scorsese revealed that it was Cruise who was able to convince Weinstein to conjure up a rather staggering $100,000 so that a church could be made for the film.
“He was asking question after question. Finally, Tom said, ‘Will you please give Marty the church? He needs it,’” explained Cruise. In the end, almost $100million was spent on the movie, which was luckily positively received and even made around $90million in profit. It seems that Cruise’s position as Hollywood’s golden boy who can get whatever he wants came in handy when Scorsese was making his epic gangster film.
The movie earned Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo a ‘Best Production Design’ nomination at the Oscars, so it was a good job that Cruise hopped on that plane and used his status for good. This is a prime example of why it’s best to keep on Cruise’s good side – he really has the power to do anything.
