Tom Cruise’s surreal first meeting with Dustin Hoffman: “Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I’m sorry”
The chance to meet our heroes is not one that many of us would willingly take, with the pressure to make an impression and do justice to the moment seeming almost too intimidating to comprehend. For people in the entertainment business, it is an experience that could come when you least expect it, especially given that everyone knows everyone, and you might find yourself bumping elbows at an industry party or being cast in the same project. This was certainly the case for a young Tom Cruise.
After his breakout role in Risky Business, the actor shared the entirely nerve-wracking experience of coming face-to-face with one of the greatest actors of all time, and the performer who inspired one of his most important roles.
Risky Business was the breakout film for Cruise, following the story of Joel Goodson, a seemingly perfect son who finds himself in a whole lot of trouble after living home alone while his parents are out of town. The film is wonderfully charming and entertaining, remaining a cult classic from the ‘80s and a clever critique of capitalism by subverting the tropes of its own genre. Given that it is a coming-of-age story, Cruise has since spoken about how influential Dustin Hoffman’s performance in The Graduate was on his character, with Ben Braddock being the ultimate symbol of disillusioned young people in wealthy suburbia.
It is for this very reason that Cruise was so star-struck after meeting Hoffman for the first time, with the actor recently describing their first encounter during his interview with Edith Bowman at the BFI. Cruise said, “We were at a restaurant and eating at a table and she [his sister, Cass] goes, ‘There’s Dustin Hoffman!’ I looked up and there he was, with a hat, and he was doing Death of a Salesman.”
“He was ordering takeout, and she goes, ‘You should go over there and say hello to him,’ and I said, ‘What? I’m not going to go say hello to him’, and she says, ‘You love him, and you know his career, you go over and say hello.’ And I don’t walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy. And she literally said, ‘If you don’t do it then I’m just going to go over and I’m going to tell him who you are and that you’re over there.’ And I was like, ‘He’s not going to know who I am, this is going to be really humiliating!’”
Siblings seem to have a habit of humiliating you, despite their insistence that it is in your best interests. But while Cruise might have been mortified at the prospect of approaching Hoffman, it eventually ended up being for the very best and prompted the beginning of their collaborative relationship, with the pair working together a year later on their knockout film Rain Man, directed by Barry Levinson.
Cruise continued the story, saying, “But she pestered me so much I agreed to go say hello. And I went up and just stood next to him and said, ‘Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I’m sorry.’ And he looked at me and went ‘Cruise!’ and I was like fuck. And that’s how I met him. A year later, he sent me the script for Rain Man.”
Sometimes unlikely meetings can make for the most fruitful relationships, with an unexpected encounter becoming the basis for something that changes your life. This was certainly the case for Cruise, who only continued to soar after his project with Hoffman and came to be regarded as one of the most influential actors of his generation.
