In an interview with vampire director Neil Jordan, he has addressed the reactions to his casting of Tom Cruise over Daniel Day Lewis in the 1994 film.
Cruise, 61, memorably played antihero Lestat de Lioncourt – who turned Louis (Brad Pitt) into a vampire in the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel – but at the time there was an uproar over the decision to cast the Top Gun star over Day Lewis , 62.
Director Neil Jordan, 74, details accusations that he ‘misjudged’ Cruise in his new memoir, in an excerpt per The Telegraph: ‘Brad Pitt had agreed to play Louis and somehow assumed that Daniel Day-Lewis would play Lestat, an assumption shared by Anne.
“I offered it to Daniel, who read it and, as I expected, didn’t want to play the character.
‘A few years earlier he had confined himself to a wheelchair to play Christy Brown in My Left Foot. If he had followed the same practice, he would have had to sleep in a coffin for the entire production. So we moved on.”
Interview with Vampire Director Neil Jordan has discussed the reaction to his casting of Tom Cruise over Daniel Day Lewis in the 1994 film – Cruise is seen as Lestat
After meeting Cruise at his home twice, Jordan said he realized the superstar had a lot in common with Lestat. He wrote: ‘I finally understood. He had to live a life far from the gaze of others. He had made a contract with the hidden forces, whatever they turned out to be. He had to hide in the shadows, even in the Hollywood sunlight. He would be forever young. He was a star. It could very well be Lestat.
Jordan praised Cruise as a “fantastic actor” but said “a little fact was lost in the outrage” that followed – noting how even Rice herself had spoken out about her distaste for the casting – although she later apologized.
Esquire said of her frustrations: “Spurred on by her readers, Rice has embarked on a one-woman crusade to embarrass Tom Cruise; Warner Brothers, the studio financing the film; and David Geffen, the film’s producer…
“Rice curses Cruise for butchering her script, sanitizing the sexual content to suit his clean image, and perpetuating the worst crime in the name of casting since The Bonfire of the Vanities…
“I wanted to call David Geffen and say, ‘How the hell can you do this?’
Tom later spoke of his shock at the news, saying: ‘When it first hit, it really hurt my feelings to open up about it. Normally you don’t start a movie when someone doesn’t want you to do the movie.’ She later apologized.
Jordan added to The Guardian about the reaction to Cruise’s casting: “The whole world said, you’re miscast.
‘He’s a great actor. If he says he can do something, he will do it in a way that will shock people. Tom has become the last surviving movie star. It’s a bit strange.
Cruise, 61, memorably played antihero Lestat de Lioncourt – who turned Louis (Brad Pitt) into a vampire in the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel – but at the time there was an uproar over the decision to cast the Top Gun star over Day Lewis , 62
Director Neil Jordan, 74, details accusations that he “misjudged” Cruise in his new memoir, writing in an excerpt: “I offered it to Daniel, who read it, and, as I expected, I wanted it character’ (Day Lewis pictured in 1990 with the Best Actor Oscar for My Left Foot)
Jordan praised Cruise as a “great actor” but said “one little fact was lost in the outrage” that followed – noting how even Rice herself had spoken out about her dislike of the casting (pictured with Cruise in 1994)
Jordan added that Pitt was becoming exhausted by the filming schedule – with the star having just completed Legends of the Fall – saying: “It just wore him out. Brad is a very active man, that was the direction he wanted to go. The character’s passivity brought him down.
Jordan added that Pitt was becoming exhausted by the filming schedule – with the star having just completed Legends of the Fall – saying: “It just wore him out. Brad is a very active man, that was the direction he wanted to go. The passivity of the character put him down.”
Pitt, then 30, debated trying to get out of filming the blockbuster, which had a budget of $60 million (£47 million), but found out from producer and friend David Geffen that he would have to pay $40 million (£32 million) ) would cost to stop – so he refused.
Brad played Louis in the film, a grieving plantation owner who is forever transformed into a vampire by Cruise’s Lestat.
The 1994 film was Kirsten Dunst’s breakthrough. She played a 10-year-old girl named Claudia, who was turned into a vampire by Louis and Lestat.