In a movie with Jack Black, Ben Stiller and an Oscar-nominated turn from Robert Downey Jr. in blackface, it’s hard to stand out. But if you’re Tom Cruise, it’s just another day. Add to that a balding head and a ferocious blanket of chest hair and it’s supremely easy. And that’s just what he did in 2008’s Tropic Thunder, playing vulgar studio exec Les Grossman. Now, he wants another chance to bring back the immediately iconic character.
Recently appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Christopher McQuarrie said that he and Tom Cruise have had conversations about bringing Les Grossman back. And while McQuarrie had nothing to do with Tropic Thunder, he’s aware that he and Cruise together could ensure it gets done. “The conversations we’ve had about Les Grossman are so f*cking funny. [Cruise and I are] talking about it, we’re having very serious conversations about it, and how best to do it. It ultimately comes down to what that character is.”
But first, take a big step back…McQuarrie and Cruise have been toying with the idea of a Les Grossman movie for years now; yet, nothing has come of it. Sure, the guys have been a little busy with some action franchises you may have heard of, but the idea just doesn’t sound all that promising. Indeed, the way McQuarrie talks about it sounds like it was just something that helped cool the heads after intense shooting days on Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. As McQuarrie put it, “We don’t even think about the structure, we play with scenes. Just to be sitting at a breakfast table, not talking about the movie we’re making for a minute, is such decompression. And just riffing with Tom playing Les Grossman at the table, it was one of the real joys of making this movie. It was all the stuff we were doing, planning the future while slugging out the present.”
While RDJ earned the most attention and praise for Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise was a runaway standout as Les Grossman, even nabbing a Golden Globe nomination in the supporting category.
What do you think? Is a Les Grossman movie a good idea or would the character work best as a one-off?
