All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S10E01.The.Newcomer.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTN_track4_[eng]

In Hollywood,
there are movie stars,

and then...

I'm Maverick.
I'm Jerry Maguire.
Ethan Hunt.

[Howell] ...there is Tom Cruise.

- Whoo!
- It almost sounds
like it's made up.

There are monks that meditate
in caves for years to get
that level of presence.

[Howell] From
humble beginnings...

I know you two, don't I?

I've never met anybody
as ambitious.

[Tom Cruise] What am I gonna
get from this piece?

Does it challenge me,
you know, and on
what levels?

[Howell] And early successes...

He came in, he was the guy.

Just drop the mic, walk away.

I call the shots.
I do what I want to do.

- Fuck it!
- [Howell] ...to setbacks.

Goddamn you!

Tom was devastated.

I will fire when I am
goddamn good and ready.

You know this is
a piece of shit, right?

The critical response
was brutal.

A lot of people
were disappointed.

I don't know, I mean,
people will say what
they want to say.

I can't control what
they're going to say.

- [Howell] It's a tale
of tenacity.
-

He's so intense
and so passionate.

- You...
- Tom had something to prove.

...complete me.

- He showed that he had chops.
- He was fantastic.

The star on the ascendant.

Tom was wooed by every studio.

Every director
wanted to work with him.

Here's the mission:
it's impossible.

I don't know how Tom
does the things he does.

[Howell] Tom Cruise was...

Very prepared.

There was that energy.

He had the greatest work ethic.

He goes, "Nope,
I don't get tired.
I make people tired."

[Howell] An artist
without fear.

He had pulled a tooth
out of his head.

- Tom would push himself.
- To the max.

Oh, no!

He easily could've
drowned right there.

You'd never know what
was gonna happen next.

He became so famous,
he's on another planet.

If you're executive producer,
you can do anything you want.

Money, power.

He's calling all
kinds of shots.

[Howell] A trailblazer.

Tom Cruise is a freight train
in front of which
you must lay track.

Did you fucking
hear what I said?

If we don't go on that
emotional journey through
Tom's performance,

there is no movie.

The fact that he doesn't
have an Academy Award
after his body of work...

One more, I get
a set of steak knives.

...is ridiculous.

[Howell] For the first
time ever...

I'll sing his praises
until the day
I'm no longer on earth.

Tom treated me
with a lot of respect
at a young age.

- [Howell] Tom Cruise's co-stars...
- Oh.

You know you want me
to tell you more, but I won't.

[Howell] ...and collaborators...

I never have spilled beans
before like I did today.

[Howell] ...reveal the truth.

You know, all the rumors
about Cruise are true.

[Howell] Behind the legends...

As you would expect Tom Cruise
to be, he's 100 times more.

[Howell] ...to become
Hollywood's...

- Biggest...
- Greatest...

Pure movie star.

[Howell] Tom Cruise.
He's many things
to many people.

He's an actor.

He's one of the most
underrated actors ever.
He's fantastic.

Should we or should we not
follow the advice
of the galactically stupid?

[Howell] He's a stunt performer.

He does all his own stunts.

- [Howell] He's a mentor.
- What's it like being
a hero, huh?

This guy really
taught me a lot,

and I carried that
with me my whole life.

[Howell] He's definitely
a sex symbol.

Girls were crying out
in desire.

[Howell] But more
than anything,

Tom Cruise
is just one thing...

Movie star.

That's the plan.

He knew he was
going to be a star.

With certainty.
Absolutely unquestionably,

he was going
to be a movie star.

He had a real grip
on that world.

[Howell] But to understand
how Tom Cruise
became Tom Cruise,

we need to go back to a time

when Tom Cruise was
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV,

son of Mary Lee and
Thomas Cruise Mapother III.

He was raised with
a bunch of sisters.

[Howell] Three to be precise,
which made for difficult moves

as his father's work
had the family
constantly relocating.

Tom bounced around a lot
and had to make new friends

every place that he went.

[Howell] To make
matters worse,

Tom's father wrestled
with alcoholism,

which eventually
cost him his marriage,

as Mary Lee left
with all four children.

She was a lovely woman,
he was very devoted to his mom.

[Howell] One of their biggest
bonds was over a shared love

of the Big Man upstairs.

As a result...

He was on a track
to become a priest.

[Howell] However,
Tom truly saw the light

when he appeared
in a high school production
of Guys and Dolls.

Tom went all in.

[Klopper] He really approached it
as a serious profession.

That's when I started, 1980,
right after I graduated
from high school.

And I think he was
wildly ambitious.

I mean, doesn't anyone
want to accomplish anything?

[Howell] And Tom's
first step to superstardom

was dropping "Mapother"
and then securing an agent.

[Cruise] I tested
for a couple of things,

and I remember some
casting woman said to me

I just wasn't gonna make it
in television,

that I was too intense.

And, uh...

She said I wasn't good-looking
enough, well, so...

[Howell] But maybe
Tom Cruise was good-looking
enough for movies,

which is where
he landed his first role,

albeit a very small one.

He had a one-day role
in Endless Love.

[Howell] His role
may have been small,

but he certainly
made it memorable.

I'll tell you guys,
eight years old
and I was into arson.

I didn't know
what the hell was going on.

No, I'm serious.

They said, "You better
hit that mark or you're not
going to be in the movie."

I didn't know what marks were,
I didn't know anything
about cameras.

"What's this guy sticking
this tape in my eye for?"

You know? For focus.

Endless Love
was a big thing for him.

Did you ever try to light
a whole pile of wet newspapers?

Jeez, it smokes like crazy.

He had no training.

[Howell] But Cruise
was a fast learner,

quickly securing another part.

Firing detail, ready?

I auditioned for
a picture called Taps.

We are gonna command
the best regiment this
school has ever seen.

Damn well said.

[Howell] While Tapswas a bigger film,

Cruise would have
an even smaller role
than on the last movie.

The director was Harold Becker.
He cast Tom as an extra.

Tom was kind of like the second
guy from the left, basically.

And then one of the main actors
dropped out.

And, right!

[Sbarge] Harold had seen him
and said, "You, I want
to see you in this part."

[Howell] Which meant...

The second guy from the left...

[Howell] ...was now
standing to attention.

Attention.

Sir.

[Howell] It was
Tom's first major role.

Damn right. Saw my duty
and I did it.

[Howell] Director Harold
Becker made sure Hollywood
knew about his terrific cast.

He called an agent and said,
"There's two people that are
gonna pop out of my movie."

Sean Penn.

That is beautiful.
I mean, you really have
a way with words.

[Klopper] And Tom Cruise.

It's beautiful, man.

[Howell] And so,
Tom then popped
into the film Losin' It,

which was a critical
and commercial flop.
But then...

Sean Penn introduced Tom
to Paula Wagner.

[Howell] Paula Wagner
was an up-and-coming agent

who was able to get
Tom Cruise in front of
A-List directors such as...

Francis Ford Coppola.

[Howell] ...who was casting
for his next film
The Outsiders.

For the audition,
Cruise flew to New York

where he was set
to board with another
future star, Rob Lowe.

He likes to show off
his muscles.

[Meredith Jordan] They put
Cruise and Rob Lowe
into a hotel room.

You know, they assigned them
a shared hotel room.

Cruise goes off on this,
Cruise is like,

"Don't you know who I am?
I don't share hotel rooms."

That rubbed a lot of people
the wrong way.

[Howell] Which didn't help
an already difficult
audition process.

Believe me, I was there.

Coppola put us through probably
a solid three, four months

of auditioning
before he cast anybody.

I know you two, don't I?

Y'all hang around rodeos.

That was a long process.

[Howell] But Tom knew
what he wanted.

And that was the lead.

Come on, Dally.

Tom really wanted to play
the Dallas Winston role.

Hey, did I say you guys could
play on my grass, huh?

I think he had his
heart set on that
and I remember him

just crushing those scenes
when we were working together
and auditioning.

[Howell] Unfortunately
for Tom, that role went
to Matt Dillon.

Hey, don't get,
don't get wise.

He was reading
the role of Sodapop.

Let him fight, man.
Everyone's tensed up
before a rumble.

[Howell] But that role
went to Tom Cruise's
ex-hotel roommate.

I think he even read
Patrick Swayze's
part multiple times.

I'm sick and tired
of you sticking up for him,
you hear me?

[Howell] Fortunately for Tom,
It was an ensemble film.

He nabbed
that role of Steve.

You saved them kids, Ponyboy.
They'd have burned to death
if it hadn't been for you.

[Howell] But it was
no small role to him.

I mean, to him, he was playing
the lead of this movie.

That guy brought it
every single day.

The day after the final
rumble sequence,

he had pulled
a tooth out of his head.

He didn't even go
and ask anybody.

He just showed up
and, like, smiles this big grin

and he's missing
a front tooth.

Whoo! Yeah!

[Howell] When we cut back
to the brother's house,

there's Cruise with blood
kind of leaking out of his face.

You know, that was just
Tom showing up
with a dentist saying,

"Hey, man,
let's remove this thing."

Coppola loved it.
So whether he was
doing backflips...

- Whoo!
- Yeah!

- Or removing teeth...
-

His commitment to his work,

that taught me a lot
as a young performer.

[Howell] Meanwhile,
in Hollywood,

another young up-and-coming
artist was looking to move up.

But it wasn't a young actor.

Paul Brickman,
a really profound talent.

[Howell] Screenwriter
Paul Brickman had a knack
for biting comedy.

Paul had a unique
sense of humor.

Are you clowns gonna sit
on your butts all day
or are we gonna play some ball?

But Brickman thought
that the directors just didn't
understand his writing,

so he decided
to direct his own flick.

[Howell] And the movie
he planned to direct would be
the next script he wrote,

a script by the name of...

[Howell] Actually, it wasn't
called "Risky Business."

It's what every white boy
off the lake wants.

It was called
"White Boys Off the Lake."

Paul's script struck me
as being very character-based

in a way that wasn't
trying to be funny.

It was funny because
of the deadpan
kind of deliveries.

So your folks are
going out of town.

[Bennett] So there was
a high schooler named Joel

who aspires to get into
an Ivy League college.

Me? I don't want
to make a mistake,
jeopardize my future.

[Bennett] But he also
wants to get laid.

So he meets a prostitute.

Did you have
a good time last night?

[Bennett] He gets roped into
running a whorehouse.

You're providing your friends
an invaluable service.

I mean, God knows
they needed the service.

[Bennett] Sex comedies
were really popular
at the time.

[Masur] Boys that age,
once they discover it,

are completely led
through life by their dicks.
That's it.

- Catch.
- No!

[Bennett] Brickman
wanted to have more
of a social commentary

on the capitalistic nature
of teen movies in the '80s.

Just wishing you good luck
on your future
as a businessman.

There was something darker
and subversive in the writing.

Because God knows,
you're gonna need it.

[Masur] And I said to Paul,

"This is the best coming-of-age
story I've ever read."

[Howell] Paul then teamed up
with producers Jon Avnet
and Steve Tisch.

There was a very clear
and concerted effort

to make something
that was its era's Graduate.

[Howell] Unfortunately...

Brickman wrote the script
when he was still under
contract at Warner Brothers.

But Warner Brothers didn't
really get the film
nor liked the film,

so they put the film
in turnaround.

[Howell] Luckily,
a successful music
industry executive

was starting
his own film company.

[Sbarge] David Geffen
made this happen.

He brought the muscle to bear.

[Howell] And while the story
of a 16-year-old prostitute...

I need $300.

[Howell] ...could play
in art houses,

Geffen wasn't looking
to make a niche film.

- You're kidding.
- [Bennett] His one condition is,

if you make
the prostitute older,
I'll make the film.

[Howell] With that
one concern addressed,
Paul Brickman had a backer.

But with one caveat.

Production couldn't begin
until David Geffen
approved the cast.

We saw so many thousands
and thousands and thousands
of actors.

[Howell] Paul Brickman
had gotten the backing

he needed to make his film,
now titled "Risky Business."

So the next task was casting,

and to do that,
Brickman needed help.

I'm Nancy Klopper
and I was the casting director
on Risky Business.

- We started casting
out of New York.
- Ready?

[Klopper] Bronson Pinchot,
I saw in a play there.

I was doing my very first
professional role

in a play off Broadway
called Poor Little Lambs.

My character, who was a virgin,
went to an art show
and all I did was come in,

and look at these paintings
and slowly realize that
they were vaginas

and get horrified and leave
'cause I'd never seen a vagina.

At the last minute, I decided
'cause it was an art show,
I would wear a beret.

The next thing I hear,
Jon Avnet said, "I want
the guy with the beret."

Boop!

[Klopper] When Bronson came in
and read that day,

I thought, "He's gonna
get this role."

[Howell] Stalking New York's
theater scene

would prove to be
time well spent.

Ooh, ooh! Here's one.

I was 28.

I had had a stage
career exclusively.

Occasionally, I would
audition for a film.
Never get it.

Sometimes you got to say,
"What the fuck?"

He just had a way to convey
authority over Joel.

That was just bullshit, Joel.

I'm surprised
you listen to me.

[Klopper] And we saw
thousands of actors.

A lot of big stars
came in and read.

[Howell] Nancy continued
to look past established actors
In favor of fresh faces.

Guess what?

I was just 18,
I was really a baby.

Ah, I heard your
parents were away.

Yeah.

Thought maybe
I could borrow a room.

Raphael, he was it, you know.
He was it.

Great.

We had a reading of the script
for Bronson, Curtis, Raphael.

I think we knew that day

that those three actors
were gonna be
our supporting characters.

Thank you.
You're very kind.

But we couldn't really
cast them, make their
deals and do all that

until we had a leading man,

and we also didn't have
our leading lady.

You know, we saw everyone.

Sean Penn, Matthew Broderick,
Val Kilmer, John Cusack,
Kevin Bacon.

Mickey Rourke came in, too.

Don't make me take you down.

- Tom Hanks read.
- Lucky shot.

[Howell] Tom Hanks
wasn't the only future
romcom star to audition.

I just have to tell you about

the "Aren't You Hungry
for a Whopper?"
game at Burger King.

[Klopper] And Meg Ryan read.

- It's you.
- It's me.

Would've been funny
if we cast the two of them.

But they weren't really right.

And then we found
two great kids,
one's named Kevin Anderson,

and the other is Megan Mullally,
and they both screen test.

[Howell] It would
all come down to the man
with the money, David Geffen.

He saw the screen tests
and said, "You don't have it.
Keep looking.

"I won't greenlight this film
until you do have it."

I remember feeling
the pressure.

And we were getting
kind of fried.

And then one day,
Tom's agent
wanted him to come in.

He was on location
doing The Outsiders.

- Whoo!
-

"And could we see him?"

And we said, "Of course,"

and he read
the opening monologue.

The dream is always the same.

He was really terrific.

[Joel] So now
I'm getting enthusiastic
about this dream.

[Klopper] He really
understood Paul's writing,

and delivered it
as Paul intended it to be.

He was dry and droll and funny.

He had an innocence.

[Joel] So I go to her,
but she's hard to find through
all the steam and stuff.

[Howell] And of course,
there is one other
steamy attribute

that Tom Cruise brought
to the audition.

[Klopper] He was sexy.

He had a combination
of everything.

- [Howell] In other words...
- [Armstrong] He was perfect.

I mean, he was just
right for this part.

You're as good as in.

[Howell] But there was still
the matter of the film's
leading lady.

Where's Lana?

[Klopper] And Lana.
The character required
someone who was young

but had the maturity
and the wisdom to be able
to control all this.

She really
was very controlling.

[Howell] Paul Brickman
was about to learn,

when it comes to the world's
oldest profession,

it's easier to write
than to cast.

[Klopper] The description was,
"She's a prostitute,

"she's only 22,
and she's very sexy."

[Howell] The listing read
more like a back page
classified ad.

Chicago's finest dominants
and submissives.

[Howell] And on
paper at least,

perhaps not the kind of role
a young actress might want.

A lot of actresses
turned down Lana.

Daryl Hannah turned it down.
Jodie Foster, Diane Lane.

Michelle Pfeiffer
turned it down,

and I called her and said,

"What are you thinking?
This is such a good role."

And she said she felt that
it glamorized prostitution.

I couldn't argue with her
if that was how she felt.

[Howell] Nancy needed help.

So she called
an expert of sorts.

[Klopper] I called Harry Dean
Stanton because he always had
beautiful women around him.

He recommended
Rebecca De Mornay,
and she was extremely raw.

She was not a trained
actor at all.

She had literally done nothing.

[Howell] But what she lacked
in credits,

she more than made up for
with presence.

Even though she was young,
she felt worldly.

- She's nice.
- Just her sense of confidence

was really striking.

She felt mature for her years.

She's what every white boy
on the lake wants.

You ever get high, Joel?

[Howell] Rebecca
had potential,

but they wouldn't know
if they had the total package

until they presented
the all-important screen test
to David Geffen,

which didn't go well last time.

"You don't have it.
Keep looking."

- [Howell] But this time...
- [Klopper] We did a screen test,

and we sent it
to David Geffen that day.

And he said, "Congratulations.
Go make your movie."

[Howell] But no sooner
had they cleared
the David Geffen hurdle,

someone else stood
in their way,

presenting Tom Cruise with
an irresistible opportunity.

[Klopper] Francis Ford Coppola
was already planning
Rumble Fish,

and he was offering
a role to Tom,

which conflicted
with Risky Business.

[Howell] After five months
of auditions...

I did wonder if it would
ever really even happen.

[Howell] Tom Cruise was
quickly moving up the ranks
of young Hollywood,

and was now facing
a fork in the road.

Make your move.

[Howell] The choice?

A supporting role
with an established auteur,
or the literal risky option,

taking the lead with
a first-time director.

I do not choose a film
looking for a result.

I look for a result
in terms of,

"What am I going
to get from this piece?"

"What can I communicate
through this piece?
What am I gonna learn?"

[Howell] Tom opted to learn
what it takes to be at
the top of the call sheet.

I thought it was a brave
decision to say "no"

to Francis Ford Coppola,

and say "yes" to someone
who had never directed
a movie before.

He knew that Risky Business
had the potential
to catapult him.

[Howell] Well,
it would have to be
a strong catapult.

I remember hearing
that they had somebody
named Tom Cruise.

And I thought, like,
"What kind of name is Cruise?"

It almost sounds
like it's made up.

I had no idea who
Tom Cruise was.

[Howell] To be fair,
the same could be said
for the entire cast.

[Armstrong] We were
unknown commodities.

Definitely felt like
a new world.

[Howell] And as the cameras
rolled on this scene,
their first...

Deuces, aces,
one-eyed faces wild.

[Howell] It would be
trial by fire for the New York
theater kids.

We're all incredibly nervous.

So, what happened?

I didn't know anything
about anything.

And I remember just being
like, "What do you do?"

We were all nauseous.

[Howell] But it wasn't
because of nerves.

Nobody smoked cigars.

I remember getting very sick
from the cigar.

We were all
becoming really ill.

[Pinchot] I fainted-ish.

I was like...

So there was a paramedic
behind my chair like this.

And I was green, too,
Curtis said.

[Howell] Eventually,
Paul Brickman
got what he needed,

and the cast came out of
the first day closer than
when they came into it.

Getting to know each other
was interesting.

[Howell] Paul encouraged
the cast to hang out.

There was a good deal
of questionable behavior.

[Howell] Both on
and off the set.

One night we're out

and we're driving and Tom says,
"Fuck it, man, Let's go."

He hits the gas
and we start going...

And suddenly a truck,
a large truck pulls out

into the intersection
and Tom goes, "Whoa!"

And does like a...

Literally, our life flashes
before our eyes.

And then Tom turns to me
and gives me one of those

big kind of Tom Cruise
smiles like...

We both could have been dead.

[Howell] Tom Cruise's
larger-than-life personality...

[Howell] ...was diametrically
opposed to his director's.

[Armstrong] Paul wasn't the sort
who, at the end of a scene,

would come up to you and say,
"Oh, that was great."

He'd come up in between
takes and go...

"One more."

I don't remember him
ever giving me a direction.

He was not a talker.

He was a doer.
He was just making
his vision happen.

He was doing his job.

He expected you to do yours.

But when you're young and
you've never done it before,

you're looking around
for support.

[Howell] And they found some,
at least, from this
comparative veteran.

You know,
when they were asking me

kind of actor questions,

what I said to them was,
"Come in with an idea,

"fight for what
you think is right,

"be open to the possibility
you're wrong,

"and also, you're there
to serve the picture.

"And the person who knows
what the picture
is going to be

"is the director.

"If he doesn't like it,
he'll ask you to do
something different."

[Howell] Richard's advice
gave Tom the confidence
to trust his gut.

Sometimes you gotta say,
"What the fuck?"

I was there the day
the prop guy comes up
and basically says,

"What glasses
do you want to wear?"

And I remember him saying,
"I'm going to wear these,"
and putting them on.

Ray-Ban stock
went up, like, 2,000%...

after this movie.

That it became the icon
to sell the picture.

You just felt the star
on the ascendant
happening in front of you.

I would walk out
of my hotel room
on a weekend night...

- -...and I saw...

Girls just sitting in
the hallway with their
backs up against the wall.

It became clear

they were there
hoping to interact with
and sleep with Tom.

One came out and left
and then the first
in line went in.

-
- I don't know if there was
a number system like a deli.

I just thought,
"Okay, that's what
Hollywood is, I guess."

I mean, it never was
as far as I was concerned.
But it was for him.

[Howell] Tom Cruise fandom
can be split into two eras:

Before socks and after socks.

You know when
he does that slide...

Just drop the mic,
walk away.

[Howell] But who deserves
credit for the slide known
around the world?

That scene is in the script.

[Howell] So credit
goes to Paul Brickman.

[Chew] But it was Tom
that would come up with

how he would
pull up his collar.

And dance with a candlestick,
using it as a mic.

And Tom, he was screwing around
and rolling with it, you know?

It feels so unrehearsed.

[Howell] But for
a generation,

it was a moment
that captured the imagination

of more than just teen boys.

Little did we know
that we'd be sliding around

living rooms in our socks
with Ray-Bans on.

[Howell] The scene
was the result
of a larger-than-life star,

and an introverted director
finally coming together.

[Masur] For a director,
when they're open,

that's when you get
really good stuff.

[Howell] Paul was learning,
unlike writing,

directing was a team sport.

While Brickman led offense...

[Armstrong] Jon Avnet
and Steve Tisch
were running defense

the whole time from
the studio people
and so forth.

[Howell] For the studio,
every word in the term
"teen sex comedy"

equaled profit.

[Armstrong] They thought
there wasn't enough sex.

You know, there weren't
hookers running around
with their tops off,

and that was kind of
what the studio wanted.

[Howell] But it wasn't just
the studio that felt Paul
had delusions of grandeur.

[Armstrong] Peter Sova
was our original DP.

Peter felt that Paul
was doing it wrong,

that he was shooting it
like an art movie,

and it was
a teenage sex comedy.

[Howell] The friction
between the director

and the director of photography

lurched towards
an inevitable early exit
for Peter.

[Armstrong] Peter Sova,
he left.

- [Howell] But not to worry.
- [Armstrong] Rey Villalobos
came in to replace him.

[Howell] Eh, briefly.

[Armstrong] And then
it turned out Rey had
a conflict and he left.

And Bruce Surtees came in
and finished the movie.
Three DPs!

- [Howell] As a result...
- Why don't you
start the car, Joel?

The chase scene,
all three of these guys
worked on.

-
- Start the goddamned car, Joel!

That sequence starts outside
the Drake Hotel in Chicago

with Peter Sova,
then it goes into
the chase scene,

which is Rey Villalobos,
and ends...

Porsche.
There is no substitute.

[Armstrong] That's Bruce Surtees.

- Fuck you.
-

[Howell] The one thing
that remained consistent?
Paul Brickman's visual voice.

[Armstrong] Paul knew
exactly what he wanted
it to look like.

And if he had to go through
three DPs to get it, he had to.

[Howell] As filming
progressed,

Tom Cruise began
to own the mantle of lead.

[Masur] Tom
was really wonderful.

Make your move.

He was not in any way insecure
about what was going on.

He'd really found himself
working on the film, I think.

[Howell] The same
could be said of
director Paul Brickman,

who was coming into his own.

Marker.

And action.

I'm really trying
to be friends with you.

There's a wonderful scene
between Rebecca and Tom.

- I'll see you around.
- It's actually
a beautiful scene.

[Howell] The scene showcased
Paul Brickman's gift
for mixing drama and comedy.

Joel's father's Porsche
rolls into the lake.

Oh, God. You locked the door!

That was an extraordinary
piece of film comedy.

It was shot over
two different nights.

No, please, stop!

[Chew] He was trying to stop it
rolling down the hill,

and then when it finally stops,
he's facedown.

[Howell] A position
they would need to
remember for continuity.

[Chew] But shooting
when the Porsche falls
into the water the next night,

he's facing up.

"Hmm, how are we
going to cut this?"

That was too big
of a difference
in his position.

[Howell] All of a sudden,
a light bulb went off,

or, more specifically,
a lamppost.

[Chew] They were able
to rig up this lamp,

that they shot
in the alleyway...

to extend the tension.

Thank you.

And did not appear to be
just a cutaway
to hide a jump cut.

[Howell] Thanks to the fix,
the end result was...

Just perfect.

[Howell] But there
was still much to shoot
as production was heating up.

And when the time came
to film the business end
of Risky Business...

Are you ready for me?

[Howell] Brickman treated
the scene as discreetly
as possible.

[Pinchot] No one
was allowed in there,

which got us terribly excited,

when I was like,
"Oh, what are they not
wanting us to see?"

[Howell] Suddenly,
the ban seemed
more like a challenge.

- [Bronson] So, Shera Danese...
- [Howell] AKA Vicky.

He's got such nice friends.
Clean, polite, quick.

We crawled up inside
the walls of the set

to watch them
having the sex scene.

-
- [Armstrong] That's absolutely true.

That's absolutely true.

We were soon caught.

Bronson was terrified
that Rebecca and Tom
would find out.

I can tell you stuff
that I saw, but I won't.

You're young,
you're in Chicago,

you're filming a movie,
you do crazy things.

[Howell] But the hijinks
were just getting started,

as production moved to
Joel's makeshift brothel.

There's that great scene
when Bronson keeps
letting the girls in.

Jon Avnet said,
"I got an idea. You, come here.

"We're not gonna rehearse.
Open the door, the prostitutes
are gonna come in.

"Just be there and live it.
Be in the moment."

♪ I had lots of fun ♪

♪ I'm a man, yeah ♪

And then I said,
"I want to do it again."

He said, "No, it was perfect."

And I said,
"No, I can make it funnier."

He said,
"I don't want it funnier.

"What you just did is natural."

[Howell] And Paul Brickman
was quick on his feet as well,
as Curtis would learn.

The party, Miles doesn't
go because...

I don't have to pay for it.

Supposedly.

Those lines,
we shot it numerous times,

but there was something
about it that was not working,

and Paul went over
to the camera operator,

who smoked a pipe
and he said...

"Give him the pipe."

Curtis reaches into his pocket
and pulls out a pipe.

Paul says, "After you say
that last line, light it up."

I'm gonna get going, you know.

We shot it once that way.
And that was the version
they used.

There was something
so pretentious that
it just works perfectly.

[Howell] Curtis's filming
was in the can.

Next up, Richard Masur...

It was my arrival
at the whorehouse.

[Howell] ...who'd arrived
for an ill-timed interview
about college admissions.

You know, it's my understanding,
Joel, that you would like
to attend Princeton.

One of the ADs says,

"Paul would like
to talk to you."

He said, "I don't know
what to do with
the interview scene.

"It just doesn't work
for me at all."

I said, "You know what
I was thinking?

"'Cause he's so nervous,
what if I start reeling
off these silly things?"

Junior varsity tennis team.

And that was not
in there, initially.

Recording Secretary,
Spanish club.

[Howell] Paul
embraced the idea.

It's not quite Ivy League
now, is it?

[Howell] Knowing he had
a receptive audience,
Richard had one more pitch.

I said, "Are you gonna
shoot me leaving?"

He said, "No."

I said, "Well, I think
it would be great when
I walk out the door..."

[Joel] Rutherford made
a couple of new friends.

[Chew] I'm walking out
with that beautiful blonde.

And then, of course,
we did it.

[Howell] Paul Brickman
was learning to let go
of his script.

As filming continued
in Chicago,

editor Richard Chew
began assembling
the film in Los Angeles.

Paul had this visual sense
of how to display his humor

in addition to
what's on the page.

[Howell] Richard looked
to carry Paul's sensibilities
into the edit.

[Chew] He had written a scene
where Joel and Lana
make love on the train.

But he only had one shot
of Joel and Lana
having some passion.

I thought from the second unit
footage of trains
passing in the night,

it might give us
a visual equivalent

of a sexual climax
for the scene.

[Howell] The phallic
gamble paid off.

[Chew] Paul, I mean,
he loved that.

[Howell] Paul and Richard
still felt it needed more.
The challenge?

How to build this tension,
keep it funny,

but then keep it
sexually charged.

- ♪ Can you feel it... ♪
- I thought you said nobody
was gonna be here.

[Howell] It was a problem
they looked to solve
during reshoots.

[Chew] He set it up where
there were other passengers,
to create some tension.

But then I think what really
created masterful kind of
Paul Brickman kind of humor,

he had a homeless guy
who was just looking.

It was an extra.
He had no dialogue.

I just loved how Paul
had staged this actor.

And then people from the train
one by one began to leave.

It was just really fun.

[Howell] As editing continued,
Paul's producing partners
would weigh in.

David Geffen,
who had funded the movie,

wanted a kind of
a lighter-hearted ending.

We probably won't
see each other again
for a long time, huh?

I know.

Paul had his own
very specific vision.

[Howell] Joel didn't
end up in Princeton,
but rather...

[Armstrong] He has
basically become a pimp.

It wasn't a typical
'80s sex comedy.

[Howell] But David Geffen
wanted an ending
that made money.

David Geffen said,
"I want a happy ending.

"Reshoot the ending."

There was a real fight,
I guess, at the end.

[Howell] A fight that
could only have one victor.

In the fight for the ending
he wanted,

Paul Brickman
was fighting a losing battle.

They realized that Tom Cruise
was on the verge

of becoming a very big star.

The sense was,
nobody is going to pay
multiple times

to see this movie to see
Tom Cruise lose.

It's got to be a more
upbeat ending.

I just thought it might
be nice if we spent
the evening together.

[Howell] Paul agreed
to a compromise.

He was to film an
alternative ending

which would be tested
against the original ending.

Being the creative writer
that he is,

what he did was just used
the same dialogue

that he had used earlier.

Well, how much do you have?

- I have $50.
- $50?

And he just changed
the characters.

- How much you got on you?
- [Chew] And it gave you
a good feeling.

How much
have I got on me?
I got $20.

That these two characters now
probably are going to meet up
again in a playful way.

[Howell] While the
ending's fate lay in the
hands of focus groups,

Tom Cruise found himself
wrapped on Risky Business.

And so immediately began
looking for the next movie
that could make him a star.

And again, Nancy Klopper
would be in Tom's corner.

There was a film that I cast,Vision Quest.

[Howell] It was the story
of an ambitious
high school wrestler.

And as it so happened...

[Klopper] Tom had
wrestled in high school.

And the director
was Harold Becker,
so Tom really wanted the lead.

You're good for it, right?

Certainly.

[Howell] With his Tapsdirector at the helm,

it seemed the stars were
aligning for someone else.

You're not from around here,
are you?

[Klopper] Harold felt
Matthew Modine
was much more like

a Midwestern,
hay-in-his-hair
kind of actor.

She thinks I'm a kid.
Immature dumb jock.

[Howell] But Vision Questproducers Jon Peters
and Peter Guber

knew Tom Cruise had buzz.

Risky Business
had not yet come out.

[Howell] As a result,

Peters and Guber
decided to put a pin
in their decision.

If the buzz was real,
they'd cast Tom Cruise
and not Matthew Modine.

But before all that,
Paul needed
to finish the film,

with the score being
his latest roadblock.

The choice of individual
songs was great.

[Howell] From Bob Seger
to Prince to Phil Collins.

But the film needed more
than just pop hits.

Be patient.

[Chew] When it came
to the train sequence...

♪ Oh, lord ♪

...he just had
the Phil Collins song
for the first part.

♪ Well, I remember ♪

[Howell] It needed a score.

One of my assistants,
he was playing music.

Paul heard it, he said,
"Hey, bring your boombox
in here."

So I turned off my music,
turned his on.

So that's how we discovered
Tangerine Dream.

[Johannes Schmoelling] We did some drafts for Paul,

we sent it to Los Angeles,

and we hoped that
he would like it.

But that wasn't the case.

And finally,
Paul and Jon Avnet,
they came to Berlin.

They arrived at our studio
in Berlin,

we had a discussion
which way we should go.

One night we came up
with the song,
"Love On A Real Train."

The next morning, Paul said,
"Well, that's the direction,
and that's it."

[Howell] But there was
one thing the band couldn't
wrap their head around.

David Geffen said,
"I want a happy ending."

There are two endings
we have to score.
It was very unusual.

The audience that saw the
so-called "happy ending..."

[Joel] Do you think that
I'd accept a check from you?

What am I, stupid?

...scored the picture higher.

You know, both endings work.
But Paul was crushed.

He was just heartbroken.

I think he was a bit depressed
and sad about this.

[Klopper] And the movie
is still fantastic,

but it wasn't what
he envisioned.

You know,
he was a first-time director.

First-time directors
don't get final cut.

[Howell] And soon,
Risky Businesswith a happy ending

would be on full display.

The first big screening was
just a industry screening.

[Howell] And
expectations were...

Hookers running around
with their tops off.

[Howell] Well, low.

But at this screening
was producer of Vision Quest,Jon Peters,

who had been patiently waiting
to see if the buzz around
Tom Cruise was real.

Jon Peters
was sitting behind me.

And I just thought,
"This movie is spectacular,"

but I turned around,
and Jon Peters said,

"This movie is not gonna
make a dime.

"Tell Harold
he can have his guy."

And I went to a payphone,

and called Harold and said,

"You can cast Matthew Modine
if you want."

I've never told that story.

[Howell] A good story
for Matthew Modine...

[Louden] This is the year
I make my mark.

[Howell] ...and a very
bad one for Tom Cruise.

Tom was very devastated.

[Howell] An early screening
of Risky Business

put an end to Tom Cruise's
attempt to take the lead
in Vision Quest.

Which meant the newly
minted leading man was
once again on the market.

There are movies that
Tom and I auditioned

against the same part.

All of us were
on the hunt.

[Howell] Raphael's
next film role,

none other than
Vision Quest.

Hey, Otto, it's true.
Old Louden's giving
her the big one.

[Howell] Vision Questeven featured the music
of Tangerine Dream.

Directors became interested
in working with the band.

[Howell] It appeared
the world was moving on
without Tom Cruise.

Sean Penn and Tim Hutton
had a 21st birthday party,

and I went and then I see
Tom and my heart sunk,

because he had just
learned that he didn't
get Vision Quest,

and he said, "Nancy,
I have something
for you in my car."

He came back
and he hands me
this little box,

and I open it up,

and it was a round pendant,

and it said,
"Risky Business, 1983.

"To Nancy, with thanks,
T. Cruise."

I felt a big lump
in my throat.

[Howell] But Tom Cruise's
fortunes were about to change,

because when Risky Businessfinally hit screens,
with no fanfare...

I don't remember
there being a premiere.

I don't recall one.

It's true,
there wasn't a premiere.

[Howell] In August 1983,
for those involved,

things would never
be the same again.

I was walking down the street
and this guy stops,

and he said, "Oh, my God,

"I just saw your film.
You were so funny."

When he says this to me,
I say,

"What? What movie
are you talking about?"

He says, "Risky..."

Business.

So the movie comes out,

and I mean,
it was humongous.

It turned out to be
such a huge, enormous hit.

[Howell] While the film
never hit number one,

it remained in the top three
for eight weeks,

defying expectations.

It was a movie that
just kept growing
and growing and growing.

When I saw the movie,
I was blown away

'cause it was so elegant
and so stylish.
I was shocked.

[Howell] It was certainly
a happy ending for
Risky Business

at the box office,

however, for the director
who didn't want
the happy ending,

it's a bit more complicated.

In terms of wanting
to be a director,

I don't know that
the Cinderella slipper
fit for him.

About ten years later,
he did make a movie.

[Chew] Called
Men Don't Leave.

But I don't think
he had the best time onMen Don't Leave either.

I think that probably
cemented for him

the fact that he didn't
want to do it again.

[Howell] While Paul
struggled after
Risky Business...

Risky Business started
influencing other directors.

It was a seminal movie,
in a lot of ways.

[Howell] The New York
theatre kids he and Nancy
discovered thrived.

[Armstrong] I wound up
getting jobs for the rest
of the decade

due to Paul Brickman
and Risky Business.

[Howell] And for Bronson,
his memorable performance

had in a very real sense,

opened doors for his future
Hollywood career.

[Pinchot] Gary Marshall
saw it and said,

"I want the guy that
opened the door."

You know you got a big space
in between your teeth.

That was the start
of my movie career.

- Hi.
- I'm fine.

My name is Serge.
And how can I help you?

So it was very simple:
do a play. Wear a beret.

See a vagina. Open a door,
see a prostitute.
Get in movies.

Opportunity makes your future.

[Armstrong] Director of
Revenge of the Nerds,

he's a fan of Risky Business,
so he casts me.

She's a nice girl.

Big deal.
Did you get in her pants?

Then a couple of years later,

the director ofBetter Off Dead,

he's a fan ofRisky Business,
so he cast me.

Hold on. Wait a minute.
Wait one second.

I think I'm onto
something here.

[Armstrong] And then
Moonlighting.

I owe three of the most
important jobs of my life
to Risky Business.

Check you later.

[Howell] Despite not
landing Vision Quest...

Risky Business
launched Tom's career.

[Howell] ...Tom still
found his way

into the lead of a high school
sports movie.

Scholarship here,
no scholarship there.
He goes, he stays.

[Howell] Tom's film
All the Right Moves

ending up earning $4,000,000
more than Vision Quest.

[Armstrong] This is the last time
you really see Tom Cruise

as he was,

before he became so famous.

Risky Business obviously
changed everything for him.

After that, then it becomes,
you know, the moon.

[Howell] Tom Cruise
had found the path
to superstardom.

And if not the path,
then a kind of...

♪ Highway to the danger zone ♪

[Howell] Buckle up,
because we are going
along for the ride.