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Tim Curry didn’t hold back when voicing his opinion of Tom Cruise, with whom he co-starred in Ridley Scott’s 1985 fantasy film “Legend.”
Curry played the demonic villain Darkness, who seeks to plunge the world into eternal night, while Cruise portrayed the young hero Jack, who sets out on a quest to stop him. At the time, Cruise, then in his early 20s, was a rising star after his breakout performances in the 1983 hits “Risky Business” and “All the Right Moves.”
In his new memoir “Vagabond,” Curry, 79, recalled filming “Legend,” writing that he was unimpressed by Cruise’s celebrity status and “never blown away by his talent.”
“Before we met on the set of Legend, I had seen ‘Risky Business,’ with Tom cast perfectly as the cute, innocent young rebel. And when we finally appeared in a film together, he was very nice and easy to be around — but he’s also quite unique, and not a person I fully understood. We never had any issues, but I cannot say I felt the appeal,” the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” star said.
Tim Curry candidly opened up about working with Tom Cruise. (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic, Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic)
“Unlike many others in the eighties, I wasn’t desperately star-struck around him; in fact, I was kind of dreading it,” Curry continued. “I couldn’t really identify why. Maybe he sensed my reticence and was consequently a little awkward.”
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While Curry praised Cruise’s discipline and dedication to the role, he admitted to being bemused by the younger actor’s method habits.
“He was very into fully embodying his role, and I believe even requested to sleep on the snow set because he wanted to feel at home there,” Curry recalled.
Curry starred as the demonic villain Darkness in “Legend.” (Alamy)
Curry wrote that he respected Cruise’s professionalism but found the hype around the “Mission: Impossible” star to be excessive, pointing out Hollywood’s obsession with image and fame.
“In the premise of the film, he loses his power, but he looks great doing it. He has the perks that looks and money bring in Hollywood. I mean, people all over the world want to f— him—and I’m sure that wouldn’t be the worst feeling,” Curry said. “I was just never blown away by his talent.”
Curry, who wrote that the process of “turning me into the Lord of Darkness took roughly six hours” every day, noted that his “senses were no doubt dulled beneath my prosthetics.”
Cruise played the young hero Jack in the 1985 fantasy film. (Alamy)
The actor also recalled that he and Cruise actually spent little time together during the production of “Legend.”
“I didn’t really engage with Tom Cruise all that much, perhaps because this wasn’t the type of film where we’d all sit around chatting — Ridley didn’t foster that environment, and in my case my prothetics regimen meant that I couldn’t exactly go out for pints prior to having my horns and hooves removed,” Curry wrote. “By the end of my extrication I would be ready for nowhere but my own bed.”
“There’s not much I can say definitively about him, since we didn’t get to know each other very well, but at the end of the day I found him to be a very thoughtful, considerate colleague—which I appreciated,” he concluded.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Cruise’s representatives for comment.
Curry admitted that he was “kind of dreading” working with Cruise. (JC Olivera)
“Legend,” which was released in April 1986, disappointed at the box office and was met with a lukewarm reception from critics. However, Curry earned praise for his performance and makeup, while Scott was recognized for the movie’s visuals and production design. Cruise’s performance received mixed reviews, with some praising his youthful energy while others felt he was miscast.
Over time, “Legend” gained a cult following, with many fans viewing it as an underrated fantasy classic.
Throughout his memoir, Curry offered his takes on Hollywood and fame and recalled colorful moments from his time living in Los Angeles. The U.K. native noted that as an actor and performer, he was a “career impostor” by definition but wrote that he describes himself as a “vagabond.”
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“Vagabonds learn, often from a young age, that indeed time is fleeting,” Curry noted. “As is fame—a fairly worthless pursuit, really.”
Curry skyrocketed to fame and became a global cult icon after starring as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 musical comedy horror movie “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Prior to filming the movie, the three-time Tony Award nominee had played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the original London stage production of “The Rocky Horror Show” in 1973. The play was a hit in London, and Curry reprised the role when it moved to Los Angeles in 1974.
Curry rose to fame in 1975’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” (Getty Images)
In “Vagabond,” Curry shared his initial impressions of LA after relocating to Hollywood for the production.
“Few things are ever the way you expect them to be, as was the case with my first time visiting the United States. The pace there was slower than in London, by my impression, but Hollywood was sufficiently tacky around the edges,” he wrote. “Beyond expectations, the experience freed me an awful lot. Nobody had a clue or gave a s— who I was. I was liberated to completely reinvent myself if I wanted to, personally or professionally.”
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Curry recalled staying at Hollywood’s storied hotels, the Chateau Marmont and the Sunset Tower, where he lived among celebrities and observed the drug-fueled Los Angeles scene in the 1970s and 1980s.
The actor shared anecdotes from his early days in Hollywood in “Vagabond.” (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
“It was an exciting time to be there,” he wrote of his stay at the Sunset Tower. “Stacy Keach lived next door to me and Diana Ross had her office in the penthouse. I used to see her in the lobby, beneath piles of shopping from Beverly Hills.”
‘Could you please press the button for the elevator for me?’ she’d ask, waiting until someone came over to assist her. I had a feeling it was because she had fabulous long fingernails, the type of talons rivaled only by Barbra Streisand,” Curry continued. “I was delighted to oblige.”
“Iggy Pop lived there as well, which meant that the ambulance would arrive at least once a month, because —as legend went — among Iggy’s party tricks was to dive from his seventh-floor apartment into the pool below,” he added. “Occasionally, he even landed in it.”
“Vagabond” was released on Oct. 14. (Grand Central Publishing )
“In other words, drugs had arrived in Los Angeles.”
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The “It” star noted that he “found the party scene much heavier in LA than in London.” While he wrote that he mostly abstained from drugs, Curry admitted to heavy drinking during his early days in Hollywood.
“I wasn’t deep into clean living and hikes through the Hollywood Hills — I still drank far too much,” he wrote. “Across the board; across the globe.”
Curry suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed in 2012. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
However, despite his early skepticism about LA, he recalled that he later found a true sense of belonging in the city. Curry remembered that LA became a place of healing for him after his sister Judy, whom he called “my only lifeline back to myself,” died of a brain tumor at 60.
“I returned to Los Angeles feeling like less of a person. I was very alone, despite having created a network of wonderful, supportive friends. Though it was cold comfort, I was very grateful to return to the house that I had made into my own,” he wrote.
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Curry also recalled that the peace and solitude of his LA home helped him with his recovery from the serious stroke that he suffered in 2012.
“Many might define a vagabond as somebody who has no home,” he added. “I’m more inclined to interpret it that any vagabond worth a damn creates many homes in any number of places. Which is what I’ve done in LA.”
“Vagabond” was released on Oct. 14.
