Tom Cruise gives credit to sister for landing role in ‘Rain Man’

Tom Cruise might owe one of the biggest roles of his career to some good old-fashioned sibling pressure.

During a lively and revealing appearance at the BFI in London on Sunday, the Hollywood icon opened up about how he landed Rain Man—and, surprisingly, it all started with his sister Cass and a bold move at a New York restaurant.

Back in 1984, Cruise had just wrapped filming Legend with Ridley Scott and was visiting Cass in the city when they spotted none other than Dustin Hoffman grabbing takeout. 

“She goes, ‘There’s Dustin Hoffman,’” Cruise recalled. “I looked up and there he was, in a hat — he was doing Death of a Salesman — and he was ordering takeout.”

Cass wasn’t about to let the moment slide. 

“‘You go over there and say hello to him,’” she told Cruise, who tried to dodge the mission. 

“I’m not going to say hello,” he insisted. But Cass, clearly on a mission of her own, wasn’t having it. “You know him, you know his movies,” she argued. And apparently, this wasn’t her usual style.

Cruise, known for his own confident screen presence, admitted he doesn’t usually approach people in public. 

But Cass hit him with the ultimate sibling threat, “If you don’t do it, I’m just going to go over there and tell him who you are.” 

Cue Tom’s panic. “He’s not going to know who I am, that’s going to be really humiliating!”

But Cass persisted—and won. 

“She pestered me so much,” Cruise said, “that I gave in. I said, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman, I’m sorry…’ And he went, ‘Cruise!’”

Not only did Hoffman recognize him, but he also invited Cruise and Cass to see Death of a Salesman, then welcomed them backstage after the show. 

What happened next sounds like a scene from a movie itself. 

“As I was leaving he said, ‘I want to make a movie with you.’ And I said, ‘That would be nice, sir,’” Cruise said with a grin. “And that’s what happened, and basically a year later he sent Rain Man.”

It turns out, when it comes to career-defining moments, a little sibling nudge might just be the secret sauce—even if it starts with some takeout and a lot of reluctance.