The Agency's Posts

Review: Kevin Bacon helps make 'The Following' worth following: The actor plays a former FBI agent tracking an escaped serial killer (James Purefoy). It can be....
Read More>

'The Americans' -- From Russia in love?: FX's "The Americans" was inspired by a true-life incident: The arrest in 2010 of 10....
Read More>

Jennifer Lawrence, comfortable in her skin: Jennifer Lawrenceslides into a booth at the casually elegant Culina restaurant at the Four....
Read More>

Justin Timberlake releases new single, announces upcoming album: The wait -- all three days of it -- is over. After posting acryptic video messageon his....
Read More>

Golden Globes analysis: 'Argo' shakes up Oscar best picture race: 'Argo's' big wins at the Golden Globes shifts some attention in the Oscar best picture race from '
Read More>

PBS chief defends delayed 'Downton Abbey' run in U.S.: The chief ofPBShas a message for"Downton Abbey"fans: I'm not trying to make your....
Read More>

Golden Globes 2013: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler raise the bar: The co-hosts bring their A-game to the show. Can the Oscars meet their standards? PoorSeth....
Read More>

The real magic in 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' is the comedy: 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' stars Steve Carell and Jim Carrey as magicians. Its climax....
Read More>

After the Oscar nominations comes the ultimate popularity contest: Critic's Notebook: The Oscar Awards are all about politics and personalities, and 'Lincoln's'....
Read More>

Oscar nominations 2013: 'Lincoln' leads field; surprises, snubs seen: Only in Hollywood could a tiny, low-budget tale of a little girl named Hushpuppy who lives in....
Read More>

Nicki Minaj to get tough on 'American Idol': Nicki Minajis tired of singing judges who are "overtly passive." So she's ready to....
Read More>

Al Pacino's secret history with 'Phil Spector': A character likePhil Spectormust make quite an impression on all who meet him, right? Well,....
Read More>

Winter TCA: Will NBC's "Smash" finally be a smash in Act Two?: NBC's"Smash"which mixed music, colorful production numbers anddramawhile telling the....
Read More>
'Rock of Ages': Tom Cruise tries something really scary: singing
Posted on: 11/08/11
Share/Save/Bookmark
 

Tom Cruise risked life and limb filming action sequences at the top of the world's tallest building for "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," but he said that wasn't any scarier than the singing required for his first musical, the just-wrapped "Rock of Ages."

"They all have their risks," Cruise said with a laugh of playing rocker Stacee Jaxx in Adam Shankman's adaptation of the Tony-winning 2006 musical, which featured songs by jukebox heroes such as Bon Jovi, Styx, Journey and Pat Benatar. Among the tunes Cruise belts out in the film: "Pour Some Sugar on Me."

Shankman is coming off the foot-tapping success of "Hairspray," while Cruise, inspired by his dance-loving wife, Katie Holmes, is taking a true genre gamble even as he celebrates the 30th anniversary of his first screen appearances ("Endless Love" and "Taps" both came out in 1981). The action star said Holmes' influence is also why he added some memorable dance-floor moves to his Hollywood agent performance in "Tropic Thunder."  

"I had started dancing because I was inspired by my wife. She kept saying, 'You've got to do a musical sometime,' " Cruise said. "Kate's a dancer, so she would say, 'Let's go to dance class,' and she would take us and that's how I kind of came up with the idea of Les Grossman doing hip-hop. And then to take it to this level with this? It was really fun."

Shankman has said Cruise is a natural and has music in his genes thanks to an opera singer in his family tree. The filmmaker has shown a flair for the unexpected: Shankman pulled a signature performance from John Travolta in his gender-flipped role in "Hairspray." So perhaps "Rock of Ages" will be one of Cruise's acclaimed "experiment" roles, such as in "Magnolia," "Collateral" or the aforementioned "Tropic Thunder" -- even if the sight of the bare-chested, long-maned Cruise as Jaxx has already been jeered across the Internet.

The actor said he's just pumped to be working with Shankman.

"He's on fire," Cruise said. "What he accomplished with 'Hairspray' was amazing. My daughter has seen it 15 times and our whole family has watched it over and over and it's just enormously entertaining. To be able to hold that tone throughout is really something."

The cast of "Rock of Ages" also includes Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and much of the heavy lifting for the shoot was done in South Florida. Cruise said his singing and dancing work there was a different challenge than his "Mission: Impossible" job swinging out windows atop the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but in some ways more stressful.

"I was working on it when I was finishing 'Mission' and I was singing five hours a day and I was dancing five hours a day," Cruise said. "Adam said, 'Look, we're going to have a lot of fun,' and we really did.... I did six months preparing for the movie, and all my stunt training and all of those years doing that, it helped me with the choreography."

"Rock of Ages" hits theaters in June.

COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal