Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are both major names in Hollywood, with the former being one of the biggest movie stars of all time. Cruise is widely known for his work in the Mission: Impossible franchise and the two Top Gun movies, as well as for films like Jerry Maguire (1996) and Risky Business (1983). He can next be seen in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning this spring, his potentially last time playing superspy Ethan Hunt.
Foxx, on the other hand, is known not just for being a movie star, but also for being a comedian and an R&B singer. Ray (2004) marked one of Foxx’s first major leading movie roles, and he ended up winning the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as musician Ray Charles. Foxx is just as well known for his role in Django Unchained (2012), in addition to a 2004 thriller that saw him starring opposite Cruise.
Jamie Foxx Recalls A Dangerous Car Problem While Filming Collateral
He & Tom Cruise Were Having Trouble Staying Awake
Foxx reveals that he worried about killing Cruise while filming Collateral
due to a major car issue. Directed by Michael Mann, the 2004 thriller features Cruise starring as Vincent, a hitman who takes cab driver Max (Foxx) hostage as he embarks on a night of murders. Collateral was a hit, and it ultimately earned Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Fox and for Best Film Editing. The film features extended sequences that take place within Max’s cab, and these vehicle scenes seemingly weren’t without their dangers.
Collateral grossed $220 million worldwide and has an 86% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Foxx recalls one incident while filming Collateral in which exhaust fumes were being accidentally sent into their vehicle. According to the star, this made both him and Cruise very sleepy, and he worried about killing his costar while behind the wheel. Check out Foxx’s recollection of events below:
The car that’s pulling us, the exhaust was somehow floating into the car. And I had slept maybe 12, 13 hours because it’s Tom Cruise. Soon as I get in there, it’s [mimes dozing off]. I said, “What the hell? Why am I sleeping?” And the director, “Wake your ass!” I said, “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
And they found out that the exhaust was… so they had to switch it around ‘cause I was snoozin’. You know how you fall asleep and don’t know you asleep, and then it hit you? Yeah, Tom, Top Gun. He was asleep too.
We shot that on video. It was in film. So Michael Mann loves to do long takes. I’m driving the cab, Tom’s in the back, and we’re just driving, but the takes were long. And we shot at night. So imagine five in the morning, and I was like, “Whew, I hope I don’t kill the Top Gun.”
What Collateral Meant For Jamie Foxx & Tom Cruise
The Michael Mann Film Was A Success
Cruise was already a pretty major movie star when Collateral came out, but the film marked an interesting departure for him as an actor. Although Vincent is charismatic and one of the lead characters, he’s also undoubtedly the film’s central villain, which was a kind of character Cruise hadn’t played before. For Foxx, Collateral hit theaters only months before Ray, and its critical and commercial success helped to make 2004 a seminal year for the actor.
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Despite the movie’s success, Foxx and Cruise have yet to work together again. Both of their careers have gone in different directions, with Cruise embracing his action hero persona, while Foxx, in addition to starring in action movies, has leaned into comedies and dramas. Clearly, though, both Foxx and Cruise had an experience on Collateral that they’re sure not to forget.
Source: Vanity Fair
Directed by Michael Mann, the crime thriller Collateral features Tom Cruise as a hitman hired to take out witnesses before a big trial and Jamie Foxx as the cab driver who unwittingly becomes his accomplice. With Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem in its cast, the 2004 film received critical acclaim for its direction, performances, and suspenseful plot.
- Release Date
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August 6, 2004
- Runtime
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120 minutes
- Director
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Michael Mann
- Writers
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Stuart Beattie
- Budget
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$65 million
- Studio(s)
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DreamWorks Distribution
- Distributor(s)
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DreamWorks Distribution