LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As Johnny Depp is synonymous with his character Jack Sparrow from ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, the 59-year-old star is also synonymous with the character of Edward Scissorhands from the 1990 movie of the same name. But do you know, the ‘Mission Impossible’ star Tom Cruise, 60, almost bagged the iconic role in the $86 million dollar movie but lost the opportunity due to his inquisitive nature.
As it turns out, Tim Burton’s original choice for the eponymous humanoid character with a pair of scissors in place of hands was Johnny Depp. While during that time, Cruise was a better-known actor, Depp was known for perfectly essaying eccentric and quirky characters. Even though Burton’s choice was Depp, at the insistence of the studio 20th Century Fox, he decided to meet Cruise. However, as you have guessed right, the meeting wasn’t fruitful as otherwise, the end result would have been different.
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The predominantly gothic fantasy director wrote in his book, ‘Burton on Burton’, about the decision of not choosing Cruise, "He certainly wasn't my ideal, but I talked to him. He was interesting, but I think that it worked out for the best. A lot of questions came up,” reports Insider.
‘You can't ask questions like that’
While Burton refrained from going into further details of the meeting, the film’s screenwriter, Caroline Thompson showed the light on the matter. In an interview with The Insider she was quoted as saying, "In his interview with Tim, he asked how Edward went to the bathroom. If you start asking those questions, the whole thing falls apart. You can't ask questions like that. If you ask questions like that, you're f***ed. You've missed the metaphor, you've missed the point."
She further added, "He was asking the kind of questions about the character that can’t be asked for this character!" explaining, "Part of the delicacy of the story was not answering questions like: ‘How does he go to the bathroom? How did he live without eating all those years?'” reports Daily Express.
Thompson also opined that Tom Cruise wanted to change the ending of the story to a happier one, which put the final nail in the coffin as the melancholic ending was what Burton originally envisioned.
‘I did not realize what an icon Edward is’
Indeed, Depp perfectly understood the assignment as he developed the character of Edward along with Tim Burton. Thompson also lauded the film that would later go on to become a canonical piece of art for the disabled community as Depp, through his portrayal of the nuanced character brought out the discourse of otherness and inclusion perfectly on screen. A character, that spoke only about 150 words in the film, left the audience awestruck by emotive expressions. As Thompson said to Insider, "I did not realize what an icon Edward is for the disabled community and how much confidence and comfort and clarity about themselves he gave many people,” before adding, "I started to cry," as she realized the impact the film had on the stigmatized community.
She explained, "How touching can that be? People who are suffering otherness that is so visual, and people are so cruel, to have been a support was a beautiful feeling. That's been one of the great joys of having contributed him to the culture," reports Insider.