Cuba Gooding Jr’s father ‘asked Tom Cruise if he was gay’
Cuba Gooding Jr. has said he “almost fainted” when his father asked actor Tom Cruise whether he was gay on the set of Jerry Maguire.
The American actor is to appear on Graham Norton’s show tomorrow night and has told the presenter about his experience working with Cruise on the 1996 hit film.
He describes the awkward moment when his father arrived at the studios and tackled Cruise directly on the gay rumours which have dogged the actor for years.
Gooding says: “He gave Tom Cruise a hug and said, ‘I love you man. Now seriously, are you gay or not?’ I almost fainted and thought, please Lord, let me disappear. Tom just laughed and said ‘no’.”
Gooding went on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in that film.
Be he said he also wished people would stop saying his character’s signature line “Show me the money”.
He added: “It doesn’t go away. I get it all the time. I wish I had a wand that would make people disappear whenever they say it.
“It’s hard especially when some drunk in a bar asks and finally you say it and he says, ‘No, say it like you said it in the movie!’”
Before Jerry Maguire, Gooding had been in A Few Good Men with Cruise. The Graham Norton show airs on Fridays on BBC2.
