Tom Hanks | Jerry Maguire – Jerry Maguire

Some of the most distinguished actors of Hollywood have the talent of playing a role so well that they truly make it their own. That being said, there are times that writers would already have an actor in mind that would effectively portray their character. Such was the case for the character Jerry Maguire. This iconic character is a slick sports agent who was portrayed by Tom Cruise. It became one of Cruise’s most memorable roles.

However, Cameron Crowe, the writer-director of Jerry Maguire, had a different actor in mind during his writing process. He initially wanted Tom Hanks to play the role. Unfortunately for Crowe, Hanks was in the middle of directing his movie, The Thing You Do, during that time. He eventually went with Cruise, and to his credit, it was a wise choice. Cruise gave one of his most memorable performances and also had the commercial success to go along with it. The movie grossed $153.6 million in the US alone.