Would any actor today pass up the chance to work on a film with Tom Cruise? Jake Johnson almost did. That was, of course, after he'd already spent a few years working on 'New Girl.'
By that point, Jake was reasonably famous, having starred alongside Zooey Deschanel for multiple seasons, so he didn't necessarily need the payday. And as moviegoers now know, the 2017 'Mummy' film wound up tanking -- and the entire series of spinoffs featuring Tom Cruise was tabled.
The thing is, Jake says he doesn't regret having worked on the project, even though it wasn't necessarily a boost for his resume.
Jake Johnson Almost Said No To 'The Mummy'
When he first heard about the project, Jake jumped at the chance to work with Tom Cruise before even reading the script for 'The Mummy.' After thoroughly reading what he'd signed up for, Johnson got cold feet.
As he explained in an interview, he realized that he'd be working with Tom a lot, and working with Tom meant Cruise doing all kinds of crazy stunts. So, of course, Jake assumed he'd be doing stunts too.
That was enough to have him nope out of the feature altogether, but it wasn't that simple. Johnson explained that he was told he'd have to turn Tom Cruise down in person, which he just wasn't able to do.
Then he sort of became a fan himself, Jake elaborated, while chatting up the actor he calls "the wildest guy I have ever met." Hanging out with Tom revealed that doing the film would be an experience of some sort, even if it wasn't the type of project Jake was super enthusiastic about. Because Johnson said, he doesn't do stunts.
Jake Was Reluctant To Do Stunts For The Film
While Tom Cruise's penchant for death-defying stunts is a well-known piece of his persona, Jake Johnson is like the antithesis of a Tom Cruise action actor. Tom has actually hurt himself doing many different stunts, and not all of them involved high-rise buildings or sheer rock faces.
Injuries don't stop Tom Cruise from getting back on the high wire, though, and even as he's gotten older, he hasn't slowed down at all.
Johnson, however, is not ashamed to admit that he's a coward. Plus, he didn't need the gig, so he didn't want to risk life and limb for the paycheck. Some razzing from Tom about just how scary his stunts might be (sitting on a couch, gasp!) helped put it in perspective for Jake, though.
Ultimately, though he was worried about being a faceless "fellow actor" of Tom's and, by chance, dying on set, Johnson agreed to do the film.
'The Mummy' 2017 Completely Bombed The Box Office
Unfortunately for Tom, Jake, and everyone else involved in the film -- which was meant to be part of a multi-movie franchise -- 'The Mummy' 2017 tanked.
Fortunately for Jake, he returned to 'New Girl' after 'The Mummy' wrapped, and the film didn't seem to hurt his chances in Hollywood at all. In fact, Jake's acting resume picked up quite a bit after 'New Girl.'
He's since been in music videos, TV series, voiced Peter B. Parker in 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' and has a new TV series coming up, per IMDb. In fact, 'The Mummy' was barely a blip on the radar for Johnson. That's not how he sees it, though.
In fact, Jake has embraced all of his roles, including his time as Peter B. Parker, pot belly and all.
Jake Johnson Loved Working With Tom Cruise
Jake only had intensely positive things to say about Tom in his interview; he called Tom "super funny" and "a really wild guy," but there was another side to the experience, too. Jake elaborated that "he really was a joy to work with" -- stunts and all.
In fact, Johnson learned a bit about himself while working on the movie and, of course, falling from three-story buildings. In another interview, Johnson confessed he learned the difference between "injured" (can't go on) and "hurt" (can go another round) on the set of 'The Mummy,' and it was Tom Cruise that taught him the lesson.
It was a vastly different time than Johnson had working on 'New Girl,' for obvious reasons! Though his foray into action films wouldn't last, that's clearly OK by Jake. He's just glad to have had the experience, lived to tell the tale, and moved on to other well-paying gigs that don't involve risking life and limb.