The first scene of Austin Powers: Goldmember might be one of the most iconic movie moments in recent memory. The film opens with all of our favorite characters from the franchise doing their usual bits. That is, until we see that each and every one of them has been spontaneously replaced with a more famous actor. Danny DeVito, Gwyneth Paltrow and disgraced former actor Kevin Spacey all participated in the hilarious parody of a parody. However, no actor was as famous as the man who “stole” the role of Austin Powers himself: Tom Cruise.
But how did Mr. Cruise get involved with the movie? And what were the requirements involved in his role? We have done some digging to understand what motivated the actor to take the hilarious cameo.
Getting Into Character
In his temporary role as Austin Powers, Mr. Cruise let go of his more typical action figure image and let loose. The actor got totally goofy in the spoof scene titled “Austinp****,” which for him meant wearing some totally ridiculous clothing. A 2002 report by The Guardian confirms that Mr. Cruise wore “false teeth, glasses and a wig” in order to play the part. The only question that remains is: why did he agree to do it?
While Mr. Cruise has not been very public about his choice to take the role, other members of the Austin Powers cast have been a bit more candid about their own experiences doing their cameo scenes. Katie Couric, in particular, has discussed what went down behind the scenes as well as some of the strategies that film production used to convince her to take the part. According to the newscaster, a major part of her decision was the franchise’s fame.
“Industry insiders (were) predicting Goldmember (would be) a smashing success,” Ms. Couric said in an NBC special focused on her role in the film, “So, of course, I was more than flattered when... Meyers asked me to make a cameo appearance in his epic franchise.”
It is impossible to confirm that Mr. Cruise felt as enthused as Ms. Couric did about participating in the movie. However, the newscaster did bring up an excellent point: the franchise was extremely popular. Based on the proven success of the Austin Powers movies, it is very likely that Mr. Cruise saw the cameo as a good move for his career.
A Special Kiss
Another interesting fact about Mr. Cruise’s time on Goldmember is that he got to kiss cinema legend Gwyneth Paltrow in their cameo scene. And, if the actress has anything to say about their chemistry, it’s that sparks basically went flying the minute that their lips touched.
In 2011, Ms. Paltrow opened up about that firey kiss, according to a report by Daily Mail. A full eight years after she and Mr. Cruise acted out that onstage make out scene, the actress could not stop talking about what really went down. “He was an amazing kisser,” Ms. Paltrow said of her co-star.
Was the kiss at all the reason that Mr. Cruise signed up for the cameo? It’s hard to say for sure. But we certainly hope that the actor loved the experience as much as Ms. Paltrow did!