More than 35 years after the film Cocktail made its theatrical debut, Gina Gershon revealed she almost broke her co-star Tom Cruise’s nose while filming the romantic comedy-drama’s intimate scene.
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While appearing on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday, Aug. 7, the actress recalled working with Cruise, noting that his first wife Mimi Rogers was always on set.
“He had just gotten married, and his wife was very present,” Gershon shared. “[She] said, ‘Hi, nice to meet you.’”
Although Rogers was on set constantly, Gina Gershon and Tom Cruise continued their acting work without any issues.
“But we did kiss as much as we could,” Gina recounted. “Every scene it was like, ‘Should we kiss in the scene? Oh yeah, I think we should kiss.’ It was my first love scene ever.”
When Cohen asked if Cruise “took care” of her, she declared, “Totally. He was even a gentleman. I told him, at one point, he starts off under the covers, and I told him I was very ticklish, I said, ‘No, no, don’t ever do that.”
However, Tom Cruise ignored her and continued to tickle her. That was when she almost took out his nose.
“In one take, I have to say, I think he wanted a reaction, and he grabbed my stomach, and I kneed him right in the nose,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my god, I just broke Tom Cruise’s nose.’ He’s like, ‘No, no, you told me.’ I was like, ‘I’m so sorry,’ he was like, ‘No, it was my fault.’”
She then added, “He was so protective over me. He was great.”
Fellow ‘Cocktail’ Co-Star Elisabeth Shue Once Revealed Tom Cruise Saved Her Life on the Film’s Set
Proving to be protective of his co-stars, Tom Cruise was deemed a hero after saving co-star Elisabeth Shue from almost walking into a “deadly” spinning helicopter blade on the Cocktail set.
According to The Sun, Bill Bennet, the cinematographer for Cocktails, shared how he witnessed the terrifying situation. “We were filming the scene from a helicopter, where Tom and Elisabeth are riding horses along the beach,” Bennett said. “We were shooting film, but I had a video recorder in the helicopter to record the camera’s video tap images.”
Bennett continued by stating, “After a couple takes, the pilot would land the helicopter on the beach, and Tom and Elisabeth would come over to watch the shot recordings and get notes from the director. The only monitor was at my operating position in the left front seat of the helicopter.”
Bennett further explained that due to the helicopter being on the group for a couple of minutes, the pilot would let the engine run with the rotors turning. “It was also quite loud, and you had to shout to be heard over the noise of the engine,” he shared. “You have to know, when you are working around helicopters, that the area at the back of the helicopter, where the tail rotor is spinning, is deadly. The rotor is invisible when it is spinning, and if you walk into it, it will kill you instantly. It is a totally ‘no go’ area when working around helicopters.”
However, Cruise and Shues came by and Shue didn’t notice that the engine was on. Before she came in contact with the rotor, Cruise stepped in. “He lunged after her, but only was able grab her legs, tackling her to the ground. He rolled her over, dragging her at the same time, and you could see the momentary anger on her face while she was yelling “Why did you do that?’”
She eventually found out why.