Paul Newman was one of the most popular and greatly loved actors of the 50’ and 60’ era. The actor has given numerous box office hits like The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Towering Inferno, Hombre, The Verdict, The Long, Hot Summer, Exodus, and others. The actor has given some iconic movies in his career, which people rewatched with fondness. The star played many famous roles in the movies, however, there was one film that the actor hated.
Tom Cruise’s idol, Newman utterly disliked one of his movies and went to extreme limits to stop people from watching its airing on the television.
Paul Newman Paid for Ads to Prevent People from Watching His Film
Newman made his silver screen debut with the 1954 film The Silver Chalice. The film was a biblical epic in which he played the role of Basil, a Greek artist who had to build a silver chalice for the Holy Grail. The star cast included Virginia Mayo, Pier Angeli, and Jack Palance.
The actor hated his film and tried to prevent people from watching it. In 1963, the film, The Silver Chalice aired for a few nights. Hence, Paul Newman paid $1,200 to take out ads in local newspapers, in which he urged people not to watch the film. According to the biography Paul Newman: A Life by Shawn Levy, Newman wrote in the ads,
“Paul Newman apologizes every night this week—Channel 9.”
However, the ads only increased people’s interest in the film and received an unexpected number of views.
The actor shared about the film in his biography, Paul Newman: A Life,
“I was horrified and traumatized when I saw the film. I was sure my acting career had begun and ended with the same picture. It was god-awful. It’s kind of a distinction to say I was in the worst film to be made in the entirety of the 1950s.”
He also shared later in a New York magazine interview,
“That I survived that picture is a testament to something. All I had in that movie was those short cocktail dresses. Nero [Jacques Aubuchon] got to wear all the long stuff with the beads. My legs aren’t exactly my best feature.”
Newman was named the Most Promising Newcomer—Male at the Golden Globes. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in cinematography and score categories.
Also read-“Luck recognized me”: Paul Newman Said Rival James Dean Could’ve Never Beaten His Starpower
Tom Cruise Idolizes Paul Newman
Tom Cruise has always been a fan of Paul Newman’s work and considered him his mentor. The biggest action star of the industry, Cruise worked with his idol in the film, The Color of Money. In Martin Scorsese’s film, he was a pool hustler Vincent Lauria, who Eddie ‘Fast Eddie’ Felson (Paul Newman) took under his wing.
However, the Top Gun star had earlier also auditioned for the role but could not crack the audition. He said,
“I auditioned for Harry & Son mostly because I wanted to meet Paul. I was nervous. Starting as a young actor, you want people to like you, you want people to like your work, you want to be accepted.”
The Color of Money was released in 1986.
Source- Independent
