Gina Gershon still remembers her first sex scene turning into rather risky business.
The actor jumped at the chance to star opposite Tom Cruise in “Cocktail” (1988) at only 25 years old, but revealed on “Watch What Happens Live” that things didn’t go quite as planned while filming her “first love scene” — when she nearly broke Cruise’s nose.
“He was even a gentleman,” she said Thursday. “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,’ and in one take, I think he wanted a reaction and he grabbed my stomach — and I kneed him right in the nose.”
“I was like, ’Oh my god, I just broke Tom Cruise’s nose!” Gershon continued.
Gershon was rightfully nervous. The ticklish actor had yet to establish herself as a major talent and “Cocktail” was only her fifth credited movie role, while Cruise was already a bona fide movie star with films like “Risky Business” and “The Color of Money” to his name.
Gershon shared Thursday that Cruise took the hit on the proverbial chin, however, and recalled him interrupting her apology: “He’s like, ‘No, no, you told me.’ I was like, ‘I’m so sorry,’ [and] he’s like, ’No, it’s my fault.’ And he was so protective over me.”
“Cocktail” was veritably torched by film critics and audiences alike but has since become an arguable cult classic. Cruise, who had already found box office success with “Top Gun” two years prior, went on to become one of the most renowned action stars of his time.
Left: Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press; Right: Evan Agostini/Invision/Associated Press
The fact that he nearly broke his nose while simulating sex on solid ground — rather than during all of the death-defying airplane, base-jumping and helicopter-piloting stunts across the eight “Mission: Impossible” films he’s helmed since — surely isn’t lost on fans.
Gershon recalled focusing on something else entirely throughout production, meanwhile, and candidly admitted that her chemistry with Cruise was more than mere acting when asked Thursday whether they “hooked up” while filming.
“Do you think I would actually answer that?” Gershon cheekily replied.
“He had just gotten married,” she continued, adding: “But we did kiss as much as we could. Every scene it was like, ‘Should we kiss in this scene? Oh yeah, I think we should kiss in this scene.’”