The studio objected to one story detail involving Tom Cruise and Demi Moore’s characters in A few good peopleThe actress reveals. Directed by Rob Reiner with a script written by Aaron Sorkin based on his stage play of the same name, the 1992 legal drama follows two military lawyers tasked with defending two Marines accused of murdering a fellow Marine. Cruise and Moore star in lead roles as the lawyers, with the cast also including Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollack, JT Walsh, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland.
Appear on Varietys series in which actors are asked lines from their most famous movies, Moore revealed that the studio objected to one story detail involving her and Cruise’s characters A few good people. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 10:00 minute mark:
Moore revealed that the studio objected to her and Cruise’s characters not having any romantic involvement A few good people. The actress remembers a conversation Sorkin had with a studio executive, resulting in a famous quote from the screenwriter. Read Moore’s full comments below:
Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner really stuck to their guns about not making the relationship between Tom’s character and my character have a romantic involvement, that they kept it platonic and it was a fight. Aaron Sorkin shared that he had a conversation with a studio executive, whose reaction to me not having anything romantic at the time was why I was cast. This is a true story you can go look it up. Aaron Sorkin quote.
A few good people are better off without a romance between Tom Cruise and Demi Moore’s characters
Aaron Sorkin’s story focuses on legal drama and moral questions
in A few good peopleCruise plays Lieutenant Daniel Caffee, a Navy lawyer, while Moore plays his superior, Lieutenant Commander Joan Galloway, also a Navy lawyer. While the two work closely together on a military case, their relationship is strictly professional. Sorkin’s story focuses instead on the larger legal drama and moral questions surrounding the court-martial of two Marines accused of murder, rather than any romantic subplot between the two lawyers.
In her notes, Moore sings a famous quote from Sorkin Regarding the lack of romantic involvement between Cruise and Moore’s characters in A few good people. The screenwriter was given a note from a studio executive who asked, “If Tom Cruise and Demi Moore aren’t going to sleep with each other, why is Demi Moore a woman?“Sorkin responded with what he thought was a”Obvious as it is“answer,”Women have other purposes than sleeping with Tom Cruise.“
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Considering decades of Hollywood tradition, studio executives and audiences in the early 1990s might have expected a romance to develop between Cruise and Moore’s characters in A few good people. However, Sorkin’s stage play and adapted screenplay wisely avoid this clichéd trope and focus on the complex moral and ethical questions involved in the case of two Marines accused of murder. By keeping the relationship between Cruise and Moore’s characters strictly professional, A few good people It remains a classic court drama with a modern twist.
Source: Variety