One of Johnny Depp’s best performances was in Edward Scissorhands playing the title role of a humanoid whose inventor passed away before giving him hands instead of scissor blades. If you can believe it, Mission: Impossible’s Tom Cruise was one of the many actors in Hollywood lining up to be in the Tim Burton movie. Reports have come out that got the internet talking about Cruise dropping out of Edward Scissorhands over bathroom concerns, but there’s actually more to it than that.
Edward Scissorhands was a big deal for both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. Before the gothic fantasy movie, Burton only had Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman under his belt. Depp also had the reputation of being a teen star due to his starring role in the 21 Jump Street series and the rom-com film Cry-Baby. But after Edward Scissorhands grossed four times over its budget at the box office, it was clear this would be one of many of Depp’s performances in a Tim Burton movie.
After reports say Tom Cruise walked away from the role due to bathroom concerns, what’s the full story? Check out why exactly the role of the unfinished humanoid wasn’t meant for the A-lister:
Why Tom Cruise Reportedly Dropped Out of Edward Scissorhands
It’s hard to believe that Tom Cruise almost starred in Edward Scissorhands. That would have been quite a unique role for the action star. Leave it to Johnny Depp, who ultimately ended up with the lead role, to confirm in the upcoming Tim Burton docuseries (via Indiewire) that Cruise really was in the running for the 1990 flick:
[Cruise] was not far away from actually playing Edward Scissorhands — true story.
With Tom Cruise being so close to donning the scissor-blade hands, you can’t help but wonder what happened. In a post thread about actors who’ve been turned down, dropped out of or were replaced in movies, Film Updates recently answered why Cruise allegedly dropped out of Edward Scissorhands on X. Based on the post, the Top Gun actor reportedly kept asking a lot of questions to Tim Burton that he couldn’t answer, like how the title character used the restroom.
I have to admit that now I’m starting to wonder how Edward Scissorhands could use the bathroom. That toilet paper wouldn’t stand a chance! But it proves that while it may be funny to think about the answers to those questions, it’s not necessary to get answers if there’s no bathroom scene in the movie.
The Full Story of Why Tom Cruise Turned Down Edward Scissorhands
While it’s true that Tom Cruise asked questions about how Edward Scissorhands was able to use the bathroom, that was only part of it. Caroline Thomas, who wrote the film’s screenplay, spoke to Far Out Magazine about what else the Risky Business star was asking about the lead role during his meeting with Tim Burton:
He was asking the kind of questions about the character that can’t be asked for this character! Part of the delicacy of the story was not answering questions like, ‘How does he go to the bathroom? How did he live without eating all those years?’ Tom Cruise was certainly unwilling to be in the movie without those questions being answered.
Clearly Tom Cruise was having trouble understanding Tim Burton’s vision. Gary Oldman also didn’t understand Edward Scissorhands when he read the script as well. Another bone Cruise picked about Edward Scissorhands was the film’s sad ending. If you remember, the humanoid and his love interest Kim didn’t end up together since Edward went into hiding after killing Jim in self-defense. We see that Edward spends his days carving ice sculptures of the time he spent with his lost love. As melancholy as that ending may be, it fits in well with Tim Burton’s deep theme of being an outsider in a picturesque suburb that struggles to accept what's considered weird.
Even though Edward Scissorhands and Tom Cruise weren’t a cinematic match, Johnny Depp did a spectacular job conveying a childlike innocence to make the role sympathetic and relatable to audiences. Through collaborating with Tim Burton, the two were able to create a unique character that audiences would remember for decades. Plus, it looks like Depp didn’t care how his character used the bathroom. You can relive Burton's masterpiece with your Disney+ subscription.
