When Jim Carrey Lost This Iconic Role To Tom Cruise In The 80s

Before Ace Ventura or The Mask made him a ’90s box office king, Jim Carrey almost suited up as a fantasy hero. But in a twist straight out of Hollywood legend, he lost the role to Tom Cruise before Cruise ever felt the need for speed. In the mid-1980s, Carrey was far from a marquee name. He was still grinding it out in stand-up clubs and landing small-screen gigs like The Duck Factory.

His big screen appearances included Once Bitten, a quirky vampire comedy from 1985, and bit roles in films like Peggy Sue Got Married and The Dead Pool. Charisma? Check. Range? Not quite Hollywood-approved. At least, not yet. Tom Cruise, meanwhile, was already heating up.

After breaking out in Risky Business and The Outsiders, he was seen as a rising heartthrob with blockbuster potential. By 1985, just before Top Gun shot him into superstardom, he landed a fantasy lead that could’ve gone to Carrey. That movie was Legend, Ridley Scott’s dark fantasy epic starring Cruise as Jack O’ the Green. But according to Vulture, Carrey had actually been in the running for the part. He wasn’t alone.

The shortlist reportedly included Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp, another pair of future stars still figuring things out. But Jim Carrey’s comedy roots worked against him. Studios didn’t see “heroic” in his slapstick DNA. It was a missed chance, for sure. But even Tom Cruise couldn’t save Legend at the box office.

Despite its dreamy visuals and Tim Curry’s chilling turn as the Lord of Darkness, the film flopped, making just $15 million against a $25 million budget. Still, it eventually found life as a cult classic, riding the wave of Cruise’s star power and fantasy film nostalgia.

Would Legend have hit differently with Jim Carrey leading the charge? Hard to say. His career path veered wildly from fantasy epic to cartoon chaos. And once 1994 arrived, it didn’t matter. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber turned him into a comedy juggernaut nearly overnight.

By the time Tom Cruise was locking down Mission: Impossible, Carrey was earning $20 million per film and pushing into darker, weirder terrain with The Cable Guy and Man on the Moon. One played the slick action hero. The other Hollywood’s most unpredictable wildcard.

Still, Carrey circled back to fantasy later. In 2020, he scored a surprise hit with Sonic the Hedgehog, playing the chaotic Dr. Robotnik with full vintage energy. It was the kind of unhinged villain role he was born to play. Fans called it a comeback. Carrey just looked like he was having fun again.

From almost-fairy tale hero to real-life comedic legend, Jim Carrey’s path was anything but traditional. Losing Legend might’ve stung back then. But looking back? He didn’t need a sword and cape to carve out his own cult following.

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