Jim Carrey Once Tried To Get A Role In An '80s Tom Cruise Flop

In the late 1980s, a young comedian named Jim Carrey became a TV star on the sketch comedy series "In Living Color" alongside the likes of David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans, and her three brothers, Keenan, Shawn, and Marlon. Eventually, Carrey became a massive movie star, becoming one of the most popular stars of the 1990s. But what some may not know is that he had a movie career before "In Living Color," and had auditioned for a leading role in an iconic '80s fantasy that flopped in cinemas: Ridley Scott's "Legend."

As detailed by Vulture, Jim Carrey auditioned for the role of Jack, which Scott was having difficulty casting. The director was also considering several other names, who, like Carrey, had yet to hit it big. This included a young Robert Downey Jr. — still a few years away from his breakout role in "Less Than Zero" — and Johnny Depp, who'd only just made his big screen debut with a part in "Nightmare on Elm Street," and before his small-screen success in "21 Jump Street."

Ultimately, of course, Scott went with Tom Cruise — the biggest of the three names — who was then coming off a pair of big-screen successes, with "The Outsiders" and "Risky Business" proving he had the makings of a Hollywood leading man. Though Carrey didn't get the part, he did get his cinematic '80s moment with roles in "Earth Girls are Easy," "Peggy Sue Got Married," and the vampire comedy "Once Bitten" — three Jim Carrey flops that are still worth watching.

Fighting for the role of Jack in "Legend" was no easy feat for the young Tom Cruise, who had to beat out a number of actors we all recognize today as Hollywood heavyweights. He took a long time to sign on, too, but the film unfortunately didn't turn out to be the career-making role that he might have hoped, as it bombed at the box office, only becoming a fan-favorite years later. And after the release of "Top Gun," Cruise even expressed regret for the role.

"I'll never want to do another picture like that again," Cruise told Rolling Stone. As detailed by the outlet, the film wasn't an easy production, with difficulties ranging from creative differences to massive setbacks that included a set destroyed by a fire, and it ultimately consumed a full year of the actor's life. Despite its success with audiences today, where it enjoys cult classic status, Cruise says he felt like little more than a cog in the machine, or as he put it, "another color in a Ridley Scott painting."

Of course, the experience on "Legend" taught Cruise one important lesson, and one he still heeds today: That creative control is just as important as his performance on screen. So when it came time for "Top Gun" (which was directed by Ridley Scott's brother Tony), he wanted input on the script. "After coming off 'Legend', I just wanted to make sure that everything was gonna go the way we talked about it."