Though Tom Cruise never appeared in American Psycho, his presence still lingered behind the scenes—and even shaped the film’s chilling protagonist.
Director Mary Harron recently revealed in an interview with Letterboxd that while Cruise was originally included in Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 novel and considered for the adaptation, casting him was always a long shot. “We love the Tom Cruise thing, but we would never have gotten Tom Cruise to be in such a heinous production as American Psycho!” she joked.
Still, Cruise had an unexpected influence. Harron shared that Christian Bale, who portrayed the murderous yuppie Patrick Bateman, took cues from Cruise’s public persona. “Bale called me and said, ‘I saw Tom Cruise on a talk show last night, and there was something about that friendliness, with almost nothing behind the eyes.’”
In the original novel, Bateman and Cruise live in the same Manhattan apartment building. The actor even appears in one memorable elevator scene, where a flustered Bateman misnames Cruise’s film Cocktail as Bartender. The awkward encounter ends with Cruise bluntly pointing out, “Uh… your nose is bleeding.”
Though American Psycho diverged from the novel in many ways, that moment—and the theme behind it—endured. Harron explains it reflects Bateman’s fragile ego, adding, “He’s dorky and ridiculous beneath the façade.”
Bale’s performance remains iconic, but Cruise’s unintentional contribution might be one of the film’s most unexpected legacies.