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That Time Police Came While Cuba Gooding Jr. Did an Iconic Jerry Maguire Scene

When Tom Cruise is ready to film, you film

By Chris Harnick Jan 24, 2017 4:00 PMTags
Cuba Gooding Jr., Inside the Actors StudioAnthony Behar/Bravo Media

Cuba Gooding Jr. will show James Lipton the money. And by that, obviously, we mean spill the tea on his career when he stops by Inside the Actors Studio on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. on Bravo.

The Oscar winner will dish all things The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Jerry Maguire and more, including getting his start as a young break-dancer in Los Angeles and how he convinced Ryan Murphy he was the only one right for the part of O.J. Simpson. Plus, look for Gooding Jr. to dish on what it's like working with other A-list talent such as Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, Robert DeNiro and Sarah Paulson.

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In the clip above, Gooding Jr. tells Lipton about a particular crazy time shooting Jerry Maguire, that started with him being told Cruise needed to film the phone call scene now, when he wasn't on set, and ended in an interesting situation.

Gooding Jr. was getting ready to head to set when his assistant informed him they were getting Cruise ready to shoot. Cruise showed up early and was ready to go, so Gooding Jr. had to do his part in the car.

"At the time I lived in the Valley and I had to do the 30-minute drive to Sony Studios, K? Long story short, Tom doesn't do one take. Tom does four, five, seven, 20 takes," he said. "And I'll never forget it like it was yesterday."

Gooding Jr. had made it to the soundstage, but was still doing take after take in the car outside, with his assistant standing outside. "What happened was…the police showed at the lot because there's this angry black man yelling in his Suburban outside a soundstage, threatening to kill people…there's a crowd around my Suburban while I'm doing that scene."

And the rest? It's film history.

Inside the Actors Studio airs Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. on Bravo.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)