Jerry Maguire had all of us at "hello," and though it has been 20 years since the film's release, the endlessly quotable flick hasn't lost its appeal — particularly for one of its stars. As evidenced by a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Renée Zellweger still adores Jerry Maguire — both the film and the star who played the title character.
The romance between Tom Cruise and Zellweger remained fictional, but the actress still has a lot of love for her former co-star. Cruise may have been the movie's big name, but he was hardly a diva on set: Zellweger revealed to ET that he was more than willing to help her succeed on screen, even if it meant staying until 4 a.m. in order to do off-camera work on Zellweger's scenes.
"He's a really good person. He's a very, very good person," she said of the Mission Impossible star.
This is far from the first time Zellweger has gushed about Cruise — the actress famously mentioned him in her 2003 Oscar acceptance speech for Cold Mountain, thanking him for "showing [her] that kindness and success are not mutually exclusive." (Incidentally, Zellweger's co-star in that movie was Nicole Kidman, Cruise's ex-wife, whom he divorced in 2001.)
The feeling is mutual for Cruise. The actor told ET that meeting Zellweger for the first time prior to shooting Jerry Maguire was "just magic," and that she held a "raw talent." Considering Jerry Maguire launched Zellweger's career (she currently has one Oscar and two additional nods), it's clear that Cruise's premonitions were correct.
As for that cast reunion? Nothing is in the works right now, but Zellweger is totally on board should the occasion arise. In the meantime, it seems she and Cruise still have one another's backs.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT