MovieChat Forums > American Made (2017) Discussion > Barry Seal was a fat guy but casting ext...

Barry Seal was a fat guy but casting extremely fit Tom Cruise

posted 8 years ago by mustsilm
13 replies | jump to latest

Here is actually image of Barry Seal from the 1980s:
https://cdn1.lockerdome.com/uploads/84e848732b95f131ba9659d9060ce15e24dbd44bce538a79dd28cf8bc15339b0_large

Brendan Gleeson would have been a dead ringer for this.

You just cant ignore these type of details. The guy was fat. Tom looks skinny even on the first photos from the shooting:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2VmNjAxMzYtMmNlYS00ODI1LTk2MDItZGM4ZDUyMTgzNTg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTg4NDQ4NDY@._V1_.jpg

Why didnt Tom at least make an effort to gain some weight?

[–] lmtopeka-1 8 years ago

I was laughing see Tom Cruise as Barry Seal. I know you can't get an actor to look exactly like the person they are portraying but Tom Cruise portraying Barry Seal is like casting a movie about Rosie O'Donnell with Sandra Bullock playing her.

[–] I_Like_Turtle_s 8 years ago

I guess they figured his weight had little to do with the story they were trying to tell. And hardly anyone would have a clue about how fat the real Seal was so they can get away with it too.

[–] hesapooka 8 years ago

is it just me or are people complaining about the most trivial things about movies today?

Like for The Mummy they're complaining that while the woman who plays the Mummy is African she doesn't look dark skinned African lol.

[–] Stratego (30738) 4 years ago

That's NOT AT ALL the same.

And weight is not a trivial difference, especially not in the case of Seal. The guy was obese.

[–] hesapooka 8 years ago

LOL who cares. This whole complain about everything about movies is getting out of hand.

[–] WingsFan (3) 7 years ago

Actors playing the part of real people are always more attractive

[–] WingsFan (3) 7 years ago

Tom is not skinny , but point taken

[–] tricksoftrade (82) 7 years ago

Hollywood knows that people do not want to see overweight people on screen, especially in a lead actor. The effect of pre-release screening interviews. Remember, their job it to sell tickets.

Just look at your average commercial. Maybe 5 percent (if that) are overweight.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 7 years ago

Brendan Gleeson is a good call but not a Hollywood A-lister like Tom Cruise, luckily I didn’t know what Barry Seal looked like before viewing the film, so I enjoyed American Made and Tom’s performance, BUT if I’d known what Barry Seal looked like beforehand, it would have had a negative impact on my enjoyment of the film.

My guess is that some money grabbing studio execs got nervous over casting an overweight lead or having Tom Cruise wear a fat-suit for the entire movie, which is absurd as Tom gained rave reviews in Tropic Thunder and was nominated for an Oscar in Born on the 4th Of July!

[–] Renovatio (2990) 7 years ago

Would have loved to have seen a fat Tom Cruise or a fat actor play this role... Could have been very interesting...

[–] halomaniac88 (1736) 6 years ago

I agree.

[–] ebhaynz (3724) 5 years ago

Tom Cruise is one of the very few skinny people left in America. How many people out of 340 million in the U.S. are overweight or obese? 75% and over 40,000 people die each month from obesity. Make a movie with one of these megaldon's = no profit.