Buzz
On August 5, 1983, Tom Cruise, clad in Ray-Bans and his underwear, made his mark in pop culture history with the teen dramedy Risky Business. In his debut lead role, Cruise faced off against a menacing pimp named Guido, wooed a call girl named Lana, and secured his path to Princeton. The film’s $6 million box office success cemented Cruise as a genuine movie star, a status he maintains even today. On its 35th anniversary, here are 12 lesser-known facts about this iconic '80s film.
1. THE MOVIE WAS ONCE CALLED WHITE BOYS OFF THE LAKE.
Set and partially filmed in Chicago’s upscale Highland Park suburb near Lake Michigan, writer-director Paul Brickman (a Highland Park native) told Salon that the initial working title was White Boys Off the Lake. The studio dismissed it, fearing it sounded too much like an off-Broadway production. Brickman recalled, "We then brainstormed to find a more fitting title."
2. THE FILM WAS INFLUENCED BY THE CONFORMIST.
Brickman also told Salon that Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist greatly inspired the movie: “I wondered, ‘Why not create a youth-oriented film with that level of style while still incorporating humor?’ The challenge was blending a darker cinematic approach with comedy. Tone was the key element I wanted to experiment with.” While Risky Business appears as a satirical take on capitalism disguised as a teen comedy, The Conformist is a political drama set during Italy’s Fascist era in the 1940s.
3. THE DIRECTOR WASN’T CONVINCED ABOUT TOM CRUISE AT FIRST.
Warner Home VideoWhile filming The Outsiders in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Cruise received a call to audition for Risky Business. In an interview with Interview, Cruise shared, “Initially, Paul [Brickman] had watched Taps
4. CRUISE DROPPED WEIGHT TO ACHIEVE A MORE YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE.
In a September 5, 1983, interview with People, Cruise revealed he “lost 14 pounds in five weeks by jogging under the Florida sun and following a strict diet. Once he hit his target weight, he stopped exercising to ‘add a slight layer of baby fat’ for his non-athletic character.” Cruise elaborated, “[Joel] is a deeply vulnerable individual. I wanted him to have no physical defenses, no muscle armor whatsoever.”
5. THE UNDERWEAR SCENE WAS CRUISE’S IMPROVISATION.
The film’s most iconic scene features Cruise using a candlestick holder as a microphone and dancing around his house to Bob Seger’s 1978 hit “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Brickman explained to Yahoo! that he chose the song because it was “a timeless rock and roll piece that wouldn’t feel dated.” The scene wasn’t shot at the Highland Park house but at a schoolhouse in Skokie, Illinois.
Cruise shared with Cameron Crowe how the scene came together: “I grabbed the candlestick and said, ‘What if this is the audience?’ Then I started improvising, using it as a guitar, jumping on the table. I waxed half the floor and left the other half dirty so I could slide in my socks. As we progressed, I added more elements, like flipping up the collar and jumping on the bed. The script originally had just one line: ‘Joel dances in underwear through the house.’ We filmed it in half a day.” With that, Cruise danced his way into cinematic history.
6. THE SEGER DANCE SCENE HAS BEEN PARODIED MULTIPLE TIMES—INCLUDING TWICE BY BEN STILLER.
In a 1986 episode of SNL hosted by Ron Reagan, Jr., the cold open featured Reagan home alone at the White House, where he stripped to his underwear and danced to “Old Time Rock and Roll.” The iconic scene was also humorously recreated by three characters in Scrubs. On The Ben Stiller Show in 1992, Stiller delivered a perfect imitation of Cruise, portraying him in a musical titled Tom Cruise: Dress Casual, complete with a nod to the underwear scene. Later, at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, Stiller parodied Cruise again, this time as his stunt double. Cruise himself appeared in the skit, allowing Stiller to reenact the famous moment. Their comedic collaboration continued in Stiller’s 2008 film Tropic Thunder, where Cruise played a memorable role.
7. MULTIPLE PORSCHE 928S WERE FEATURED IN THE MOVIE.
Joel famously quips, “Porsche, there is no substitute,” while driving his father’s Porsche, which later ends up submerged in Belmont Harbor. The Porsche 928, produced from 1978 to 1995, was the brand’s first mass-produced V8-engine car. Four 1979 models (and one 1981 model) were used in the film, including one gutted for the lake scene and another painted gold. A collector attempted to locate all the Porsches but only found one, which he purchased for $49,200 at a 2012 Hollywood memorabilia auction.
8. CRUISE BELIEVES THE FILM EXPLORES CAPITALISM.
A decade before casting Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe interviewed Cruise for Interview, asking him about the meaning of Risky Business. In 1986, Cruise responded, “It’s a reflection of today’s capitalistic society. Do the ends justify the means? Should you prioritize helping others or just focus on making money? Joel is grappling with these questions, and so am I. I’m not claiming to be a political expert, but these issues concern me. At least I’m asking the questions. The film is Joel’s journey through society and how he gets swept up in this chaotic capitalistic world.”
9. THE COMPANY THAT MADE THE CRYSTAL EGG CLOSED IN 2011.
Joel’s mother scolds him, saying, “I’m very disappointed in you,” after discovering her cherished crystal egg is cracked upon returning from vacation. Earlier in the film, the egg is stolen by prostitutes but is later returned to Joel, tossed like a football. The egg was crafted by Steuben Glass Works, a century-old manufacturer in Corning, New York, known for creating exquisite crystal pieces. The company ceased operations in 2011, largely due to declining demand for crystal following the recession.
10. THE MOVIE MARKED THE DEBUT OF BOTH MEGAN MULLALLY AND BRONSON PINCHOT.
Megan Mullally, who later became an Emmy-winning actress, made her first appearance in Risky Business as a prostitute. Dressed in pink lingerie with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, she appears briefly and is credited as “Call Girl.” Bronson Pinchot, on the other hand, had a more substantial role as Joel’s witty friend Barry. In a 2009 interview with The A.V Club, Pinchot described working with Cruise as “weird” and called him “the most boring person on Earth.”
11. TOM CRUISE AND REBECCA DE MORNAY WERE IN A REAL-LIFE RELATIONSHIP.
Cruise has always been private about his personal life, but in a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed he had fallen in love with a girlfriend. “That girlfriend was his Risky Business co-star, Rebecca De Mornay,” the article states. “Although they shared intense love scenes in the film, they didn’t start dating until after the movie’s release in late summer 1983.” Their long-distance relationship ended after Cruise filmed Legend in London and before he began work on Top Gun. “Relationships are challenging,” Cruise told the magazine. “You need to recognize when you’re heading in different directions and have the strength to let go.” In 1987, Cruise married his first wife, actress Mimi Rogers.
12. TWO ENDINGS WERE FILMED, BUT BRICKMAN PREFERRED THE ORIGINAL.
In the original ending of Risky Business, Joel and Lana share a meal at a restaurant. Joel muses, “I was just thinking about where we’ll be in 10 years,” to which Lana replies they’ll be successful. When Joel asks, “Was this a setup?” she denies it. The scene transitions to them walking through a park at night, discussing how they won’t see each other for a while. Lana asks to spend the night, and Joel jokingly inquires if she has any money. His voiceover concludes: “My name is Joel Goodsen. I deal in human fulfillment. I grossed over $8,000 in one night ... Time of your life, huh, kid?”
The alternate ending features a similar restaurant conversation. Joel asks Lana, “Was our night together just a setup?” She denies it and adds, “Why does it have to be so tough?” He invites her to sit on his lap, and they embrace as the camera reveals a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan from the Hancock building. Joel’s voiceover remains the same, except the line “time of your life” is replaced with “isn’t life grand?”—a more sarcastic and ambiguous conclusion.
“We had to alter the ending to make it more positive and marketable,” Cruise explained to Cameron Crowe. “Geffen Films thought it was too depressing, plain and simple. At one point, Paul [Brickman] refused to direct the revised ending, and they considered bringing in another director. Paul strongly resisted, and so did we. Ultimately, I believe we conveyed the same message: Joel realizes deep down that this woman means more to him than money.” During a 30th-anniversary screening of the film, Brickman finally revealed the original ending he had envisioned.
