Veteran actor Tim Curry has opened up about his experience working alongside Tom Cruise in Ridley Scott’s 1985 fantasy epic Legend, revealing both admiration and ambivalence toward his co-star in his newly released memoir, Vagabond.
Curry, now 79, portrayed the unforgettable villain Darkness — a towering, horned demon who seeks to cast the world into eternal night. Cruise, then a rising Hollywood star in his early 20s, played Jack, the young hero determined to stop him. While their characters were locked in a battle of good and evil, Curry admits that behind the scenes, his feelings about working with Cruise were more complex.
“I Was Kind of Dreading It”
In Vagabond, Curry recalls being “unimpressed” by Cruise’s rapidly growing fame after his breakout roles in Risky Business and All the Right Moves. “Before we met on the set of Legend, I had seen Risky Business, with Tom cast perfectly as the cute, innocent young rebel,” Curry wrote. “And when we finally appeared in a film together, he was very nice and easy to be around — but he’s also quite unique, and not a person I fully understood. We never had any issues, but I cannot say I felt the appeal.”
He added candidly, “Unlike many others in the eighties, I wasn’t desperately star-struck around him; in fact, I was kind of dreading it. I couldn’t really identify why. Maybe he sensed my reticence and was consequently a little awkward.”
Respect for Discipline, But Unimpressed by the Hype
Despite his reservations, Curry expressed respect for Cruise’s work ethic and total commitment to the role. “He was very into fully embodying his role, and I believe even requested to sleep on the snow set because he wanted to feel at home there,” Curry shared. Still, the Rocky Horror Picture Show star admitted to finding the Hollywood buzz surrounding Cruise “a bit much,” noting that the film industry’s fascination with looks and image often overshadowed genuine artistry.
“In the premise of the film, he loses his power, but he looks great doing it,” Curry observed, wryly referencing the way Cruise’s on-screen heroism often complemented his charisma. “He has the perks that looks and money bring in Hollywood… I was just never blown away by his talent.”
Life Behind the Prosthetics
Curry’s portrayal of the Lord of Darkness remains one of the most iconic makeup transformations in cinema history — one that required hours in the makeup chair each day. “The process of turning me into the Lord of Darkness took roughly six hours every day,” he recalled. “My senses were no doubt dulled beneath my prosthetics.”
The actor noted that long production days and heavy prosthetics limited his interaction with Cruise. “I didn’t really engage with Tom Cruise all that much, perhaps because this wasn’t the type of film where we’d all sit around chatting,” Curry explained. “Ridley didn’t foster that environment, and in my case, my prosthetics regimen meant that I couldn’t exactly go out for pints prior to having my horns and hooves removed.”
A Respectful Conclusion
While Curry’s reflections may surprise some fans, his overall tone is one of honesty rather than hostility. “There’s not much I can say definitively about him, since we didn’t get to know each other very well,” he concluded. “But at the end of the day, I found him to be a very thoughtful, considerate colleague — which I appreciated.”
Nearly four decades after Legend’s release, Curry’s recollections offer a rare glimpse behind the scenes of one of fantasy cinema’s most visually ambitious films — and a nuanced portrait of two actors whose careers took very different paths, but who shared a moment in Hollywood history few could forget.