Now while Cruise has never appeared in a Harvey Weinstein-produced film, he was heavily courted by the former Miramax head to star in the film version of "Cold Mountain." According the 2005 book
"Down and Dirty Pictures" by Peter Biskind, the negotiations eventually broke down in part due to misgivings Cruise had about Weinstein's trustworthiness, with the star feeling like he had been treated "shabbily" by the producer by the end.
This would have likely occurred shortly before Cruise met with Stiller in 2002 and read the "Tropic Thunder" script, back when the Les Grossman character didn't even exist. But I'm sure the fact that – according to Stiller – Cruise was the one who came up the idea of including a "gross" studio head as a secondary villain, not too long after his unpleasant experience with Weinstein, was a complete coincidence.
Either way, although Cruise may never divulge who his real-life inspiration was, in light of recent events it's hard not to notice A LOT of similarities between Grossman and Weinstein. For one thing, while Stiller apparently was pushing Cruise to just appear as his normal self in the role, Tom was adamant about hiding his movie star good looks under a mountain of prosthetics, with a special emphasis on "big hands," hairy arms, and voluminous chest hair.
