Tom Cruise
As with his co-star and then-wife, Nicole Kidman, Cruise signed a contract that guaranteed Kubrick would have exclusive access to their time until the director determined their work was officially completed, with no time stipulation attached. After Kubrick’s death, the actor who played the drill sergeant in his previous film Full Metal Jacket divulged that the legendary filmmaker confessed that the movie was ultimately a failure due precisely to the creative interference the two A-list movie stars he’d cast in the leading roles. It must be noted, however, that no independent verification outside of Ermey’s own recollection on this controversial assertion has yet been offered. As with his co-star and then-wife, Nicole Kidman, Cruise signed a contract that guaranteed Kubrick would have exclusive access to their time until the director determined their work was officially completed, with no time stipulation attached. After Kubrick’s death, the actor who played the drill sergeant in his previous film Full Metal Jacket divulged that the legendary filmmaker confessed that the movie was ultimately a failure due precisely to the creative interference the two A-list movie stars he’d cast in the leading roles. It must be noted, however, that no independent verification outside of Ermey’s own recollection on this controversial assertion has yet been offered.
Nicole Kidman
In Kidman's accepting the role of Mrs. Harford, Eyes Wide Shut became the only time that the real life husband and wife ever played a couple married to each other on screen. Due to the intense secrecy of the project which stimulate a number of rumors about what the film with the incomprehensible title was all about, speculation quickly grew that something occurred during the production which was the cause of the couple’s real life split not long after the film’s release. In fact, the breakup of the marriage has been attributed to differences of opinion over the merits of the Church of Scientology, but the very fact that such rumors could be fueled with such seriousness is high indicative of just how much of a control freak over the making of his movies Kubrick actually was.
Sydney Pollack
Harvey Keitel was not just originally cast in the part of the shadowy Victor Ziegler, he shot several scenes with Jennifer Jason Leigh playing the part of Marion Nathanson. Unlike Cruise and Kidman, however, Keitel did not sign a contract offering exclusive use of his talents until he was no longer needed. When another commitment created an unresolvable scheduling conflict, Kubrick decided to recast Pollack in the role. By then, Leigh was no longer available to come back to shoot retakes with Pollack, thus necessitating her recasting as well. Better known as the director of films like Tootsie today, Pollack had started out as an actor and was also a close friend of Kubrick's, making the casting decision more sensible that it might seem.
Marie Richardson
Richardson's career has primarily been confined to films and television shows made and set in her homeland of Sweden. Brought in the replace Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eyes Wide Shut remains one of just a handful of roles in a "Hollywood" movie.
LeeLee Sobieski
In a movie overflowing with completely nude women, it is Sobiesky’s sudden appearance popping out from behind a sofa wearing a bra and panties that is second only to the shockingly unexpected disrobing of Kidman that opens the movie in terms of memorable images. Not just because those of certain age would swear she must be Helen Hunt’s daughter or younger sister or…something…but because in her way too fleeting scene with Cruise, she is the only actress to produce any sort of chemistry or electricity or…something.
Alan Cumming
Likewise, Alan Cumming is the only male character to produce any sort of chemistry in memorable scene where the desk clerk tries to flirt with Harford. Like Sobieski, Cumming’s screen time is painfully brief and charged with a humor absent the interaction between any of the other characters. The fact that these two actors managed to make such an impression despite being such minor characters is perhaps not just a testament to their talents, but an affirmation that the every other scene in Eyes Wide Shut takes itself way too seriously.
