Risky Business established Rebecca De Mornay as a Hollywood rising star. She was talented and had a promising future.
De Mornay’s path took a surprising turn while her co-star Tom Cruise became a global superstar.
I recently found a black-and-white photo of a beautiful young woman with Tom Cruise. Her 1980s style and gaze captivated me. I initially thought it was Heather Locklear, but my suspicions were wrong. I discovered her name: Rebecca De Mornay.
Odd upbringing
Rebecca De Mornay was born in Santa Rosa, California, 1959. Many describe her unconventional, even chaotic upbringing.
Julie George wanted to be an actress, and Wally George, a disc jockey turned right-wing TV personality, was her father.
Rebecca was 2 when her parents divorced. Her mother remarried a scientist, who died when Rebecca was five.
Getty Images/Ron Galella Collection
Her mother took Rebecca and her brother across Europe after this loss. They moved in a Volkswagen van to a little Austrian town where Rebecca started school. Living like a nomad forced Rebecca to grow up quickly, and she was often seen as much older than her years.
She was courageous and mature, making her own decisions early on. By the age of 18, she returned to the U.S. to pursue a career. Initially, Rebecca had a passion for singing and aspired to make it as a folk singer or composer.
Acting came to her mind later on.
”I started thinking about acting one day when I was walking down Santa Monica Boulevard her in Las Vegas,” she remarked in 1994.
”The only thing I could relate to was that my mother had wanted to be an actress when she was very young. She hadn’t really done anything: she had just been a mother. She had informed me as an early teenager: ’I think you may be really gifted as an actress’. Which sort of poisoned it for me, because everything your mother says, you don’t want to do”.
Breakthrough
In 1980, De Mornay came to Los Angeles and enrolled at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute to study acting.
De Mornay made her cinematic debut with a modest role in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1981 picture One from the Heart, but it was her breakout role in Risky Business just two years later that truly put her on the map.
Getty Images/Ron Galella Collection
In the 1983 movie, Rebecca plays the part of a beautiful call girl (Lana) who offers a teenage Tom Cruise a few life lessons. Her blonde bangs, porcelain-doll looks, and piercing blue eyes made her perfect for the role. She was mysterious in the film.
Most remember the 1983 comedy as Cruise’s launchpad to superstardom, but it also launched De Mornay’s career at 24.
“I had only been auditioning for six months – which is nothing – when I got the female lead in a feature film that went on to become a monster hit,” De Mornay told The Los Angeles Times in 1993.
“I rode one film for nine years”.
Despite pressure to select a prominent actress, director Paul Brickman wanted De Mornay. He insisted she get the part after auditioning 400 women in the US and Europe.
Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise in 1983’s “Risky Business.” The Warner Brothers/Getty Images photo)
Despite her scant expertise, De Mornay was able to play Lana convincingly because she associated with her. There were similarities in their lives.
“I’ve gone through a lot in my life in terms of upheaval and family stuff, and suddenly there was a part that just fit me like a glove, that I knew.”
De Mornay and others called Lana the “soul of the movie.”
I wanted to respect her even if she was having sex for money. She said she had integrity and spirit.
Deep affair with Tom Cruise
De Mornay knew Risky Business would be a blockbuster, but she had no idea it would inspire a new romance. She fell for Tom Cruise during the filming as well as professionally. It was obvious onscreen, and the sparks persisted off-camera.
“It’s no secret that Tom engaged in an intense affair during the shooting with De Mornay,” Curtis Armstrong, who costarred with Tom and Rebecca in Risky Business, wrote in his 2017 memoir.
After meeting Harry Dean Stanton in the early 1980s while filming One from the Heart, De Mornay was dating him. Once she and Cruise fell for each other, their romance ended.
When they met, De Mornay called Cruise “annoying,” but he won her over. Their relationship soon became a 2.5-year romance.
In this moment, De Mornay was on cloud nine. Hollywood’s hottest star was in love. De Mornay regarded their rapid rise to popularity as fascinating and overwhelming.
While Cruise became one of the most successful performers in film history, De Mornay’s momentum slowed and the business lost interest in her.
“I was a more complicated, mysterious presence, innately than Tom,” she told The Wrap 2023. In musical terms, his presence corresponds to a major chord, while my presence is more minor.America adores major chords.”
Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay see John Hughes’s ‘The Breakfast Club’ at the Director’s Theater in Los Angeles. Photo by Darlene Hammond/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
However, her career continued. De Mornay worked throughout the 1980s with mixed results. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle was her biggest success after Risky Business in 1992.
The psychological thriller was a financial triumph, and De Mornay’s portrayal of a furious widow who infiltrates her late husband’s accuser was memorable.
I believed everyone would hate me when I made it. However, everyone adored my character in the film, she told LA Times.
Through her career, De Mornay averaged one film every year. She never pursued stardom actively, thus she didn’t always get large jobs despite her talent.
It’s not like I got better. In retrospect, I learned Hollywood ups and downs rapidly. I had a great hit and several lows. But it all helped me separate, she explains.
Rebecca DeMornay and Tom Cruise during the Breakfast Club Premiere at Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. Photo by Barry King/WireImage
Rebecca De Mornay husband
After meeting actor-turned-sportscaster Patrick O’Neal in 1995, she prioritized family. Sophia, born November 16, 1997, and Veronica, born March 31, 2001, were their children.
De Mornay knows personally how difficult it is to balance parenthood and Hollywood. She filmed Identity with her daughter Sophia. She declined positions that required significant travel or time away from her family. She didn’t want to move for a new career since she wanted to raise her kids well.
I don’t know how famous actresses with kids do it. Maybe they multitask well? Not me, she told The Wrap.
O’Neal and De Mornay split in 2002.
Thomas Hawk/Flickr
De Mornay may have struggled to compete with younger actresses due to Hollywood age discrimination. This issue affects De Mornay and many of her industry contemporaries. Carol Kane, De Mornay’s companion, stated, “when I turned 40 it was like I sent an invisible telegram to Hollywood that said, ‘Don’t hire me.’”
De Mornay’s career has been affected by the lack of important roles for older ladies. However, she remains one of the few actors who has maintained a career.
“It’s always been important to me to choose roles where women embody strength, regardless of what they do or how they do it,” she remarked.
Daughters Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay still works in entertainment, but her roles have become more selective.
She now plays supporting roles in movies and television. De Mornay was praised for her roles in Lucifer and Jessica Jones.
Besides acting, De Mornay focuses on her personal life. She prioritizes family and privacy, keeping a low profile. She remains popular in Hollywood due to her talent and contributions, despite her career ups and downs.
De Mornay’s children Sophia and Veronica have also entered the entertainment world. Both are interested in performing, inspired by their mother’s success.
Sophia De Mornay-O’Neal, 26, debuted in Peter Five Eight in 2024. Many appreciated seeing Sophia follow in her mother’s footsteps, but admirers are most delighted about their strong likeness to Sophia’s exquisite modeling photographs.
The latest film
Rebecca De Mornay is in the spotlight for her part in Saint Clare, an Italian thriller inspired on Don Roff’s Clare at Sixteen. The Joan of Arc-inspired film premiered at the 2024 Taormina Film Festival.
De Mornay was immediately interested in the proposal when she heard about it.
I have two kids, 23 and 26, and I liked being part of a video that helped young ladies in the audience realize they don’t have to take it. You can fight back against them. If an 18-year-old girl can lead an army, you can fucking defeat an aggressor. The 64-year-old actress told Variety that women can defeat patriarchy.
Rebecca De Mornay today
De Mornay has always been beautiful and striking.
She dazzled audiences in the 1980s with her fresh-faced, all-American image, complete with brilliant blue eyes and flowing blonde hair. She became more refined and sophisticated in the 1990s.
De Mornay remains graceful and refined. She has maintained her elegance throughout her career by embracing natural and unforced beauty as she has aged.
The latest Taormina Film Festival red carpet photographs show Rebecca De Mornay looking more beautiful than ever! Her pioneering work and enthusiasm for filmmaking are thrilling. Her timeless beauty and dedication to her work inspire!
Rebecca De Mornay attends the 70th Taormina Film Festival photocall on July 14, 2024, in Italy. Photo by Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images)
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