Cameron Crowe opened up about where the character Jerry Maguire came from, and it’s super interesting

If you still feel the need to yell out “Show me the money” on occasion, listen up — you’ll love this story. Director Cameron Crowe opened up about the character Jerry Maguire and put a few rumors to rest. When the movie came out back in 1996 (yes — 20 years ago, if you want to feel incredibly old) it seems like a lot of people figured that the main character, played amazingly by Tom Cruise, was based on them.

Crowe talked to Deadline to set the record straight. Describing the first draft of the film as a “basic, long, vomit draft,” he admitted that it lacked a bit of substance at first. But of course, with time, it shaped into a movie that all of us have enjoyed. (Also, it brought us Renee Zellweger. Don’t forget about that.)

First off, Jerry himself was pretty much a mash-up of many different people.

"I got to say that character came from the pitching room with Jim [Brooks], me, and Richard Sakai. We built Jerry from our combined experiences, and then I made it a personal story, masquerading as a mainstream movie," Crowe said.

"Jerry came from a lot of different fictional places, but we got elements and spice from guys like Leigh Steinberg. He helped me a lot, and opened a lot of doors," Crowe continued.

Crowe also made sure to talk to a bunch of sports agents to make sure that Jerry’s downfall would, indeed, be a disastrous one.

"We talked about what would be the most embarrassing thing that could happen to a shark in the middle of the night, drilled on coffee and bad pizza, and finding a conscience he didn’t know he had? What would he say that would really get him in trouble? " Crowe said. "And that’s where we came up with the more personal attention thing. Fewer clients. Less money. Some of the sports agents that I pitched that idea to looked at me like, are you crazy? We would never say anything like that. That’s when I knew we were on the right track."

While Cruise totally nailed the role, it was originally written for…Tom Hanks. Crowe admitted that he and his team wrote the film with Hanks in mind. And while Hanks loved the script, and seemed to be really into the role, he managed to pass on the film in the most positive way ever. In fact, Crowe wasn’t even truly sure that Hanks was saying no until it sunk in for awhile.

"The Tom Hanks elixir was so strong I didn’t even realize he passed until after I’d hung up, basically," Crowe noted.

Fortunately, Crowe also got really strong vibes from Tom Cruise, who — as we all know — happily accepted the role.

"He walked in, and the room just tilted to this guy, immediately. The charisma was palpable, and I was like, oh, this is the guy you’ve been talking about," Crowe stated.

He also described Cruise as being incredibly personable, which many other sources have attested to in the past. And even better, he wasn’t extremely nitpicky about his part.

In fact, Cruise only had one correction regarding the script throughout filming, which Crowe admitted was completely on target. It had to do with a scene that helped define the relationship between Maguire and his client, Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr.

Knowing what we know now, we’re totally ready to rewatch this movie with fresh eyes. And the good news is, we totally can — a remastered version of the film will be released soon by Sony/TriStar, just in time for its anniversary.