The “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” star was 15 when she made her silver-screen debut.

Mia Sara reflects on working with ‘weird guy’ Tom Cruise on Legend

The "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" star was 15 when she made her silver-screen debut.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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June 26, 2026 2:50 p.m. ET

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Mia Sara at 'The Life of Chuck' premiere in Los Angeles in June 2025. Credit:

Eric Charbonneau/Getty

- Mia Sara recalled working with Tom Cruise on *Legend *in a recent interview, calling him "a weird guy."

- The stars appeared in the 1985 Ridley Scott film alongside Tim Curry.

- After *Legend*, Sara cemented herself as the ultimate ’80s It Girl in *Ferris Bueller's Day Off*.

Mia Sara is reflecting on her big-screen debut from over 40 years ago: the movie *Legend*.

The *Ferris Bueller's Day Off** *actress was 15 when she appeared in the 1985 Ridley Scott film with Tom Cruise. She mentioned bumping into the director recently, and reflected on her costar's commitment to their roles in the film.

"I bumped into Ridley not that long ago and it was really good to see him, and he said something that really just made me happy. He said, 'You were so good with Tom.' And I said, 'Yeah, I was really good,'" Sara said during an interview on *The Slice of Life Show by Pete Ferriero**.*

"You know what? He was a very nice guy, but he's a weird guy," she continued, referring to Cruise.

Tom Cruise and Sara in 'Legend'.

Ferriero then asked if Cruise stayed in his character, a forest child named Jack of the Green, for the duration of filming the dark fantasy movie. "He wanted to. Yeah. I mean, he tried to," Sara confirmed.

"He was very sweet to me and we got along very well, but it was, like, a lot," she added, claiming he was "very insecure" when it came to "his acting," and that he didn't get along with the Scott, reportedly disagreeing over the run time and narrative of the movie.

After working on *Legend*, Cruise told *Rolling Stone** *in 1986, “I’ll never want to do another picture like that again.”

* *contacted reps for Tom Cruise and did not receive an immediate response.

In *Legend*, a world made up of unicorns, magic, and rainbows, Darkness (portrayed by Tim Curry) attempts to create eternal night by killing the remaining unicorns. Jack (Cruise) and his friends fight to save the world and protect Princess Lili (Sara) from Darkness.

Mia Sara reveals why starring in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' wasn't a 'good experience'

'Ferris Bueller' star Mia Sara reveals her favorite memory from filming the '80s classic: 'I had so much fun'

When *Legend *came out in theaters more than 40 years ago, it received less-than-favorable reviews. Peter Stack of the *San Francisco Chronicle* called it "a bad movie with good intentions."

*The Chicago Tribune*'s Gene Siskel called it "akin to recalling a bad dream," saying, "I don't want to remember any more about *Legend* than to make sure I include it in my 'worst films of 1986' list and never rent it when it comes out as a video cassette."

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*Los Angeles Times* critic Kevin Thomas said, "*Legend *is not without whimsical touches, but it surely could have used more humor and invention." Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* said *Legend*'s "mythology" wasn't "easy to follow." "It's a slap-dash amalgam of Old Testament, King Arthur, *The Lord of the Rings,* and any number of comic books."

Cruise at David Beckham's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on June 12.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Elsewhere in the interview, Sara said she took the *Legend *reviews to heart. "It was really heartbreaking... I took it so personally," she admitted, adding that it "broke my heart" to see that the "movie was so poorly received when it came out."

Still feeling "heartbroken" about criticism of *Legend*, Sara says she wasn't able to fully enjoy the success of pop-culture classic *Ferris Bueller's Day Off*, which came right after the Ridley Scott film. "I was still so heartbroken because of *Legend* that with the success of *Ferris Bueller's Day Off, *I don't think I really appreciated it."

Sara in 'Legend'.

"I just was confused about it and then I felt very thrust into all [these] expectations," as she navigated what she wanted to audition for next, she continued. "I didn't actually really appreciate it."

Watch Mia Sara's full appearance on *The Slice of Life Show by Pete Ferriero *below.

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