 Cameron Crowe (qv) wanted his hero, legendary film director  Billy Wilder (qv), to play Dicky Fox. Wilder had agreed to think  about it, but on the first day of filming, Wilder refused to play  the role. So Crowe took Tom Cruise (qv) to Wilders office to try  to convince him, and Wilder still said no. Later, Crowe and Wilder  became friends and Crowe wrote a book about Wilders life.