The studio objected to one story detail involving Tom Cruise and Demi Moore’s characters in A Few Good Men, the actress reveals. Directed by Rob Reiner with a script written by Aaron Sorkin based on his stage play of the same name, the 1992 legal drama follows two military lawyers tasked with defending two marines charged with murdering a fellow marine. Cruise and Moore star in lead roles as the lawyers, with the cast also including Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, J.T. Walsh, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland.

Appearing on Variety‘s series in which actors are quizzed on lines from their most famous movies, Moore revealed that the studio objected to one story detail involving her and Cruise’s characters in A Few Good Men. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 10:00 minute mark:

Moore revealed that the studio objected to her and Cruise’s characters not having any romantic involvement in A Few Good Men. The actress remembered a conversation that Sorkin had with a studio executive, resulting in a famous quote from the screenwriter. Read Moore’s full comments below:

Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner really stuck to their guns about not making the relationship between Tom’s character and my character have a romantic involvement, that they kept it platonic and it was a fight. Aaron Sorkin shared that he had a conversation with a studio executive whose response to us not having something romantic was then why was I cast. That’s a true story you can go look it up. Aaron Sorkin quote.

A Few Good Men Is Better Off Without A Romance Between Tom Cruise & Demi Moore’s Characters

Aaron Sorkin’s Story Focuses On Legal Drama & Moral Questions

In A Few Good Men, Cruise plays Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer, while Moore plays his superior, Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, also a Navy lawyer. While the two work together closely on a military case, their relationship is strictly professional. Sorkin’s story instead focuses on the larger legal drama and moral questions surrounding the court-martial of two Marines accused of murder, rather than any romantic subplot between the two lawyers.

In her comments, Moore alludes to a famous quote from Sorkin regarding the lack of romantic involvement between Cruise and Moore’s characters in A Few Good Men. The screenwriter was given a note from a studio executive who asked, “If Tom Cruise and Demi Moore aren’t going to sleep with each other, why is Demi Moore a woman?” Sorkin responded with what he thought was an “obvious” answer, “Women have purposes other than to sleep with Tom Cruise.“

Considering decades of Hollywood tradition, studio executives and audiences in the early 1990s may have expected a romance to develop between Cruise and Moore’s characters in A Few Good Men. However, Sorkin’s stage play and adapted screenplay wisely avoids this clichéd trope and focuses on the complex moral and ethical questions involved in the case of two Marines accused of murder. By keeping the relationship between Cruise and Moore’s characters strictly professional, A Few Good Men remains a classic courtroom drama with a modern twist.