Johnny Depp reveals Tom Cruise was almost given Edward Scissorhands role

Johnny Depp has told how he was only given his role in Edward Scissorhands after Tom Cruise messed up a meeting with director, Tim Burton.

The actor, 61, who played the title character in the 1990 film has revealed how he wasn't the first choice for the role.

Tom Cruise "was not far away from actually playing Edward Scissorhands - true story," he said in a new documentary about Tim Burton.

In the documentary, the scriptwriter for the cult film, Caroline Thompson, told how Tom lost his chance at the role after meeting with Tim and asking him a question.

"In his interview with Tim, he asked how Edward went to the bathroom," she said. "If you start asking those questions, the whole thing falls apart. You can't ask questions like that. If you ask questions like that, you're f***ed. You've missed the metaphor, you've missed the point."

On the other hand, when Johnny saw the script, "it passed through everything, anything, solid and went to the very core of whatever I am," he said. "The writing was beautiful. The character was beautiful. What I suppose (attracted) me emotionally was that Edward was me. It's exactly what I should be doing," he recalled.

However, he almost didn't turn up to the initial meeting with Tim, as he'd heard Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and Michael Jackson were also being considered for the role.

He admitted thinking, "'He's never going to cast me when everyone in Hollywood is after the part,' and told his agent to cancel the meeting, to which she replied, 'Are you f***ing nuts?' It was weird because there's always that bastard in your skull that goes "Come on, man. You're a TV actor guy." Because at that time it was almost either-or."

Johnny ended up getting the part, and the movie made $86 million (£67.5 million) at the box office.