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Tom Cruise 'Needed' a Monkey for Rock of Ages

05/15/2012 at 04:45 PM EDT

In order to portray rock god Stacee Jaxx, Tom Cruise had to go wild – literally.

"After working for weeks on Stacee's technical skills, I was thinking about the character, and I said, 'You know what? I need a monkey,'" the Rock of Ages star tells W Magazine. "[Director Adam Shankman] said, 'What the f– are you talking about?' And I said, 'I'm serious – I need a monkey.'"

"When Stacee's not onstage, he's kind of sad," Cruise elaborates. "And I thought, This guy has to have a monkey that's his best friend. Adam found this baboon. He sent me the baboon's audition tape, and I said, 'The baboon's name has to be Hey Man.' Stacee Jaxx doesn't work without Hey Man."

What Cruise didn't reveal? Whether or not he insisted on having Hey Man around when he recorded Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" for the film's soundtrack.

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