Gooding’s father made the gaffe on the set of Hollywood hit Jerry Maguire, in which his son co-starred with Cruise.
Gooding, 44, said of his father: “He gave Tom a hug and said, ‘I love you man. Now seriously, are you gay or not?’
“I almost fainted. And thought, please lord let me disappear. Tom just laughed and said ‘no’.
Gooding gained a level of notoriety after starring in Jerry Maguire with Cruise. One of Gooding’s famous quotes from the film was “show me the money”.
He admits he is still associated with the catchphrase today, even though the film was released in 1996.
Speaking on the Graham Norton Show last night, Gooding added: “I doesn’t go away. I get it all the time. I wish I had a wand that would make people disappear whenever they say it.
“It’s hard especially when some drunk in a bar asks and finally you say it and he says, ‘no, say it like you said it in the movie.’”
Also on Graham Norton’s couch at the BBC this week were Sinead O’Connor and Daniel Radcliffe, who confessed he was nervous about his latest movie, Woman In Black.
The Harry Potter star said: “This is certainly the first time I remember being nervous before the release of a film.
“Because, with Potter it was a question of how big it was going to be, which is a lovely position to be in. But, with this film, there was a genuine sense of I don’t know how it is going to do.
“I never thought it would change people’s opinion of me, but it is a good start.
“It’s a very different sort of film for people to see me in but there is never going to be one part that completely separates me from those 10 years of my life.
“So it’s more about getting people accustomed to seeing me in different films and keeping busy.”
