Cuba Gooding Jr. leaves cafe patrons in laughter during Manly visit

Hollywood superstar Cuba Gooding Jr made a surprise visit to Manly on Tuesday afternoon — and he pulled one unexpected stunt that caused widespread laughter among cafe patrons.

Cuba Gooding Jr. comes to Manly. Picture: Diana Chirilas

HOLLYWOOD superstar Cuba Gooding Jr made a surprise visit to Manly on Tuesday afternoon — and he left quite the impression on the locals.

The Oscar-winning actor — whose hit films include Jerry Macguire and Boyz n the Hood — attended popular cafe Manly Wine twice this week.

While at the venue, Gooding Jr caused widespread laughter among patrons as he struggled with Manly’s hot weather.

“He was hot, so he asked for some scissors and proceeded to cut the legs off his jeans,” Manly Wine general manager Rodney Cox said.

“He was a lovely guy.

Cuba Gooding Jr with Alen Zvokelj. Picture: Alen Zvokelj

“He had been here two days in a row.

“His cab driver told him that Manly Wine was the place where all the celebrities go.”

Mr Cox said the actor was with friends sipping glasses of vino from Margaret River winery Cape Mentelle during his visit.

Gooding Jr had been in Sydney for a few days filming for an advertising campaign with telco company Optus.

Elsewhere in Manly, Gooding Jr — who also starred alongside Robert De Niro in Men Of Honour — was more than happy to pose with fans in Manly Lane.

Fika Swedish Kitchen co-owner Diana Chirilas said he parked the car he was in right outside her cafe.

“He was super friendly and he didn’t mind that I was bothering him,” Ms Chirilas said, after she approached him for a photograph.

Ms Chirilas then decided to return the favour to Gooding Jr for being so open to taking a snap and having a chat.

”He was so nice and I thought I should really give him a cinnamon bun (from her cafe), so I put it in the oven and then gave it to him,” she said.

“He was super grateful and said, ‘Thank you so much’.”

Ms Chirilas said she was shocked to see the celebrity walking around the popular northern beaches hotspot.

Cuba Gooding Jr. after winning his Oscar in 1997. Picture: (AP Photo/Reed Saxon).

“It was a little unbelievable because you don’t expect to see a person who has been in American movies in Manly ... it was really cool,” she said.

“I’ve seen him in so many movies — I’ve known of him for as long as I can remember.”

Manly Art & Framing’s Alen Zvokelj also got a snap with the actor.

He told Mr Zvokelj he had been doing a bit of Christmas shopping in Manly. “As you can see (in the photo) he did the ‘shaka’ (hand gesture) so it shows he knows he’s in a surfing environment,” he said.

Actor Cuba Gooding Jnr in a scene from the film "Jerry Maguire".

“He was in a great mood — he was really chatty.”

Born in The Bronx, New York, Gooding Jr is perhaps best known for his role as eccentric NFL player Rod Tidwell in Jerry Macguire, for which he won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Most recently Gooding Jr has played downfallen American gridiron star O J Simpson in a hit TV series.