Tom Cruise praises Nicole Kidman on Eyes Wide Shut, cites Jack Nicholson’s influence on him

Tom Cruise has worked with some of the greatest directors ever. But at the top might be Stanley Kubrick, who directed Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman in his final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut. And despite a nasty divorce, Cruise still has wonderful things to say about Kidman – along with some other notable Hollywood luminaries.

Cruise recently spoke to Sight and Sound (via Deadline) for the May issue, wherein he recalled meeting Kubrick and ensuring that Kidman get the role of his wife in Eyes Wide Shut. (Kubrick was at one point considering another one-time Hollywood power couple, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger.) “I flew out to his house and I landed in his backyard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all of his films. I spoke to [The Color of Money director Martin] Scorsese about him and [The Firm director/Eyes Wide Shut co-star] Sydney Pollack… so I knew what he did and how he worked. Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because obviously she’s a great actress.”

No doubt Eyes Wide Shut was a unique experience for both Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who were put on a set that was nothing like their past collabs Days of Thunder and Far and Away. “We arrived in the summer and basically we just started testing… the script was just an idea. We [were] constantly rewriting the scenes and shooting the scenes and then reshooting the scenes to really find the tone of the film.” And for those wondering, yes, he did finish making the movie before his death.

Another legend who worked with Stanley Kubrick is Jack Nicholson. Having worked with Nicholson on A Few Good Men, Cruise was able to see how the Oscar winner operated. On observing these methods, Cruise mentioned, “He was finding his character. And you could see every movement slowed. He became more and more centred as we were going through it. You could tell from the way he’s sitting. He’s actually holding his hat quite tautly to generate power. He understands that lens. He’s a wordsmith, Nicholson. He’s like a crooner that knows how to carve up a monologue and knows how to carve up a scene. He can turn a phrase in such a unique way. And it’s not by chance. He knows what he’s doing. He has command over his body and his voice and he knows the camera.” Cruise also noted that Marlon Brando – once a close friend of Nicholson’s – had similar methods. No wonder they lived down the road from each other!

Whether clinging to airplanes for Mission: Impossible or wading through psychologies of sex with Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise has continued to approach acting like almost no one else.  As he elaborated, “When I’m acting, that’s my home. Acting is every moment new. Every take new. Even though you’ve got all these notes and you want to hit these certain beats. But it’s in a new unit of time and you have to let it fly…”

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