The actor Paul Thomas Anderson called “the fucking king”
Being considered one of the greatest filmmakers of the last three decades has afforded Paul Thomas Anderson the chance to work with a handful of the most notable actors in the film industry. Some of the biggest talents in cinema have starred in Anderson’s movies, and the list is almost endless.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has offered his talents on several occasions for films such as Boogie Nights and The Master, as has Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, while Anderson’s films have also seen the likes of Julianne Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Adam Sandler and John C. Reilly feature heavily.
Naturally, though, Anderson will have his favourite, and while Day-Lewis is perhaps one of the actors most affiliated with the works of the Los Angeles-born director, it appears that one in particular stands above the rest in terms of his affection: none other than Tom Cruise, who starred in Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia.
“I was thinking about it, I mean Cruise – when you see Tom Cruise on screen, name anybody else that can do [what he does] right now,” Anderson began of his praise for the actor. “That can do what Cruise can do. Who, whether it’s in his action films, or whether it’s in his dramatic stuff.”
Indeed, Anderson is right in pointing out the fact that Cruise has so many varied roles to his name, from the dangerous stunts of Mission: Impossible to his carefully considered dramatic roles like Anderson’s Magnolia, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire.
“Cruise is the fucking king if you like step back a little bit,” Anderson continued. “Right, come on, game’s on, it’s fucking Cruise. I love watching those Mission: Impossible movies. I always loved Tom Cruise like everybody else loves Tom Cruise. But Rain Man, I think I love Tom Cruise more than anybody loves Tom Cruise.”
As for Anderson’s favourite Tom Cruise movies, besides Rain Man, he also mentioned Born of the Fourth of July and The Color of Money. “I mean, those three, those were strong, you know,” he said. The director went on to explain that Cruise possesses a great sense of humour within his acting.
“He’s funny too, Cruise is funny,” he said. The result, for Anderson, is that Cruise will be able to continue to act even when he no longer can star in the action movies as he can now. “As he gets older, if he loses his ability to jump buildings and stuff like that, I’m not nervous about that at all because he’s got so many movies to fall back on,” Anderson noted.
“He’s a big bag of tricks,” the director added. “He’s got so many more movies that he has to pull. I think right around the corner, you’re gonna see that. Don’t bet against Cruise.” Evidently, Anderson thinks Tom Cruise is one of the all-time greats, so considers himself fortunate to have worked with him on Magnolia and hopes to collaborate with him again.
