Tom Cruise compares working with Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick
Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick—two titans of cinema with wildly different approaches to filmmaking but striking similarities in their careers. Beyond being legendary names who have shaped modern cinema, both directors have built their legacies by refusing to adhere to a formula. They’ve each delivered acclaimed war films, groundbreaking science fiction, and, in Spielberg’s case as executive producer on Under the Dome, adaptations of Stephen King’s twisted visions. However, their collaborations with King had notably different outcomes. Their varied, high-concept stories rank among the greatest ever brought to the big screen—just ask Tom Cruise, one of the fortunate few to have worked with both of these cinematic juggernauts.
1999 Cruise appeared in Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick’s final film. He played a doctor who, upon discovering his wife’s (Nicole Kidman) infidelities, embarks on a clandestine journey to uncover a secret, sexually charged society. As for Spielberg, their collaborators have been much more conventional. They first worked together on Minority Report, an adaptation of a Phillip K Dick short story, before then embarking on a version of War of the Worlds, inspired by the classic HG Wells novel of Martian invasion.
Ahead of the release of the former, Cruise and Spielberg spoke to JoBlo about working together. “Steven’s been my friend for so many years and to have the ability and this chance to work with him was, I can just say, the greatest experience ever,” the actor said before confirming that it was “something that I’d like to do again.” As for his experiences working with Kubrick, he was a little more vague. “I loved working with Stanley, and that was very challenging and a unique time in my life…it was different.”
Anyone who knows anything about Kubrick will see that he could be a complex man to work with. Poor Shelley Duvall was practically traumatised on the set of The Shining. While making Full Metal Jacket, he had an argument with Matthew Modine that almost caused the actor to miss the birth of his first child. Spielberg, on the other hand, usually comes out of anecdotes looking quite good. Well, unless you’re talking to Julia Roberts, but that’s a whole other story.
Despite them seeming all buddy-buddy in 2002, Cruise and Spielberg’s relationship would eventually crumble as a result of making War of the Worlds. It was on the press tour for this movie that Cruise began to act strange in public, including his infamous couch-jumping incident with Oprah Winfrey. Spielberg wasn’t happy that his actor’s odd behaviour was overshadowing the release of his film, and when the two came to blows over Scientology, a once-promising friendship fully soured.
It does seem like the two were able to patch things up, though, as Spielberg was very complimentary of Cruise’s work on Top Gun: Maverick. Off the back of the pandemic, the director claimed that the billion-dollar blockbuster “might have saved the entire theatrical industry”, which you wouldn’t expect him to say about somebody he still resented.
While Spielberg might have been able to deliver Cruise’s two big hits, Kubrick helped take the megastar out of his comfort zone and gave his filmography one of its most fascinating inclusions. They might have been very different to work with, but both directors have provided crucial instalments in the life of one of Hollywood’s biggest-ever names.
