Tom Cruise discusses his favourite movie experience
Before the Mission Impossible movies had even come out, Tom Cruise had already built himself up as a legend of the film industry. After his breakout roles in films like Top Gun, Cruise made it a habit of starring in any great film that came across his desk, whether working with Stanley Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut or turning towards emotional roles like A Few Good Men. When discussing the best movie experience he has ever had, though, it gets a bit complicated.
Throughout his career, Cruise’s instincts have always brought him to all sorts of different characters. While most would know him as Ethan Hunt these days, Cruise’s penchant for being the king of action stars is a drop in the bucket for what he can do.
In a movie like A Few Good Men, Cruise spends most of his time making the most out of his courtroom scenes. There are no stunts…no big explosions…no grand finale. The crux of Cruise’s dialogue comes from just how animated he is trying to get Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessup to crack underneath the pressure of being in that courtroom.
Even though Cruise has moments of emotional subtlety in movies, the way he portrays himself on screen tends to be far bigger from an acting perspective. If the camera were removed, it would still look like Cruise was trying to play to the back of the theatre, carrying on the grand tradition of every single member of the audience getting a different experience.
When talking about his time studying the art of filming, Cruise’s movies were too vast to narrow it down to just one. Speaking to Really, Cruise couldn’t limit his taste to any performance, stating, “I can look at my whole life in terms of films that I’ve seen. I can remember, as a little kid going to the theatre, what it meant to me. When the lights go down, I’m taken on a journey to places I didn’t know existed, or places I wished were real”.
Although Cruise does appreciate the more intimate movies that he has made over the years, he understands the power of making a movie that should be enjoyed by many people, explaining, “I prefer it with a packed audience. That’s what we’re dreaming about when we’re making these films. It’s a group experience. There’s nothing like it to see on a big screen with great sound. That has never changed for me”.
Nowhere is Cruise’s appreciation better felt than when he takes on the Mission Impossible movies. While starting as a series of traditional spy thrillers, Cruise’s willingness to put himself through the most incredible physical feats he can has turned the franchise into one of the most engaging movie-going experiences in decades.
Since Cruise is also known to do most of his stunts, the massive toll that he takes on his body is also indicative of what he wants his films to be. He knows that fans are paying their hard-earned money to see the film, so he may as well try to give them the best experience possible.
That appreciation for film is even evident in Cruise’s more under-the-radar films. Outside of the Mission Impossible movies, Cruise’s turn as a dark hitman in 2002’s Collateral has the same approach to energy, never straying from the cold, stoic killer that fans love to watch. Although Cruise could easily hang it up after the Mission Impossible franchise is over, he is still in it for the right reasons, loving nothing more than to see the looks on the audience’s faces when they see magic come to life onscreen.
