Hollywood legendTom Cruisedoesn’t usually address movies he’s not currently promoting. Today, the star of franchises likeTop GunandMission: Impossiblemostly spends his time designing mind-bending stunts andpromoting the latest Ethan Hunt adventure. But at the same time, he remains very reserved about his career. Nevertheless, the actor recently took the time to reflect on his polarizing erotic thrillerEyes Wide Shut. Cruise described the “unique experience” of making a film alongsideanotherHollywood legend, director Stanley Kubrick. In a very unusual moment of honesty, he also spoke about his wife at the moment, Nicole Kidman, being a “great actress” and how she was selected to play Alice, a casting decision that required him to pull some strings.
Per a report by Deadline, Cruise participated in an interview with Sight and Sound magazine, where he spoke aboutEyes Wide Shut. The 1999 Stanley Kubrick thriller saw the actor and Kidman play Alice and Bill Harford, a couple going through a rough patch in their marriage. After Alice confesses that she has had fantasies about another man, Bill goes down a rabbit hole of deception, murder, and perversion.
Stanley Kubrick Called Eyes Wide Shut His Greatest Contribution to Cinema, Why Is It Largely Ignored?
Ignore the naysayers; Eyes Wide Shut is every bit an equal to 2001 and The Shining.
The film, based on the novelDream Storyby Arthur Schnitzler, was Kubrick’s last feature before he passed away. It was one of the most controversial movies of the 20th century because of its heavy sexual content. Per Kubrick’s perfectionist vision, it also wasn’t an easy film to make. Cruise talks about how he and Kidman landed the main roles:
“It was a great experience. I was very excited to do it. I knew Stanley’s movies very well, and I was introduced to him through Sydney Pollack.
“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 Scorsese about him and Sydney Pollack… 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.”
Eyes Wide Shutholds the Guinness World Recordfor the longest continuous film shoot. 15 months of production were excruciating for the film crew as well as the actors. Then, the film spent almost a year in post-production, and when Kubrick finally showed a final cut, he passed away a few days later. Cruise says that he always knew it was going to be a very ambitious project:
“I knew it was going to be a long shoot. He was like, ‘No, no, no. We’ll finish in three or four months.’ And I said, ‘Stanley, look, I’m here for you. Whatever it’s going to take, we’re going to do this.’
“It was a very unique experience – not a large crew. We [were] constantly rewriting the scenes and shooting the scenes and then reshooting the scenes to really find the tone of the film.”
Tom Cruise Also Talked About Working With the Late Val Kilmer
During the same interview, Tom Cruise also spoke about makingTop GunandTop Gun: Maverickwith Val Kilmer, his co-star who passed away recently. The actor referred to Kilmer not being sure whether to appear in the sequel to reprisehis role as Iceman:
“I felt so grateful that he decided to make the film. We did a lot to get him in the movie. Originally, he just didn’t want to make the movie… And to come back all those years later, and it was amazing being on set for Top Gun: Maverick because it was like, time had not passed. We were laughing, and it was joyous. And then we started acting, and it’s just, you see it… he became Iceman.
“The power that this guy has, even not saying anything, to become that character. You see how even the sniff that he gave. He was Iceman. And you saw the dynamic between these friends. It was very special, to say the least, for me personally. I just tell people… you take Iceman from the first film, and you look at it here, that whole journey, he became Iceman. And he didn’t even have to speak. That’s what he’s able to do. Beautiful, really beautiful. A gift that he had and that he shared with all of us.”
