The Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning bonanza is now in Cannes. Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise were joined by Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Simon Pegg today for the photo call ahead of tonight’s spectacle at the Palais.
Tom won’t be staying long in France, though, because by the weekend, the Mission train will be in New York for another red carpet premiere. I’m currently in New York, I covered another premiere for ETALK last night, and Tom actually came up in conversation along the press line while we were waiting for the event to start as local reporters who are based here were looking ahead to Sunday and just in general sharing war stories about what it’s like to wait on celebrities and the ones who blow past the media who’ve been standing there for hours.
Not surprisingly, all of us had only good experiences with Tom Cruise. Like, one of the reporters actually said, “I’m never worried I’m not going to get anything because the guy comes so early and talks to everyone there, and he’s listening, he pays attention and respects your time”. Yep, same. In my case, he respected my time so much that he gave me more of his time while our crew worked out a tech issue as he stood there, patiently, until it was fixed.
That’s what makes talking about Tom Cruise complicated for some members of the media. He’s a weirdo, no doubt. But if a weirdo has shown you a kindness, it’s hard to forget.
And I wonder if the same applies to the people in the industry that he’s worked with because by most accounts, he’s like this with the crews. For all the time we’ve spent gossiping about Tom Cruise – and it’s been decades! – you’ll note that very little gossip comes from the set. We’re not hearing about a production assistant or a craft services person or whatever calling him out for being a dick. Because Tom Cruise famously treats a movie set like it’s hallowed ground. He comes to work first and he stays at work the longest and he makes sure people stay working. A few years ago, during the pandemic, there was that audio that was leaked where he was shouting at everybody to respect protocols, remember? And I don’t know if whoever leaked that was trying to make him look bad but it kinda had the opposite effect because even when he was screaming, it had to do with protecting their work and their ability to do it and not an issue of ego.
Today in Cannes, Tom surprised people at a masterclass event with Chris McQuarrie to talk about their collaboration and why he loves working with him and Chris told the audience that “Tom is always a student. He’s eager to learn from the people around him”. And this is related to what Tom said earlier this week when he received the BFI Fellowship when he urged actors coming up in the business to immerse themselves in all aspects of filmmaking and not just what they’re doing when they’re in front of the camera.
“It is important to understand the tools around you. There is tech. It is like understanding the stage as an actor but for a lot of artists it is not taught in film school: how to understand the lens and what it can do, and why there is eye movement and recognize the effect it has.”
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Tom continued:
“I always tell actors, ‘Spend time in the editing room, produce a movie, study old movies, recognize what the composition is giving you, know what those lenses are, understand the lighting and how to use it for your benefit. Understand the art form to that degree.’ Brando absolutely understood lighting — all the greats did.”
“Understanding the tools, the camera, the story structure … the conveying of emotions,” is essential for Cruise. He also noted how one of the people he studied was studied was Jack Nicholson. He said, “Nicholson and those guys who came up with him understand that lens.”
To go back to my point earlier about how other industry professionals feel about him – this is part of it, right? He’s the biggest movie star in the world and he is constantly talking about how critical their jobs are to the art of filmmaking. Because he’s watched them do their jobs, and can and does advocate for the value of them.
But, you know, because he’s Tom Cruise, he’s not content just being a teacher. If film school isn’t teaching it, Tom’s taking it upon himself to do it. Apparently he made a six-hour film about filmmaking that he plays for a select few that he feels might have potential. Per Variety:
“Cruise is so adamant about actors learning filmmaking craft that he put together his own six-hour film school video to show up-and-coming performers. Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” co-star Glen Powell revealed to GQ UK magazine last year that he got the chance to watch all six hours of the video in a movie theater alone.
“He said, ‘This is just for my friends’,” Powell said. “[In the video Cruise] is like: ‘Do we all agree that this is what a camera is? This is the difference between a film camera and a digital camera…’ The funniest part is on flying. It was like he put together this entire flight school. So he would literally go, ‘OK, this is what a plane is. Here’s how things fly. Here’s how air pressure works.’”
OK but this is where my gossip brain went…because it’s a very Scientology thing to do – to take over as the teacher and SHOW PEOPLE THE WAY! And we all know the Church of Scientology loves an instructional video, LOL.
“This is just for my friends.” Is the six-hour Tom Cruise film school video like the Christmas cake? There’s a select list of celebrities who get the Christmas cake every year and perhaps now we know there’s an even more exclusive list of actors who have seen the video. Aside from Glen Powell, who else is on it?!
