Tom Cruise has spoken for the first time about how he suggested to Stanley Kubrick that his then-wife Nicole Kidman star opposite him in the 1999 film “Eyes Wide Shut,” “because she’s obviously a great actress.”
The actor gave a rare public tribute to Nicole Kidman acting abilities in the May issue of Sight and Sound, a film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI), Deadline reports .
This time, Tom Cruise talked about the movie Eyes Wide Shut.
“It was a great experience. I was very excited to do it. I knew Stanley’s films well and I met him through Sydney Pollack. Stanley called Sydney because he wanted me to make a film. He sent me a fax,” he said.
He added:
“I flew to his house and his yard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all his movies. I had talked to Scorsese about him and Sydney Pollack… so I knew what he did and how he did it. Then he and I basically got to know each other. And while we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role of Alice. Because she’s obviously a great actress,” he said.
“I knew it was going to be a long shoot. He said, ‘No, no, no. We’ll be done in three or four months.’ And I said, ‘Stanley, look, I’m here for you. Whatever it takes, we’ll do this…’ I thought the film was very interesting and I wanted to have that experience. When I go to make a film, I do a lot of detailed research and spend a lot of time with people before I commit, so that I understand what they need and what they want, so that they understand me and how we can work together and really create something very special,” he said.
“It was a very unique experience – it wasn’t a big crew. We were constantly rewriting and reshooting scenes and then reshooting to really find the tone of the film,” he concluded.
