Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible and a lifetime of learning from movies | BFI in Conversation
//Summary - Level-B2//
Tom Cruise recalls how his sister encouraged him to approach Dustin Hoffman in a restaurant, which ultimately led to their friendship and, in turn, to Rain Man. At first, Cruise was shy, but Hoffman invited him to see Death of a Salesman. Later, Hoffman sent him the script for Rain Man, though it was very different at the start. Cruise explains how they spent over two years developing the characters and story. He emphasises how every experience, from early advice to working with great actors, has shaped his career and learning through film.
36:47
Again, again, it's humanity.
36:55
That's what interests me. When you're looking at life and history and geography and journeys,
37:01
and it's just real privilege. - Yeah. I believe we have your sister to thank for Rain Man.
37:08
- Ah, yeah. Yes, yes. I was at... My little sister who's here, Cass.
37:15
- Yes, Cass - Yeah, Cass. So I was back, I was visiting, I was shooting Legend
37:21
- Oh, wow. - with Rudy Scott here. And I went back and there was,
37:28
we were at a restaurant, you know, I was eating at a table. And she goes, "There's Dustin Hoffman." I looked up and there he was with a hat,
37:34
and he was doing Death of a Salesman, and he was ordering takeout. And she goes, "You go over and you say hello to him." I said, "What? I'm not gonna go say hello to him."
37:41
She goes, "You love him and you know his career. You go over and say hello." It's like, and she doesn't do stuff like that.
37:48
And I don't walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy.
37:53
(audience laughing) And she literally said, she goes, "Look, if you don't do it, I'm gonna just go over and I'm gonna tell him who you are
37:59
and that you're over there." I was like, "He's not even gonna know who I am. This is really gonna be really humiliating. I'm not doing it."
38:05
So finally she pestered me so much, I said, "Okay, I'll go over and say hello." And I went up, and then he was, obviously had his hat on. He was ordering takeout, and I just stood next to him
38:11
and I said, "Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman, I'm sorry." And he looked at me, he went, "Cruise."
38:17
And I went like... (audience laughing) (Tom laughing)
38:22
I was like, because Risky Business, The Graduate, it's one of the films that you gotta look at as an actor when you're looking at coming of age.
38:31
And that's how I met him. And he was very, he's like, "Oh, already in town, you seen..."
38:37
I think it was the last week of Death of a Salesman. I said, "No, sir." I said, "It was sold outstanding room." And he says, "Well, come to see it."
38:43
And I said, "Well, can I bring my sister?" And he was so gracious. And he had me there and brought me backstage,
38:50
and we were taking photos, and I met the whole cast. And I remember seeing John Malkovich. I was shooting Risky Business.
38:56
And there was, I saw John Malkovich in Chicago, in True West, you know, he and Gary. And they were astonishing.
39:02
I mean, oh my God. They were astonishing. And now he's doing Death of a Salesman. And that cast was amazing. Performance was amazing.
39:09
So we were there, and as I was leaving, he said, "I wanna make a movie with you."
39:15
And I was like, "That'd be nice. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, sir. That'd be very nice."
39:21
I was raised Southern. It was, yes, sir; no, sir; yes ma'am; no ma'am. And people were like, it was really, they say, "Please stop saying that."
39:28
But I was... And that's what happened. And basically he sent me, a year later, he sent Rain Man to me.
39:35
- Wow. - He sent Rain Man. And the script was not the script. Rain Man, my character was like 57 years old,
39:41
you know, real old guy. (audience laughing)
39:51
I can say that now. And so I was like... And he goes, "I want you to play this character
39:58
and I'm gonna play Raymond." And so anyway, it was a tremendous journey
40:04
because also part of my thing is I would meet writers and screenwriters and now, and we're seeing how to develop it and the rhythm,
40:10
and us finding the tone of the rhythm. We went on a really a two over two year journey
40:16
developing these characters, finding these characters, developing these characters, developing the journey
40:21
and the visual journey of the movie and going through it was...
40:26
And every time you learn something early on, and the stuff that Owen Roizman was saying to me
40:32
when I was 18, and as time went on, I can recall, I've a very good memory, and I recall everything they said.
40:38
And stuff started to make sense. And it started to kind of become more of my own.
Add info No1)
Actor, producer and Hollywood legend Tom Cruise visits the BFI Southbank to talk to Edith Bowman about his career.
The BFI is celebrating the illustrious career of Tom Cruise, one of the world’s greatest film stars, with the award of BFI Fellowship, its highest honour. To celebrate this achievement, the Academy Award-nominated actor, producer and all-round hero of cinema joined us at BFI Southbank for a conversation.
He reflected on his incredible body of work – a career of much-loved films that include Top Gun, Jerry Maguire and the Mission: Impossible series. In this special masterclass, Cruise shared insights into his craft, experiences and his approach to making awe-inspiring films.
00.00 - Edith Bowman introduces Tom Cruise
01:27 - Childhood dreams and planning his career
02:50 - Filming Taps and learning from being on set
06:00 - Learning about the wider film business as a young actor
10:30 - Making red carpet premieres international
13:00 - How to make an impact on an audience
17:50 - Early career and celebrity after Taps
18:48 - Making Losin' It with Curtis Hanson
20:30 - Making The Outsiders with Francis Ford Coppola
23:40 - A Few Good Men and working with Jack Nicholson
30:50 - Magnolia and playing Frank TJ Mackey
32:25 - Les Grossman
34:00 - Making Born on the Fourth of July with Oliver Stone
37:05 - Meeting Dustin Hoffman and making Rain Man
41:00 - Mission: Impossible and becoming a producer
44:50 - Making Collateral with Michael Mann
46:20 - Working with Christopher McQuarrie
52:00 - Top Gun and working with Tony Scott and Val Kilmer
56:25 - Top Gun: Maverick
58:15 - What he'd still like to make
Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible and a lifetime of learning from movies | BFI in Conversation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Oqk_Y-Jm4&t=2413s
Listen to Tom Cruise's fast-paced English!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt1yQzfvLTg&t=1497s
Add info No2)
Dyslexia - Wikipedia
Dyslexia is a condition characterised by significant difficulty reading and writing despite normal intellectual and general comprehension abilities, and it can be a learning disability. It was first described and named by German ophthalmologist Rudolf Berlin in 1884.
Dyslexia is also known as a specific reading disorder or a reading and writing disorder.
Famous people with dyslexia
Historical figures who are said to have had dyslexia include Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Henry Ford, and Winston Churchill.
Hollywood star Tom Cruise's public announcement that he had dyslexia raised awareness of the disorder. In addition to Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have also revealed that they have dyslexia.
Steven Spielberg, director of "Jurassic Park," has also confessed that he has been diagnosed with dyslexia. He has said that his reading disorder delayed his graduation from school by two years, and that he experienced bullying and found school painful. Even now, it takes him twice as long as the average person to read a script.
Actress Whoopi Goldberg has dyslexia, a condition that causes her to write letters backwards.
Japanese people with dyslexia include the rakugo performer Yanagiya Karoku.
