Tom Cruise is one of the biggest forces in Hollywood, cranking out movies that are credited with saving cinema. But when Tom Cruise was a little younger and less experienced in the game, he ended up taking some of his greatest career advice from one of the best actors of all time, Paul Newman.
The two worked together in the 1986 Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money. Following a talented pool hustler who takes on a student to train with his skills in scamming, the drama movie saw Cruise, fresh off his Top Gun success, work with one of the most legendary names in the business.
But it’s wasn’t an easy shoot. On The Graham Norton Show, Cruise recalled the windy and cold Chicago conditions taking him by surprise after a slightly more forgiving wardrobe fitting.
“I remember we were doing The Color of Money, and I went actually from Top Gun to Color of Money, and we were shooting in Chicago,” Cruise explained. “I was there, and I tried my wardrobe on in the summer, I’m in a leather jacket and a t-shirt, you know.”
Fast forward a few months, and Cruise found himself a little worse for wear in the blistering cold.
“And there I am, in January, and I’m shooting this scene,” he continued. “I remember in the script, it’s like outside, I didn’t think think about it. And I’m doing this scene, and I’m telling you, it’s so cold I can’t even speak. Between takes I’m running to this area to try and thaw. And [Paul] Newman’s like, ‘Where’s the kid?'”
“Finally I have this scene in the car and I’m next to him, I’m looking, and he had the warm coat, he had the heater in there, an electric heater. He just loved the fact that he’s driving this car, and he’s got the electric heater and warm coat, and I’m in the t-shirt.”
“He looked at me and he’s like, ‘T-shirt…you tried your wardrobe on in the summer, didn’t you?’ I’m like, ‘Yes sir, I did.’ He said, ‘Watch and learn, kid. Watch and learn.’ I never forgot it.”
Good words of wisdom, even if you aren’t shooting a movie in awful weather. You can check out our list of the best Tom Cruise movies of all time or, if you like his action movies more, you can also get to know the Mission Impossible cast, and discover our list of the best movies of all time.