Cannes, May 19: Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has credited his phenomenal success with audiences around the world to his curiosity for understanding storytelling in other cultures and languages.
“I was always curious about storytelling and films in other languages,” said Cruise at the Cannes film festival which paid tribute to the veteran actor for his outstanding contribution to cinema Wednesday.
Cruise’s newest film, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, a sequel to his top-grossing 1986 film, ‘Top Gun’, premiered at the Cannes festival Wednesday ahead of its international release next week.
Addressing a packed audience, the actor of such films as ‘A Few Good Men’ (1992), ‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996) and ‘The Last Samurai’ (2003), said not going to a film school didn’t stop him from learning about various aspects of cinema.
“My film schooling was on the movie sets”, said Cruise, whose only previous appearance at the Cannes festival was 30 years ago for ‘Far and Away’ directed by Ron Howard, which was the closing film of the festival in 1992.
“What helped me was my natural curiosity about humanity,” he added. Cruise, who has shot his films like the ‘Mission Impossible’ series in different countries, including India, said he was an “audience person foremost”. “I go and watch movies in theatres. I put on my cap and sit in the theater with the audience,” he added.
The actor, who started his career in cinema in 1981, said he was still learning and exploring cinema. “I always go and study every department of films while making a movie. I have always been not afraid to not know something,” he said. “It is not just about the lighting, but the lenses used in the camera and even the costumes.”
Cruise said as a young boy he cut grass, shovelled snow and sold Christmas and seasonal cards to earn money to watch movies in the theater. Known for playing risky roles like parachuting from planes and climbing cliffs, he said always pushes himself to learn new skills.
“Nobody asked (American actor) Gene Kelly why do you do your own dancing,” he said, responding to a question why he takes risks on movie sets. “I try to understand how these (risky) roles are part of the story and invest the audience in that,” he said.
Cruise went on to narrate how as a four-and-half-year old, he used bed linens as a parachute to jump from the roof of his house. “Actors before me took dancing and singing lessons for movies,” he said explaining how he has learnt to fly helicopters and jump from planes. “These are skills I have developed over the time.”
Cruise, who delayed the release of the ‘Top Gun’ sequel due to the coronavirus pandemic, said everywhere he went people always asked him for another ‘Top Gun’ film.
“I need to understand what cinema is. I am learning and it takes time,” he said about the 36-year-old wait for the second ‘Top Gun’ movie.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’, directed by American filmmaker Joseph Kosinski, tells the story of aviator Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (played by Cruise), who is training a detachment of fighter pilot graduates for a specialised mission that no living pilot has ever seen. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears.
