Tom Cruise has revealed why he has never directed a movie, despite arguably being the medium’s biggest advocate.
The 64-year-old Top Gun star — who is currently promoting his new film, Digger — is known for his devotion to cinema and rigorous standards on set, making it all the more surprising that he has never gone behind the lens.
During the latest episode of the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast — released Friday — former NFL star Jason asked Cruise if he ever planned to direct.
“You know what? Since I was a kid, friends have been like, you should direct,” he responded.
“I’ve studied the old movies, and these guys are able to make four movies a year. I want to make a lot of movies, and I’ve wanted to make a lot of films. And I love working with different directors. I love learning from them, seeing their stories, setting the table for them. Giving them opportunities,” he explained.
Relating his thought process to the NFL players, he continued: “It’s like, look, you guys weren’t drafted first round, you know, but they saw that light in you and that ability, and you guys bring it. And I like... The people that I’m choosing or working [with], maybe not everybody knows necessarily — some do, some don’t.
“But I’m not just talking about directors; it’s everything. The fun of that — to have that opportunity — if I’m directing, I don’t get to do that. I don’t have that experience. That’s kind of the way that I think about things... That’s what I feel about directors. I want to help them. The cinematographers, the actors, and I want to learn... I like seeing their point of view on things, and I like mixing it up.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cruise spoke about his love of being on set and witnessing every aspect of the filmmaking process.
“I’m not interested in going to my trailer. I like being with the crew. I like being with everyone. I like being there on the set. So they have a box for me, and I’m always hanging out,” he said.
“I’m watching what they're doing, I’m vibing with the director and everyone; I’m always there.”
In fact, Cruise has directed once before, taking the helm of an episode of the anthology series Fallen Angels in 1993 titled “The Frightening Frammis.” Each instalment of the series was based on a story by a noted hardboiled crime writer.
“Cruise is a force of nature,” creator William Horburg reflected in an interview with Far Out magazine last month. “He was a fantastic partner, in the sense that he demanded no special treatment at all: ‘I want the same budget as everybody else. I want the same shitty trailer as everybody else. I’m not here to kind of bring my world into your production’. He was very meticulous about the whole thing, and he took it seriously.”
Weighing in on why Cruise never felt the urge to direct again, Horburg suggested: “I think for him it was very hard to not be the star. He’s super specific in terms of that performance and just seeing it all through the lens of an actor, and how he would interpret it.
“You could see him trying to give Peter Gallagher his space, and just let him make his own choices and be his own version of that character, and I felt that was hard for him.”
Digger — directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu —is out in theaters October 2.
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