Tom Cruise evidently works hard on every performance he delivers in movies, sometimes even at the cost of pulling out certain memories and emotions from his personal life. The actor is notably known for having a tumultuous family relationship yet he has managed to keep his home life separate from his career.
In one of his films, Cruise drew inspiration from his own life to perfect a really emotional scene. This involved his son, Connor, whom the public rarely gets to see.
The Last Samurai Director Helped Tom Cruise Nail A Very Emotional Scene
Director Edward Zwick shared in his memoir, Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years, how he helped Tom Cruise get through a scene in the 2003 film The Last Samurai.
“ ‘Tell me about your son,’ I said. He looked at me, surprised. I knew Connor had just returned to L.A., and Tom wouldn’t be seeing him for a while. For a moment, Tom was quiet. And then he began to talk.”
As soon as Cruise got into his groove, he started acting it out naturally he was almost unaware that he nailed the scene.
“It doesn’t matter what he said in those few short moments in the fading light. I watched as he looked inward, and a window seemed to open, and his eyes softened.”
Cruise shares his two kids, Isabella and Connor, with Nicole Kidman; he has a daughter, Suri, with Katie Holmes. In his interview with Oprah via People, he talked about his children:
“They love me, so they know. They’ve grown up with that, and I’m sure there are things that they don’t like, and you go, ‘Okay, that happened, things go wrong, but don’t live in it. Don’t live in that because today is a new day, and there’s plenty of tomorrows.’ They’re good people, my children. I’m proud of them.”
Cruise never really involves his children when it comes to work, but sometimes, there are scenes that actors need to channel deeper, and they can only find it within their own experiences.
Tom Cruise On Drawing Emotions From His Own Life
In his interview with IGN, Tom Cruise spoke about this particular instance where he drew inspiration from his own self to carry out a scene in The Last Samurai.
“What I find sometimes that is tricky is if actors are using too much of their own life in a picture, in a scene, they get locked into a particular way to play the scene, and it lacks an immediacy. I’m going through detox in this scene. Whatever happens, it’s just going to happen.”
Cruise approaches his work in the most professional way, but sometimes actors conjure up emotions by channeling them from their own accounts. The actor has no regrets, though, because he did his own research and understood the narrative.
The fascinating and epic tale of The Last Samurai is based on a real-life story, and fans can stream it via Netflix and Apple TV.
