Filmaker David Cronenberg Talks About Meeting with Tom Cruise

Macleans.ca talked with filmaker David Cronenberg about meeting with Tom Cruise. He’s planning on directing The Matarese Circle, starring Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Q: Last weekend you met with Tom Cruise at his house. We’re all dying to know what that was like.
A: Well, it’s a beautiful house. He’s been there for a year. He’s renovated it with impeccable taste. It’s really beautiful. I would live there, no problem.

Q: Was it business-like, casual?
A: It was casual. We were just getting to know each other. We did talk about The Matarese Circle, but we’ve talked about that before. I’m doing an original script basically. He’s read 40 pages and really liked them, and liked the character I had written for him, which is unusual for him.

Q: Why did you write it for him?
A: MGM was excited about putting Denzel and Tom together, and so was I. We all agreed that I should write the script. So I had these two guys in my head—you can’t not have them in your head at this point. The only other time I did that was with Spider with Ralph Fiennes attached, but there was already a script then.

Q: Were you intimidated by Cruise. Did you feel you were auditioning?
A: We’re all auditioning for each other, which makes it easy to take frankly, in the sense that we’re sizing each other up. But with Tom it’s so complimentary because he really knows his directors. The media version of Tom and the real version of Tom have no connection. It’s so bizarre. He’s a really smart, personable, well-educated-in-cinema guy. When you’re talking to him you’d really like him to be your friend.

Q: Did the Scientology thing spook you?
A: I don’t necessarily know any of the religious or philosophical beliefs of any of the actors I’ve worked with, or my crew. Every now and then you have a special relationship with an actor that involves discussing such things.

I think this is going to be one great movie. I can not think of two men that I would rather go to the theater to see in a movie together. Brilliant casting. You can read the rest of the interview here.

Image Credit: Splashnewsonline.com