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Tom Cruise reveals lesson Paul Newman gave him while filming 'The Color of Money'
Touchstone Pictures 

Tom Cruise reveals lesson Paul Newman gave him while filming 'The Color of Money'

Tom Cruise was riding high from Top Gun, but not high enough to where he couldn't be humbled by the late Paul Newman.

Cruise stopped by The Graham Norton Show and reflected on how he became a leader on set over the course of his decades-long, Oscar-nominated acting career. The 58-year-old specifically recalled a learning experience with Newman on the set of 1986 drama The Color of Money

"I went, actually, from Top Gun to Color of Money, and we were shooting The Color of Money in Chicago," Cruise said, lamenting how cold it is in the Windy City. "Young actor, though, I was there, and I tried my wardrobe on in the summer. I was like, 'I'm gonna have a leather jacket and t-shirt. I'm gonna have my hair blown back. It's guaranteed up to 90 miles an hour.'"
Flash forward to January, where Cruise had to film in a much-less pleasant Chicago: 

"I am doing this scene, and I mean, I'm telling you, it's so cold I can't even speak. I'm in between takes, and [Newman] is in a car, and I'm running to this area. They're trying to thaw [me]. Newman's like, 'Where's the kid? Where's the kid?' So finally, I have this scene where he's in the car, and I'm next to him. I look in, and I'm like, 'What?' He had the warm coat. He had the heater in there. It was an electric heater, OK? ... He looked at me, and he's like, 'T-shirt? You tried your wardrobe on in the summer, didn't you?' I was like, 'Yes, sir. I did.' He's like, 'Watch and learn, kid. Watch and learn.' I never forgot it. I literally never forgot it."

The Color of Money starred Cruise as a pool protégé named Vincent taken under the wing of veteran pool hustler Eddie Felson (Newman). Newman, who died in September 2008, earned an Oscar for best leading actor. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and adapted from Walter Tevis' novel.

Cruise is now in the thick of filming Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, though the production schedule has reportedly been altered due to Cruise's commitment to promoting Top Gun: Maverick, due out later this year.

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