The same year that Tom Cruise starred in the original Top Gun he co-starred alongside the great Paul Newman in Martin Scorsese’s underrated gem The Color of Money. The movie about pool sharks would win Paul Newman a long-overdue Academy Award, but it would also be a learning experience for Tom Cruise, who got to learn something quite important at the feet of the master.
A clip from The Graham Norton Show a few years ago recently went viral on YouTube which includes Cruise recounting some of his time spent shooting The Color of Money. The problem came when Cruise decided on his wardrobe for a particular scene when it was much warmer than it would be when the scene was actually shot. Cruise explained…
We’re shooting The Color of Money in Chicago… I was there and I tried my wardrobe on in the summer, and I was like ‘I’m going to have a leather jacket, t-shirt. I’m going to have my hair blown back. It’s guaranteed up to 90 miles an hour. And there I am in January and I’m shooting this scene…I’m telling you it’s so cold I can’t even speak.
As a fan of The Color of Money, which was actually a decades-later sequel to another great film, The Hustler from 1961, I know the scene very well. Cruise’s character Vincent and Eddie Felson, in one of Paul Newman's best roles, have had an argument, Cruise is walking down the streets of Chicago in January, and at night. Eddie drives alongside trying to convince Vincent to calm down and get in the car.
I had never really considered how cold Cruise probably was while filming this scene. The snow on the ground is obvious. It has to be freezing. Apparently Cruise had to stand near heaters between takes to warm up, but Cruise then realized he was the only one suffering in the shot, as Newman was much warmer. He continued…
I have this scene where he’s in the car and I’m next to him. I look in. I’m like ‘What?’ He had the warm coat. He had the heater in there… He just loved the fact that he’s driving this car and he’s got the electric heater, the warm coat, and I’m in the t-shirt. And he looked at me. He’s like 'T-shirt.' Said, ‘You tried your wardrobe on in the summer, didn’t you?’ ‘Yes sir, I did.’ He’s like, ‘Watch and learn, kid. Watch and learn’ I never forgot it.
Paul Newman was certainly one of the greats. He had the sort of Hollywood career that most can only dream of, and he clearly learned a few things along the way. Cruise says he now always pays attention to not just where, but when his movies will be filmed so he’s better prepared for the weather. And Cruise has now become the teacher for many young actors. No word how many of them have chosen the wrong wardrobe.