Tom Cruise Teleconference 3 - War of the Worlds Previous Kylee Dawson: What is your favorite part so I will tell my professors? Tom Cruise: My favorite part of the book? Kylee Dawson: Yes. About your movie? Tom Cruise: Of course it is about my movie! When I work with a director I spend…before I start working with someone I go through and actually study all of their work. I will go look at actors, I will go and study their films.  Directors -- before I go and I will go and look at every single one of their pictures. Obviously someone such as Kubrick or Spielberg I had seen their movies many, many times. But before I work with someone I will then brush up again because when I am working with them I want to know how is it they create? What is it that interests them? It is not even necessarily an analytical process. It is a creative process. Someone said well how did you come up with that idea? You just create it. You just come up with that idea.   So as when we go back and look at and we can break down analytically why something worked or how it affected me, when we are creating it we are just creating it. It is not necessarily analytical. It is not, “Oh, if I do this, it is…” You put everything in place and then you want that moment of creativity or magic or what anyone wants to call it. That instant it happened. Wow, whatever. Kylee Dawson: Well, I don't mean to keep milking it, but which performance is specifically in which films were you most inspired by? Tom Cruise: Which ones? Throughout history? Operator: Pardon me. I am sorry about that. That line was put back into the conference. I guess we will take the next question from Sacha Obas. Tom Cruise: Okay. Whoa! What just happened there? Operator: Sorry about that.   Tom Cruise: That is all right.   Operator: The next question is from Sacha Obas. Sacha Obas: Hi, Mr. Cruise. I am just going to try to shoot them to get a lot in quick, all right? Tom Cruise: Go man, go. I am going to fire it out. Sacha Obas: All right. So the movie is about aliens impacting the planet.  Do you believe in aliens and do you believe that they would attack us? Tom Cruise: I don't know. I believe what I know empirically; what I have seen myself and can observe. I think that it is truly arrogant to think that we are the only living sentient beings in all the universes for infinity. I think that is a little unreal. Aliens? I have no idea.   Sacha Obas: All right. You worked with now famous, world famous, Dakota Fanning. How do you feel about child acting? Do you think there should be an age for them to start getting into the business? Tom Cruise: No. I think that they should absolutely…I think if they want to work they should work. Dakota is enormously talented and I think if they want to work, I absolutely feel very protective not only of her but of all artists getting into work because I know the ups and downs, the ins and outs of this business. I have been there, done it. But I just have great respect for her as an actress. Sacha Obas: Apart from “Losing It” and your cameo in “Austin Powers” you haven't really done any comedies. Is there a reason why? Who would you like to work with from the comedic…? Tom Cruise:  Well, I have done “Risky Business,” I have done “Jerry Maguire.”   Sacha Obas: Yes, but those were…”Jerry Maguire” was more of a sentimental movie.  But like a full comedy… Tom Cruise: Here's what I like. I like comedy-dramas.  I enjoy character comedy, okay? Even in “Magnolia” you might say there are comedic elements. I enjoy finding things that…even in “Collateral” where it is not a comedy but there are things that you laugh at or with because it hits a truth, it hits a note, and you are with that story and you understand those characters to a point that it makes you laugh. I consider “Jerry Maguire” to be a romantic comedy in the way you look at Billy Wilder.  Those pictures I loved doing. Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview