Thandie Newton recalls the 'nightmare' experience working with Tom Cruise on 'Mission: Impossible 2'
- Thandie Newton looked back on what it was like to work with Tom Cruise on "Mission: Impossible 2" in an interview with Vulture.
- She admitted she was scared of Cruise while making the movie.
- The "Westworld" star also recalled shooting a balcony scene between the two in which Cruise didn't think it was working and decided to act out her part to show her how to do it.
- "It was the most unhelpful," Newton said.
- After the scene, she called her "Beloved" director Jonathan Demme and told him the experience was "a nightmare."
Thandie Newton did not hold back when Vulture asked her what it was like to make a "Mission: Impossible" movie.
In a lengthy interview with the site, the "Westworld" star pulled the curtain back to reveal just how intense it is to work across from Tom Cruise on his franchise.
Newton starred in 2000's "Mission: Impossible 2," playing the love interest Nyah Nordoff-Hall opposite Cruise's IMF secret spy Ethan Hunt.
Newton told Vulture that she "was so scared of Tom" while working on the movie.
"He was a very dominant individual," Newton said. "He tries superhard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done."
The actress recalled a scene between her and Cruise on a balcony in Spain that wasn't working.
"We're frustrated with each other," Newton said of shooting the scene.
Newton said that director John Woo was downstairs looking at everything on monitors but Cruise wasn't happy with how the scene was going so the star took matters in his own hands.
A representative for Cruise didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Newton's remarks.
Newton said after the scene she called director Jonathan Demme, who cast her in his movie "Beloved," and described to him what had happened, saying it was "a nightmare."
"It was clear that I thought I was the big f---ing problem," Newton recalled. "And Jonathan was like, 'Thandie, shame on you for not backing yourself.' He was really sweet."
Then, Newton said, Cruise called her.
"I thought, Oh, this is it. The apology," the actress said. "No, he was just like, 'We're going to reshoot this next week.' I'm like, 'Way brilliant.' And the next time we shot it, I went in there and I just basically manifested all the — because I realized what he wanted. He just wanted this alpha bitch. And I did as best as I could. It's not the best way to get the best work out of someone."
Looking back on the experience now, Newton told Vulture she didn't think Cruise was "horrible," it was just that "he was really stressed." She also believes, if she was in that experience today, she would have done things differently.
"I was so tender and sensitive," she said. "If it was me now, I would want to go in and go, 'Hey!' I'd be it. You wouldn't need to play me and I play you on that balcony. And I would have squeezed that spot. Bam!"