Steven Spielberg revealed what it was like working with actor Tom Cruise on multiple movie projects
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Spielberg described Cruise as highly collaborative and deeply committed to the filmmaking process
Spielberg, 79, directed Cruise, 63, in 2002's Minority Report and 2005's War of the Worlds
Steven Spielbergrevealed what it's like working with actorTom Cruise.
Spielberg, 79, who directed Cruise in 2002'sMinority Reportand 2005'sWar of the Worlds, recalled the experiences while speaking at a keynote event at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
During his conversation with panel host Sean Fennessey, the director shared that Cruise, 63, showed up to set every morning before the crew.
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"Tom Cruise showed up every morning when I showed up," Spielberg said. "I show up before the crew. So I get to the set sometimes at 6:30 in the morning."
"OnMinority Reportand onWar of the Worlds, Tom would insist on getting there when I got there so we would map out the whole day … which was really helpful for me," he continued, adding that it was a verycollaborative process.
Cruise has long been known for going above and beyond for his work. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in May 2025, the actor said that he is constantly expanding his abilities and knowledge base, because he knows it will ultimately make him better at his craft.
"I will learn a skill, and I know eventually I'm going to use it in a movie," he said.
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He added that he is "constantly training" in a variety of skills, "whether it's the piano or having more time to dance, or parachuting orflying airplanes or helicopters. The wonderful thing is you're never there. It can always be better."
"Anytime you see Tom in the plane, he's at the controls,"Christopher McQuarrie, the director of multipleMission: Impossiblefilms, told PEOPLE at the time. "He's basically a one-man film crew: operating the camera, acting and flying."
Cruise, who co-produced 2022'sTop Gun: Maverick, even personally designed a training program for his younger costars in the film.
"We put them through a training course that Tom actually designed himself. He's a licensed aerobatic pilot, and he was thrown into the deep end when he did the firstTop Gunwithout any training. So he knew that they would need to kind of work up to that level," the film's director, Joseph Kosinski, toldEntertainment Weeklyin a 2020 interview.
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Glen Powell, who appeared in the movie as one of the franchise's new young fighter pilots, echoed the sentiments,telling PEOPLE at the timethat, "Tom's as great as people think he is."
"He's as nice, he's as hardworking, he's as generous, he's as available. He's the man," Powell, 37, added.
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