Many people in Hollywood seem to have mastered the movie business, and it’s possible that none have done so more than mega movie and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer. His 50+ year career is filled with so many hits on both the big and small screen that one would be hard pressed to recall them all, even knowing that he counts 2025 movie schedule win, F1, among them. He’s worked with some of the world’s top stars, including Tom Cruise, and he was recently very honest about what it’s like to make a movie with the Top Gun: Maverick headliner.
What Did Jerry Bruckheimer Say About Working With Tom Cruise?
Over the years, we’ve heard a lot about how dedicated Tom Cruise is to things like completing all of his own unbelievable stunts, how he seemingly “truly, truly connects” with everyone he meets, supports his co-stars and is there for projects (like NCIS: Origins) that he appears to have no stake in, and (of course) how he never forgets to send anyone that famous coconut cake every Christmas. So, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Jerry Bruckheimer, who worked with Cruise on Top Gun, its mega-hit 2022 sequel, and Days of Thunder in 1990, also extols his virtues as one of the hardest working movie stars.
Bruckheimer recently spoke to Vanity Fair, and when talking about his experiences with Cruise, noted how he’s grown from an actor to someone who also produces his movies, and said:
When we were making the first Top Gun, he was like a sponge, he wanted to know everything I was doing and what everyone did. And now he's a better producer than I am. If there's someone on the crew who's not doing what they're supposed to, Tom notices because he knows what they're supposed to be doing, and they're gone. You've got to be phenomenal at whatever you do, because Tom doesn't suffer people who don't know what they're doing. He wants the best behind the camera and the best in front of the camera.
We all know that there can be literally hundreds of people who work on a movie set on any given day. Understanding that Cruise can actually recognize everyone on set, what they’re supposed to be doing, and whether or not they’re fulfilling those duties to the best of their ability…while also taking care of his responsibilities as an actor, is wild.
Though, we do all remember the infamous on-set incident when he yelled at two crew members for breaking Covid protocols during the pandemic. That alone means I don’t doubt that he’s very capable when it comes to the whole “not suffering fools” thing. Bruckheimer continued:
He's really focused on everything: the advertising, the distribution. He'll call theater owners and say please keep our movie running a little longer. Other actors, they finish the movie and they're gone. They don't want to do publicity. They don't want to do anything. But the real movie stars, they really want to promote their movies.
Cruise’s all-in nature might be confusing or intimidating to some, but it seems pretty apparent that it’s helped to make him the star he’s been for many decades now. And, when others who are the best in the business admire how hard you work, there’s probably little that can stop you.
