Thandie Newton Was Once Terrified That Tom Cruise Got Too Into Their ‘Mission Impossible’ Love Scene

Tom Cruise brought on board actor Thandie Newton for his iconic Mission Impossible franchise. Although a huge role for Newton, there were a few moments on set that left the actor either upset or confused. One of those moments involved a love scene that Newton was concerned Cruise was too excited about.
Thandie Newton ended up in ‘Missions Impossible 2’ because of Nicole Kidman
Thandie Newton | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Newton once confided that Cruise’s ex-wife Kidman played a significant part in Newton’s Mission Impossible 2 role. Newton previously worked with Kidman in the 1991 feature Flirting, and seemed to develop a bit of a bond with Kidman afterwards. Because of that bond, Kidman would eventually suggest Newton for a role in Cruise’s action hit franchise.
“I knew Tom Cruise already of course, and Nicole said he should cast me. And I think [director] John Woo’s a genius,” Newton once told Telegraph. “I went to LA for the big audition. John Woo put a deck of cards in front of me, and said, I want you to improvise a scene with Tom, where you’re looking at these cards and you see your future. And I was like, what the hell is that? But I thought I’d make it romantic and tragic, and I actually brought myself to tears in this nonsensical little scene. They called me that afternoon and said I’d got it.”
Still, it took some convincing on Woo’s and Cruise’s part for Newton to accept the role. Newton figured her role would amount to little more than eye candy.
“When Tom and John Woo asked me to audition, they said it would have a love story. I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. The girl’s going to be screaming while the men are showing off their muscles.’ But I was happy to be of service,’” Newton once told Time.
She was pleasantly surprised to see there was a lot more depth to her character than that.
Thandie Newton was once worried that Tom Cruise was too into their ‘Mission Impossible’ love scenes
Although Newton knew both Cruise and Kidman, Mission Impossible 2 was the first time she’d ever worked with Cruise. Like many, she was a fan of Cruise growing up, and felt enamored by the movie star when he was around.
“You could practically feel Tom’s glow before he arrived on-set. And I mean that with reverence. I had posters of Top Gun on my wall. He’s a presence,” she said.
Still, she didn’t always have a good time working on the project. One of the cons that came with being the Mission Impossible co-star was the pressure on her looks.
“I mean, I had to be gorgeous all the time. A sassy, fabulous minx. A real Barbie role,” she said.
Apart from that, her love scene with Cruise almost took an awkward turn. The Han Solo actor enjoyed it at first until she feared Cruise had a very physical reaction to the take.
“But then, there was the love scene between Tom and I, where we were in bed all day. We laughed till we cried. As soon as he got into the bed, I thought he was really aroused. It was terrifying,” she recalled. “He was wearing one of those modesty cups. And it was massive. It was almost more distracting than if he’d actually had an erection. Which I certainly didn’t expect him to have – I’ve never done a love scene where that’s even been a remote possibility. So hysteria seemed a perfectly logical response.”
Why Thandie Newton was scared of Tom Cruise
In a 2020 Vulture interview, Newton went into a little further detail about her time on the Mission Impossible set. According to her, there were times where the pressure could really get to the box-office superstar. This sometimes resulted in an uncomfortable working experience for Newton.
“I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. 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,” she said.
There were also times where Newton became visibly upset with Cruise over how certain scenes were written. Cruise didn’t seem to be pleased with Newton’s performance in a certain shot. After clashing with Cruise about the take, Newton was finally able to deliver the type of performance that he wanted out of her. But she wasn’t sure if the process behind getting there was worth it.
“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 b****. And I did as best as I could. It’s not the best way to get the best work out of someone,” she said.
To clarify, Newton didn’t think Cruise was terrible to work with.
“It was just — he was really stressed,” she said.