“Tom never makes mistakes”: Tim Blake Nelson Found Himself in the Toughest Spot While Working With Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg in Minority Report
Tim Blake Nelson made an appearance on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, speaking about his career and revealing some juicy behind-the-scenes details about some of Hollywood’s greatest films. The actor/playwright has worked with Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, both of whom intimidated Nelson a little, albeit not deliberately.
A still from Minority Report/ 20th Century Fox
The actor has worked with Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg on Minority Report, which had a few scenes that he was more than a little nervous to pull off. Speaking to Michael Rosenbaum, the actor revealed a lot about his time on the set of Minority Report, and how Spielberg and Cruise might have come on a little strong with how good they were at what they do.
Tim Blake Nelson says Steven Spielberg could do anything on set, save acting
Steven Spielberg in an interview with BBC
Speaking on the Inside of You podcast, Tim Blake Nelson revealed how well Spielberg understands cinema, and how the director could do everything from hair and makeup to photography on set, but perhaps not acting.
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The actor revealed:
I don’t believe that, other than perhaps acting, that there is anything Steven doesn’t know how to do, and wouldn’t be able to step in and do it. I mean, I think the guy could, probably sew a button on an overcoat. He could operate the boom. He could do a passable job at makeup and hair.
The actor had worked with the director on Minority Report and also Lincoln, which Nelson admitted was a little intimidating for him. He said:
It’s Steven Spielberg directing me in a scene with Daniel Day-Lewis and, Yeah I was certainly intimidated by that. That was nothing against Steven or Daniel, they were doing all they could to make me feel comfortable.
Nelson had worked with Steven Spielberg before Lincoln on Minority Report, which starred Tom Cruise as well. Revealing some juicy behind-the-scenes details, the actor also mentioned how he felt intimidated on the set of that film as well, albeit it was not the intention that Spielberg had when working with him.
Tim Blake Nelson forgot his lines in the middle of a stunt on the set of Minority Report
Minority Report/20th Century Fox
Blake opened up about one particular scene, where the actor was in a wheelchair, about thirty feet off the ground. He remembered how shocked he was, and how difficult it was for him to get his line out. He said:
So I moved out on the platform and I had all this dialogue, because my character was a bit of a motor mouth, and I became anxious as I went out on the platform, and I went up on my lines. So he said ‘cut’, and he looked up at me from below, and he said ‘What was going on, what happened there?’.
And I said ‘Sorry, I was just a little nervous when I got on to the platform’ and he said ‘Okay, well you have had one to be nervous’ and, it wasn’t mean, it was just letting me know that there is a certain level of professionalism and there are certain expectations, and that was okay that I had been nervous and, no problem, but let’s not allow that to happen again.
And again, it was a little intimidating, because it was Steven. But there was nothing unfriendly about it, he was just stating a fact, and I got it right the next time, and we were okay. I was okay, and Tom never makes mistakes.
Blake would not have any trouble with the scene going ahead, as he revealed that the rest of the scene went smoothly. However, given that the actor was next to Tom Cruise, who has so far made little to no errors during scenes, the actor felt a little pressured by his surroundings, given that he had just bungled a take because he was ill-prepared for what came next.