Meeting Paul Newman made Top Gun star, Tom Cruise nervous

Tom Cruise has recently been in the news for the stellar sequel to Top Gun, titled Top Gun: Maverick, which reportedly grossed over 1.5 billion dollars worldwide and this is when Cruise has recently touched 60 years. Critics and fans alike feel that Top Gun: Maverick has revived the old fashioned way of ‘going to the movies,’ by being a massive global hit.
This has established Tom Cruise as a movie star over many decades and has proved his consistent versatility as an actor and producer.However, there was a time when even Tom Cruise would get the jitters, such as when he went to meet his idol, the yesteryear star, Paul Newman.

Cruise recalled a time when he went to audition for Newman’s film, Harry and Son, to play the role of Newman’s son, Harry Keach – but Cruise ultimately was not picked for the role! Instead, the part went to Robby Benson. However, that did not deter Cruise, who was an upcoming actor at the time, from trying harder at auditions and by getting better and meatier roles as an actor.
Seeing his success now as one of Hollywood’s top ranking actors, it was surprising for his fans to learn that even he faced rejections in auditions at the start of his career. Eventually, just a couple of years later, he did get to work with Paul Newman in The Color of Money.
Indeed, his superstar status was soon established with the back to back releases of Top Gun and The Color of Money in 1986. Both movies were big time commercial hits.
This fact is incorporated in Paul Newman’s memoirs which will soon be published. A few years ago, Newman’s unpublished memoirs were discovered in the basement of the family house. The veteran actor passed away in 2008.