Any actor who even considers tackling an action-packed and effects-heavy blockbuster could do a lot worse than heed the advice of Tom Cruise, seeing as the A-list icon has spent the better part of 40 years as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Of course, that doesn’t mean any aspiring lead needs to throw themselves off the world’s tallest buildings, attach themselves to moving airplanes, or ride motorcycles from cliffs before parachuting to safety, but Timothée Chalamet nonetheless found himself inspired by an email sent by the Top Gun: Maverick star.
As he revealed to GQ, the Dune: Part 2 headliner was urged to take it upon himself to seek out the best possible training to do justice to the project, which he fully took on board.
“After I met Tom Cruise, right after finishing the first Dune, he sent me the most wonderfully inspiring email. He basically said, in Old Hollywood, you would be getting dance training and fight training, and nobody is going to hold you to that standard today. So it’s up to you. The email was really like a war cry.”
Continuing the love-in, Chalamet would then go on to describe Maverick as one of the finest features he’s ever laid eyes upon, which is an opinion shared by a whole lot of people.
“Top Gun was just hugely inspiring to me last summer when we were making Dune. Some of the crew were kind of scoffing at going, but I just thought it was one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen.”
We’ll be seeing Chalamet’s action chops when the Dune sequel comes to theaters next year, but what we really want to know is whether or not he’ll be welcomed into Cruise’s super-exclusive and prestigious cake list.