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Talk To Her -> TC Works -> 1981 [taps]
Post Info TOPIC: 1981 [taps]
juliezhou

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1981 [taps]
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from imdb:

Prior to the production of the film, the key actors -Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and others - were required to participate in a 45-day-long period of orientation with the students of Valley Forge Military Academy. They were given uniforms, borrowed from their real life counterparts at the school and given authentic military haircuts. They slept in campus barracks and were subjected to the same rigors and hardship that all Valley Forge cadets went through. While most of the actors enjoyed and excelled at their orientation, Cruise opted to leave the training for the comforts of a nearby hotel until filming began.

Tom Cruise was originally going to play a background character in the film, but director Harold Becker was so impressed by the way he conducted himself as one of the military cadets during rehearsals that he was offered the part of David Shawn. At first, Cruise refused and then was finally convinced by Becker and producerStanley R. Jaffeplay the role.

This was only Tom Cruise's second film, appearing in it at the age of 19, playing Cadet Captain David Shawn. Cruise received fifth billing in the casting list.



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juliezhou

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[taps] imdb trivia
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“He was out-marching the other cadets on the parade field,” said Becker in 2004.
Cruise’s next role was in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Outsiders, Hutton’s was in Sidney Lumet‘s Daniel, and Penn got a major career boost when he played Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Although the Amy Heckerling comedy brought Penn much more attention, he told biographer Richard T. Kelly he looks back fondly on working with Cruise and Hutton because it “was like I’d gone to high school, and now Taps was college for me. And it was Fraternity Row.”


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tom-cruise-sean-penn-mission-impossible-274947/



-- Edited by juliezhou on Tuesday 29th of August 2023 04:16:02 PM

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juliezhou

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RE: 1981 Taps
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In a May 1996 interview Tom Cruise mentions being nervous doing his first love scene in Taps and discusses that the shower scene was worse. "We were all young guys" (Cruise was 18, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn were each 20, and Brendan Ward and John P. Navin Jr who played the younger cadets were each 13).

He says that he and Penn and Hutton had been flirting with the girls in the office and that they watched them film the scene: "Well, we come out for the scene [naked] and there are all these girls lined up and watching us".

https://www.fast-rewind.com/making_taps.htm



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juliezhou

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Back in 1981, a waitress had an uncomfortable interaction with a young Tom Cruise because of his dedication to his Taps character.

In an interview with Daily Mail, Cruise’s first manager, Eileen Berlin, recounted the interaction. “The waitress asked him, ‘Aren’t you one of the [Taps] actors?'” And rather than being flattered, Tom Cruise became upset. Berlin recalled, “Tom said to us, ‘Please tell her not to ask me any questions. I’m still in character.'”

The former manager said that Tom Cruise was (and likely still is) such a perfectionist that he never experiences genuine happiness. “What I have never seen is a real display of happiness in Tommy. He was always very, very ambitious, very, very determined to be a star. And that made him a perfectionist. That’s what drove him when I managed him and I’m sure that’s what drives him now.”

https://outsider.com/entertainment/tom-cruise-reportedly-wouldnt-talk-waitress-because-he-was-still-character/



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juliezhou

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All three actors are standouts here and it’s no wonder they went on to bigger things. While this was Hutton’s first project post-Oscar win, this was Sean Penn’s full-on motion picture debut and virtually Cruise’s as well. None of these actors had initially been plugged into the lead roles, but upon impressing Becker during rehearsals, that soon changed. Timothy and Sean are stuck with the less showy roles, but impress nonetheless…particularly the latter. Cruise’s Shawn is the more bombastic part of the three and the then 19-year-old actor does not disappoint. Every moment he is on screen is positively electrifying, imbuing what could easily be a one-rote character with a maniacal sense of duty and self-importance. Upon watching this film, it comes as absolutely no surprise that he launched into super-stardom as quickly as he did only a few years later. In fact, outside of Taps and our next two entries, Tom Cruise has been a leading man for his entire career. There are very few who can claim the same. Before I wrap things up, I’ll leave you with a few words from the man himself*…

“CC: Your first major role was in the film Taps. Did you feel like you were on the ground floor of something special, working with Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton?

I felt like it was a chance for me, and a beginning. Me and Penn, I really don’t know if we ever slept during that movie. We’d stay up all night and just talk about the film and about acting. And Hutton was working every day, so he couldn’t hang out that much except on the weekends. We were really scared and nervous and excited C we didn’t know what was going to happen. It was a special time in my life because it was my first movie, and it was Sean’s first movie. Hutton had just won the Academy Award and he was all excited. You felt that something special was happening.”

https://chud.com/127583/inside-the-actors-chewdio-taps-1981/



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