I’ve always been a Tom Cruise fan. Having been born in ‘81, the same year Cruise made his debut in TAPS, I consider myself a first-generation fan. My earliest memories of movie-watching are of me watching TOP GUN, taped off the Canadian version of HBO, First Choice. I watched it over-and-over, quickly wearing out the VHS tape. Same thing with COCKTAIL, RAIN MAN, THE COLOR OF MONEY and all the other Cruise movies that came out when I was a kid.
The fact is, as much as I love movies and try to be serious about my work here on JoBlo.com, in my heart I’m a fan first and foremost. Of everyone out there, I doubt I’m as big a fan of anyone more than Cruise, and to this day he ranks as my favorite modern movie star. So, when I got the chance to interview him on the red carpet in New Orleans for the JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK junket, I was barely able to contain my glee – even if I only really got a minute to chat with him. It’s here, in my red carpet coverage. I was pretty excited – can you tell?
Otherwise, I also got to participate in junket interviews with some of the cast and crew. First up was Cobie Smulders, who really comes into her own as an action heroine with this, and Danika Yarosh, who gets her first big lead role as the teenage girl who might be Jack Reacher’s daughter. Both seemed truly excited about their work in the film and with Cruise in particular.
Finally, I spoke to director Ed Zwick and Jack Reacher creator Lee Child. Zwick has some interesting insight into whether or not the Reacher character ties-into his other movie with Cruise, THE LAST SAMURAI, while Child agrees that the character is very much in that tradition.
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