All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S10E03.The.Serious.Actor.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTN_track4_[eng]

With Top Gun,Tom Cruise had risen so high.

I feel the need...

So fast...

The need for speed.

Top Gun is the solidification
of Tom Cruise as megastar.

But for his next maneuver...

Tom Cruise is not going
to take the easy route.

No. Each film that I've done,

I've been very specific
from the choices.

Tom liked to act.

It's a tough life.

[Charles] It was important
to him to be seen

as a serious actor.

For Tom,
it wasn't all about the money.

Whatever color it was.

Maybe the money
is what's throwing you
off here today.

The Color of Money
was a big moment for him.

You gotta have
two things to win.

You gotta have brains
and you gotta have balls.

And he showed that he had chops.

Tom Cruise was on a path

to acting excellence.

But as we'll find out,

there were two movies
on the horizon,

Rain Manand Born on the Fourth of July,

where Cruise
would need to deliver

his best performances yet.

If we don't go
on that emotional journey

through Tom's performance,
there is no movie.

Did you fucking hear
what I said?

From working with a legend
on Rain Man...

- Yeah.
- Dustin can be prickly.

...to the wrath
of Oliver Stone

on the set of
Born on the Fourth of July.

He's intimidating.

The man is terrifying.

He's fearless
and he expects you to be.

Are you trying to rat fuck me?
What the fuck is this?

Get off my set.

Learn those effing lines.

My name is Ron Kovic,
I'm a Vietnam veteran.

But would these two
legendary performances

be enough?

And the Oscar goes to...

After 1986's Top Gun,

Tom Cruise was flying high,

but this action star heartthrob
felt the need for less speed.

And Tom doesn't go
"I'll just go the payday

in those high action movies."

Instead,

Tom Cruise took
a costarring role

alongside Paul Newman
in The Color of Money,

working with acclaimed
Oscar-winning director,
Martin Scorsese.

Tom tries to not pick projects

based on the business
of show business.

Tom picks projects

based on what he wants to do.

And what he wanted to do next

shook things up
all over again.

- Drinks are on the house.
-

Which brings us
to the next chapter

in Tom Cruise's career.

And it's these two movies
he filmed in 1988

that would prove
once and for all

that Tom Cruise
wasn't just an action star.

Tom had something
to prove, still.

You know,
that he was a real actor.

To help prove
that he was a real actor,

Tom wanted to work
with another real director.

He just really wanted
to work with Oliver.

Oliver Stone.

At the time,
he was, and still is,

one of the greatest directors
of... of our age.

Oliver Stone's recent successes

with Talk Radioand Wall Street,

and he had already won
an Oscar for one war movie.

And his next film,
starring Tom Cruise,

would be a passion project
over a decade in the making.

I gave three quarters
of my body in Vietnam.

Born on the Fourth of July,

was the deeply
personal story of Ron Kovic.

[Frank] It's such an incredible story.

A Vietnam vet

whose book of the same name

explored the human cost
of the American War machine.

[Frank] Ron Kovic's journey
and it's a war story.

How he changed when he came
home and who he became.

Kovic was
a very flawed character.

For Tom Cruise it would be

a chance to explore
a complicated subject.

With the director known
for his uncompromising take

on the American experience.

Oliver really honored that,
as did Tom,

because you're telling
Ron's story,

which is so significant.

This was an incredible
choice for him to make.

Sometimes, God, I'm so confused.

Just help me, Jesus.
Help me to make
the right decision.

Tom Cruise is not known
for doing, you know...

-
- Fuck you!

[Frank] ...dark material

and the character that he plays
is usually

the moral center.

And this wasn't a role
Tom would take lightly.

Tom started to spend time
at the VA Hospital,

down in Long Beach,

to work with some of those guys
to get a feel for them.

It was a way to take Tom
and put him into this world,

you know, situate him
and envelop him.

But Tom Cruise was a busy man.

And at the same time
was preparing
for the other role

he would take on in 1988.

[Risa] Prepping one film

while another film was shooting

because they really
tumbled on top of each other.

And tumbling down
was Rain Man,

a touching,
hilarious road movie
about two long lost brothers.

And this would be
another very challenging role

for Tom to juggle.

Rain Man wasn't a book.

It wasn't a reboot of a TV show.

It was Barry Morrow's
original screenplay.

And this wasn't just
any screenplay.

It's a great story
about two people who are family.

But they weren't found.
They didn't know it.

- I don't have a brother.
- And finding each other.

Why didn't anybody tell me
I had a brother?

And this wasn't just
any brother.

I'm staying with my brother,
Charlie Babbitt.

- That's what you want?
- Yeah.

Tom Cruise would be starring
alongside none other

than Dustin Hoffman

who would be taking on

one of the most
challenging roles

of his career.

He had seen 60 Minutes
about savants.

What day of the week
was August 13, 1911?

Sunday.

I think you know,
so when he read it,

it appealed to him.

Dustin Hoffman had
a long way to go

before finding the nuance

that would lead to one of his
most incredible performances.

More than anything,
he wanted it to be real.

Handicapped movies
are brutally hard to do right.

I mean, most of them
come out just awful,

and I think
Dustin appreciated that,

and wanted to do, you know,
a sensitive portrayal.

Dustin Hoffman
had a lot to learn.

So he turned to Gail Murtux

and her unique skill
in the film industry.

One of the things I started
to specialize in

was finding people
who were very close

to the characters
they were playing,

for the actors
to spend time with.

I met Dustin on the movieStraight Time.

All I want to do is get a job.

And then after that,
periodically he'd called me

to do research on things
that he was considering.

And I got a call
at the end of 1986.

He was thinking of doing
this movie Rain Man,

and he wanted me to

sort of look at it and try
and find out more about,

uh, savants.

Gail helped discover something

that would give Rain Man

the authenticity
it would ultimately
become famous for.

[Gail] And I went to some experts.

And that's when
they immediately said

in that script,
Raymond has some qualities

where
he's developmentally disabled

and some
where he could be autistic.

And you can't have both.

Director Martin Brest,

fresh off this action-comedy
blockbuster...

You don't mind if I ask around
a little bit, do you?

Don't do a damn thing.
Stay out of this.

...was attached,
and he brought in a new writer.

Ron Bass.

Working with Gail's research

Ron Bass
made one very important change.

He made him autistic.

He's artistic?

- No, he is autistic.
-

You know, so it wasn't
where he's
developmentally disabled.

Ron was putting in
more specific things.

Because now it was autism.

A change that
would not only give Hoffman

more to sink his teeth into,

but would make Tom's role
more complex.

I like having you
for my brother.

I'm an excellent driver.

Rain Man was gaining momentum

and preproduction got rolling.

I had received a phone call,

basically checking out
my availability.

I had him send me a script.

And we went back
in the next day

to say, "Yeah, I like this.
Oh, we can talk."

Never heard from him again.

Well, there's
a reason for that.

But it's a bit
of a prickly subject.

[Michael] Martin Brest is a prickly man.

And Dustin can be prickly,

so they probably weren't
the best match.

He and Dustin
had creative differences.

So, he he was gone.

About two or three months
went by

and then Spielberg
was going to do it.

There was no bigger
or more experienced name,

to helm such a tricky project.

Spielberg, you know,
worked with the Ron Bass script.

But Hollywood's
biggest director
was picturing

something more barnstorming
than Morrow's original idea.

In that script, there's one
where they're being chased

and they get into a barn
and they're hiding out.

And Raymond
has to build a mini bike

that they escape on
out of spare parts in the barn.

Could you imagine Dustin Hoffman
riding off on a mini bike?

I'm an excellent driver.

Spielberg's vision
wasn't the deal breaker.

Hoffman had committed
to a character trait
for Raymond

involving averting eye contact,

including with Tom's character.

When Dustin told him

he was never going to
look Tom in the eye,

Spielberg wasn't going to do it.

- What you looking at?
- I don't know.

And on this issue,
Spielberg and Dustin Hoffman

truly couldn't see eye to eye.

So he was gone.

The next cab off the rank

was a Hollywood veteran
and Hoffman ally.

He had gotten in touch
with Sydney Pollack

because they had doneTootsie together.

Nobody will hire you.

And I knew Sydney very well

because I did a lot of research
on Out of Africa,

so I moved into his offices.

That's when I officially got
associate producer.

Gail was locked in,

but Pollack
still needed a producer.

I received a phone call
from Sydney Pollack.

He told me that he had
this project, called Rain Man.

And I didn't dare say...

"Gee, I know about that."

Also receiving a call

was experienced DP John Seale.

I was asked to go in
to meet Sydney Pollack.

It was a wonderful meeting,
I must say.

He's talking to me
about the film and told me

how he was going
to make the movie,

why he was going to

change the script
to do this and this.

He wanted to put humor in there.

[Marie] Sydney Pollack wanted it to be

like Hell's Angels
coming along, and...

We were seven weeks out
from shooting

and he called me in

and said, "I'm not doing it."

And he said he was nervous

about putting humor
in the script.

If you have
those three directors
who all drop out,

that movie is gone.

Sensing a case
of three strikes and out...

That movie's gone.

Dustin Hoffman took matters
into his own hands.

Dustin ran into Barry Levinson
and said,

"Do me a favor
and call Sydney Pollack.

He is having questions.

Maybe you could, like,
calm him down."

But here's the thing.

Levinson was in need
of a new project himself.

After his smash hit...

Good morning, Vietnam!

Barry's wife heard him
on the phone.

She said,

"This sounds like something
you would like to do.

Why don't you do it?"

And with that,
the Rain Man project

was soon on
to its fourth director,

as Levinson signed on.
And others re-signed on.

Larry rang me and said,

"Oh, you're on it.
I'd like you to continue on it.

Would you like to be on it?"

And I said "Yeah, I'd love to."

And they asked me if
I would stay on.

I did, and the rest is history.

As a Barry Levinson production,

with the crack team in place,

the next Tom Cruise picture
was set.

It was moving pretty quickly.

But he wanted it
a little bit different.

And so, too,
Ron Bass was rehired

to implement Barry's
substantial script changes.

He only got to work
with Ron Bass for ten days

because of the writers' strike.

[Gerald] We had a very short
period of time to prepare it,
to get it going,

before the strike
that was threatening us.

And the threat was very real.

You had to have
a shooting script.

The film would
have had to have been postponed.

But how many postponements

could Rain Man endure?

I want a firm date
and I want it early.

And for Tom's sake,

let's hope Ron Bass
would have enough time.

The truth is

Dustin Hoffman's doing
the same thing

throughout the entire film.

It is a one note performance.

Which meant
the script work needed

was less
about Hoffman's character,

and more about Tom's.

His character needed to change.

He's a prick

and then he's a hero
that loves his brother.

But it wasn't all on Ron Bass

to flesh out
the intricate details

of this delicate relationship.

I like having you
for my big brother.

Tom and Dustin
dug deep as well.

[Marie] They were rehearsing.

They switched roles.

Because Dustin was saying,
"It's got to be so hard"

because he's got
his head down all the time.

So there's no eye contact
with Tom.

So they switched roles.

So Dustin would know
what he felt like.

Did you read all this?

- I don't know.
- You don't know?

Levinson, Tom and Dustin

also needed to find
the very thing

that had already scared off
almost everyone else.

- You made a joke, Ray.
- Yeah.

Barry wanted
to put humor in there.

- Buckle up.
- Uh-oh!

Put your, put your shorts
on the highway.

A lot would come out
in rehearsals.

[Michael] So, they had to sort
of make it all work,

which I think lent

to the real sense
of reality and spontaneity

you have in the film
between Raymond and his brother.

- Qantas?
- Qantas never crashed.

It was Barry's line, he said

"Qantas never crashed."

And then he hollered
Michael looked that up.

So that was definitely Barry,
Barry Levinson.

And Gail's extensive research

provided a crucial spark
for character development.

[Gail] I had made up a tape

of all these famous
baseball things,

and in it was
Abbott and Costello,

"Who's on First."

- I mean the fellow's name
on first base!
- Who?

- The fellow playing first base
for Saint Louis.
- Who?

- The guy on first base.
- Who is on first?

What are you asking me for?

And when I was listening
to that,

I walked into Barry's office

and said, "Listen to this.
This is really funny."

Not just funny.

But a perfect device
for Hoffman's

baseball obsessed character.

You know,
that's when Dustin is doing

his mantra of Who's on First.

Who? What are you asking for?

[Tom] What is this?
Why is he doing that?

- Who's on first?
- Whenever he gets nervous,

he does "Who's on First?"

With just three days
before the strike,

writer Ron Bass
was consigned to his desk

to absorb a plethora
of improvised ideas.

You know, Ron beat the strike,
you know...

That's, that's rare.
That's hard to do.

Ron Bass got the script in

the day
before the strike was official.

With a shooting script in hand

and two big stars attached,

all Barry Levinson
needed to do now

was cast the rest of the movie.

Roles like Susanna.

It was very important
for Barry to have

someone who could be sexy
and the kind of girl

that Tom Cruise's character
would go for.

He wanted a foreign actress.

Because
her foreignness would add

another element to a story

that was all about
understanding.

I was looking for you.

She hardly spoke any English.

You don't listen to me.

And once, I just said,

"Barry, should she be
a little more explicit
with the words?"

And he looked at me
and he said, "No, I love it,

because
I can't understand it either,

and neither can Tom."

- If you don't listen to me,
this is...
- What are you talking about?

Nobody could understand it.

Valeria fit right in.

But Levinson
still hadn't cast the role
of Raymond's doctor.

Gena Rowlands.

That's who they originally
wanted to cast as Dr. Lenz.

But she wanted billing equal
to Tom and Dustin.

That was a deal breaker.

And with the doctor out,

they had a bit
of an emergency on their hands.

We're about three days
away from filming.

Dustin said,
"Barry, this is the guy

that you should just hire him
as Dr. Lenz."

And Dustin was pointing...
at Jerry.

I thought it was a joke.
I'm not an actor.

Dustin said.
"Come on, just humor me.

Just read
a couple of lines with me."

So I did.
The next day, Saturday,

in my office,
knock on the door,

I look up and the door's filled
with all these people.

Levinson said,

"Welcome to Rain Man,

Dr. Lenz."

Dr. Lenz
was the original
character name,

which was a problem for Gerry,
according to Barry.

And he went
"No, you're not Jewish enough."

He said
"I'll come up with a name."

And so, thanks to Gerry,

Dr. Lenz
in the original script,

turned into Dr. Bruner.

And Dr. Bruner
turned into Gerry.

I took on this burden
out of loyalty to your father.

To make the story of a journey,

a journey worth taking
for the audience,

Levinson had
one simple, if novel, idea.

It was a road, road trip
from Cleveland, Ohio, to LA.

And while
the direction of the road

would define the direction
of the movie...

To shoot it
in narrative order...

Rain Man would be
a voyage of discovery.

And that was important

because
just days from shooting,

Dustin Hoffman revealed
he hadn't traveled far.

[John] Dustin said to me
a week before shooting.

"You know,
I haven't found Raymond."

You didn't feel
it was authentic.

It didn't feel right.

And I said,
"Well, you better hurry up.

We've only got five days left.

And we're shooting."

A large part of filming
would be on the road.

But first shooting on Rain Man
began in LA in May of 1988.

The first day of shooting
was down in San Pedro.

And even though they had

their completed
shooting script,

before they even began,

Barry wasn't so sure
about the ending.

But as for the very beginning,

well, that was
up in the air, too.

But in a different way.

I want to open this film

with a car flying
across the LA skyline.

And then there's the song
that went with it.

It was one
of Hans' first big scores.

They spent a lot of time
with that "Iko Iko" song,

that really spoke
to both Hans and Barry.

They weren't just going to do
a John Williams score,

you needed songs
that sold records.

While the soundtrack
was all about selling records,

in Ohio,
Tom was drawing crowds.

We would know
Tom arrived in the morning

when all this cheering
would go up.

And while still bathing
in the glow of Top Gun,

Tom recognized the Rain Man set
was no place

for a Hollywood show pony.

Tom was so giving in the way
that he had no...

he had no attitude.

No, he felt
he would learn a lot

and he would be better
in the role,

you know, by not having
any attitude at all.

The authenticity
demanded by Levinson

ran right through casting,

and right across America.

Barry wanted me
to cast it in locally.

I mean,
these were just one liners.

So, a couple of lines.

So it wasn't
worth bringing actors
from LA or New York.

Hey, dipshit, move it! Hey!

Well, he just likes
for real people.

With real disabilities.

[Marie] We filmed in Cincinnati
at the home.

It was a convent.

I cast 50 people.

They were so loving.

Excuse me, please.
What's on TV?

Changed my life, really.

Marie's casting lent Rain Man

a distinctly
un-Hollywood authenticity,

which led to
an unintended consequence
for Dustin Hoffman.

Dustin said: "You know,
I don't feel authentic.

I don't feel like I'm,
I've got that character."

As Dustin
searched for his character,

another actor...

- I'm not an actor.
- Okay, cast member,

struggled with his.

Gerry was scared to death.

I was beside myself...

...for me to get
in front of people,

was never my thing.

And yet working alongside Tom.

Good luck.

Look, this isn't
a close call, son.

It's a formality.

Some scenes were easy.

We were standing up in a hall,

where we're talking
with Tom Cruise.

Well, it's the way he...
acts, sleeps, eats.

And we rehearsed that once.

He shot it, printed it.
That was it.

While others were more elusive.

[Gerald] A scene where I'm out
on the outside steps.

Tom is down...

...beside the car, at the curb,

and he says something to effect.

Bruner...

[Gerald] Who is that guy?

Raymond is your brother.

[Gerald] And we did that scene
seven, eight times.

I wasn't saying it right.

He's your brother.

And I'll be damned
if I could say it any different.

He was shaking.

Like I said, I'm not an actor.

But searching
for the performance on camera

was becoming part
of the process,

as both Tom and Dustin
reached for their characters.

[John] We did a lot of takes,
30-odd takes,

almost for every shot.

When you're on a loose,
what-if system,

like we were shooting.

And if you're wondering,

the what-if system
is just as it sounds.

What if we did it here?
What if we did it there?

What if we? What if we?

There was a what-if film.

-
- [Tom sighs]

[John] What if he runs out
into the field?

Oh, okay, we can
run him out into the field.

So that's what would happen.

We, we just let him
run out into the field.

Son of a bitch!

The what if approach
to shooting

also allowed the actors
to ask the same question.

They, too,
were able to bring to it

this, this wonderful,
uh, feeling

that includes
a bit of the dialog, reactions

or to the other person's lines.

And because of the strike,

script revisions
weren't allowed.

So instead, every morning
you know,

pretty much
it was like finding the scene.

So we captured moments

that
weren't necessarily scripted.

And so their characters
evolved in ways

that frankly didn't think
that Tom Cruise was capable of.

And I know it was
because of Dustin's guidance.

I really believe that.

For me, it was always like

you never know
what's going to happen next.

Neither did Tom and Dustin,

and there was so much
improvisation happening,

you could smell it.

[Gail] And he wants to fart.

It's a fart
in the telephone box.

- Did you fart, Ray?
- Fart.

- Did you fucking fart?
- Fart.

That wasn't in the script.

But the what if system

left John Seal asking

what if the footage
they were getting

would create problems later?

When the sound department
keeps saying

"Don't overlap, don't overlap."

You know, that, to me
was a killer for the actors

because they have to
pause a performance

and I kept thinking,
"This is ridiculous," you know?

But it wasn't until
the matchstick scene

when I thought, "We've got
to do this two cameras."

Using two cameras
wasn't conventional
in Hollywood then.

But Barry and John's
shooting style

of embracing the what ifs,

allowed the actors to maintain
uninterrupted performances.

- Uh-oh!
- The matchstick scene...

Toothpicks.

...or rather
the toothpick scene
was unscripted.

At the end of the scene,
Barry felt like

"Wait, there's one more thing.
What should we do?"

The idea had come
from Gail's research.

And I said,
"Well, remember the thing

in Oliver Sacks book,
about matches?"

Toothpicks.

Fell on the floor

and the savant knew
exactly how many.

246 total. Change.

So we did the toothpicks.

Sorry about the toothpicks.

And so this scene
shot on the fly.

I put two cameras on
straight away.

Forced a change in John Seal's
shooting style forever.

From that moment on, I've never
not shot multiple cameras.

Tom found the process
so freeing

he struggled to control
his creative urges.

Tom would push himself on set,
saying, "Do you want to keep
doing it over and over?"

And that was actually when

Dustin said to him "Enough.

It's good, it's good.
It's right." You know.

As the story
in production moved west

all the way to Vegas,

characters were changing
shape so fast,

even the actors
weren't being told.

I was in disbelief.

I really was. I got a call.

"Uh, We want a virgin.

We want her to be about
18 years old."

I was about 30,
maybe a little older.

And I thought,
"Okay, I can do that."

I arrived at
the actual Caesar's Palace

costume fitting.

Which is
when Barry Levinson wondered

"What if the character of Iris
was someone else entirely?"

All of a sudden, he's putting me
in this black dress

with high heels,

and we just never mentioned
the little virgin.

Because Levinson
felt Dustin Hoffman's Raymond

had evolved to the point
where he was ready to meet
a different kind of challenge.

You're looking for a date?

And lo and behold,
I'm a working whore in Vegas.

Had the what if system gone
too far?

Arriving on set,

Lucinda Jenney
experienced firsthand

Barry Levinson's
what if system.

It was wonderful.

He doesn't have
any money, honey.

Well, that's all right, sugar,
because we are just talking.

[Lucinda] Maybe they were
experimenting themselves

with how this character
would serve,

where he was at,
at this time in the story.

Whoa!

I'm out of here.

Of course.
What time is the date?

- Later.
- What time is the date?

- [Lucinda] It's 10 o'clock!
- I have to be in bed at 11.

Lights out at 11.

For Lucinda,

her role, even her new one,
was the easy part.

It was trailing
in Tom Cruise's wake

that was more difficult.

Word got out that Tom was here.

The girls were crying out,
in desire, really.

And I was totally overwhelmed.

And I guess
I must have been shaking.

And he put his hand on my back
and he said, "Are you okay?"

And I said, "Well, uh, no."

And he started laughing
and he said,

"You know, I just don't feel it
like that anymore."

As the road trip
continued westward,

nearing its completion in LA,

Levinson knew
where his movie would end,

but not yet how.

The ending was always
a big question.

They didn't know
what was going to work.

Brother took you to Las Vegas.

At that point, Tom is wanting
to become his guardian.

So they, they have to see
a psychologist.

Why are you interfering?
This is my family.

- I'm not interfering.
- This is my family.
Do you understand that?

And probably it was Dustin

who said to Barry,
"Why don't you do it?"

- Well, if Gerry...
- Acts.

Not an actor.

Maybe Barry could, too.

And so Levinson would decide
the ending of his movie,

both as a director
and as a character on screen.

Do you want to stay
with your brother Charlie

- here in Los Angeles?
- Yeah.

- Or do you want
to go back to Wallbrook?
- Yeah.

You know, was Tom going
to let him go or not?

And Barry really didn't want
a sentimental ending.

But that decision
about what would happen

was left until
the very last minute.

And Barry had it
like the night before.

And he decided "No."

That is no to
the happy Hollywood ending.

How many days is that
before we're gonna be together?

Fourteen days from today.
Today's Wednesday.

- Hours?
- Three hundred thirty six hours.

Mystifying.

But this was not the end
of the story for Dustin Hoffman

and the character
he had finally perfected.

But he honed it on set.

Having reached
his final destination
as an actor,

- Dustin Hoffman
proposed the ultimate...
- Yeah.

...what if.

He felt the intimate scenes

between him and Tom
and the doctors weren't right.

So they actually went back
and re-shot that.

Only now
did Dustin Hoffman decide...

I have it.

And soon we'd have it, too.

Because after a trip
across America,

Rain Man was ready
to come home to audiences,

premiering in December of 1988.

It was more than...

...you could ever imagine.
It was great.

Audiences and critics

immediately agreed
on one thing.

I thought Dustin was brilliant,
but he very often is.

Hoffman's portrayal of Raymond

seemed predestined
for an Oscar.

But the performance doing
the emotional heavy lifting

wasn't his.

Remember reading reviews,
saying,

"Boy, the real actor in this
is Tom Cruise."

Tom took a character
who was despicable

when we meet him.

You're using me!

- You use everybody.
- I'm using Raymond.

Raymond, Raymond.
Am I using you?

Am I using you, Raymond?

- [Hoffman] Yeah.
- Shut up!

He is answering a question
from a half hour ago.

And turned him into the person
we were rooting for the most.

An extraordinary performance.

I made a connection.

And it showed his range.

Tom had proved one thing.

[Michael] This guy is more
than a pretty face.

He is an actor.

- Rain Man,
Mark Johnson producer.
-

Rain Man was nominated

for a slew of awards.

And we were nominated for eight.

Including cinematography.

I was rung
at 3:30 in the morning

to say,
"Hey, have you heard the news?

You've been nominated
for Rain Man."

Which I couldn't believe.

And for Tom Cruise

and his
extraordinary performance...

He wasn't nominated.

No best supporting actor nod
for him.

And accepting best actor...

And the Oscar goes

- to Dustin Hoffman
for Rain Man.
-

Dustin Hoffman paid tribute

to the woman that had been
with him from the start.

Our associate producer,
Gail Mutrux.

So it was very nice.

The movie went on
to win three more Oscars,

including best director
and best picture.

It was great
to have been a part of that.

Because it was a piece
of Hollywood history.

Well, maybe Tom
would get another chance

sooner than anyone expected

because Oliver Stone
was ready to roll

on Born on the Fourth of July.

And it was finally time for Tom

to pivot
to this very different film.

[Risa] It's Ron Kovic's story

and you know, Tom was
pretty clear

that he had to do this role.

I know Tom felt that we all felt
a real important obligation

to tell that story well.

- [Tom grunts]
- [Risa] And like
everything he does,

throws himself into it
100 percent.

And so would Oliver Stone.

[Frank] Who was
at the very top of his game.

Kovic's story
meant a lot to Oliver,

probably a real lot.

The set of
Born on the Fourth of July,

was nothing like
Barry Levinson's Rain Man.

[John] What if we did here?
What if we did it there?

Oliver Stone
had a very different approach.

Oliver approaches it

from an
almost militaristic standpoint

because he spent, uh,
several years in the Army,

and he compares it
to a battlefield

while he's shooting a movie.

You have to be prepared
when you meet him.

He's fearless
and he expects you to be.

He's intimidating.

And he's the captain.

The man is terrifying.

Despite
Oliver Stone's reputation...

[John echoing] The man is terrifying.

...actors wanted
to work with him
again and again.

And Tom would be joining

Stones'
loyal Band of Brothers.

Oliver has certain actors

who he likes to work with
again and again.

Like Willem Dafoe.

What's your name?

Charlie from Chicago.

Tom Sizemore...

...and Tom Berenger.

We have always come
when our countries called us.

That was really fun,

to find different ways
to use them.

But casting
such a male-centered film

made casting the female
lead even more crucial.

[Risa] This was
a really important part

because
this was the love of his life,

and he could never have her,

and that was such a huge loss
for the character.

And it had to be somebody
who could hold their own
with Tom.

To play opposite Tom,
Risa suggested

that then relatively
little known Kyra Sedgwick.

Kyra was not exactly what he had
in his head visually,

but she was such
a warm human being

and that was hard, hard to
find that balance between

you know, the beautiful woman

who was the ideal one

and also the, the woman
who would hold your heart

and break your heart.

Another pivotal role
was that of Timmy.

And it was a role Frank Whaley
embraced

right from the audition.

Because you were going
into a room

and like actually meeting
the director of the film.

And so it was like a performance

and I was thriving on it
at the time.

Even if Frank
would have preferred

to thrive on Tom's role.

I was hoping to be Ron.

Um, but that, you know,
my hopes were dashed,

but this was my favorite role

because it had what I considered
to be like

that centerpiece scene with Ron
in the backyard

on the Fourth of July.

But Frank
had some time to dial
in his character,

before
this all important scene.

[Frank] Oliver is very collaborative.

He had spent a lot of time
around the table reading,

encouraging us
to add ideas and improvise.

When it came to rehearsals,

Tom brought a technique

that he had learned
on Rain Man.

When they were rehearsing,
they switched roles.

I played his role
and he played my role,

which is a tricky thing

because you don't want to
be too good.

We finished the scene
and then he just stared at me

for like,
it seemed like 20 minutes

but it was probably
like five seconds.

He said "That was really good."

That was really good.

-
- Timmy? Timmy?

[Frank] And then he hugged me

for a really long time.

And doing that,
I learned a lot about my role

in some strange way
and his role and that scene.

He knew
that it would be helpful.

And Frank was going to need
all the help he could get.

That same week,
I had an audition
for another film.

It's called Little Monsters.

Because
being cast by Oliver Stone,

wasn't the only opportunity

to land
in the lap of the actor,

who just couldn't say no.

I got both the parts
on the same day,

and that they would both
be filming at the same time.

You know, I was in a lot,
like I said, I was in a lot

for Born on the Fourth of July,

and so I had to be there.

But he had
somewhere else to be.

On the set
of a very different movie

that was 1,200 miles away.

Wilmington, North Carolina.

So Frank was already
looking for excuses

to get away
from the role of his life.

The thing about Oliver is,
you know, he might say,

"Hey, Frankie, do you think
you should be in this scene?"

And I knew that I had
to film on the other location.

"No, I don't think that would be
right for the character, Oliver.
I don't really."

"Yeah? Okay. Fine, yeah."

Shuffling between films,

Frank had time
to get into his character,

which didn't take
as long as his makeup.

And you brought some little
playmates along with you.

- How nice.
- Boo.

Little monsters,
a fantasy comedy...

You know, I thought
it was something good,
but it's not.

...was thematically as far away
from Stone's film,

as its location.

I was playing
a 2000-year-old boy

which demanded approximately

three hours of makeup every day

and then three hours
essentially to take it off.

For Frank,
the crossover in shooting
was only brief.

It was enormously stressful
going back and forth.

But its consequences
would be lasting.

I was in North Carolina

filming my the last scene
of Little Monsters.

In an hour, you and your chums
will all be monsters.

And then we can all play.

The next day in Dallas, Texas

I'm supposed to be filming
my centerpiece scene

on Born on the Fourth of July

at 6:00 a.m. call.

- Which was fine.
- Everything is going to be fine.

- Except...
- Everything wasn't going fine,
at all,

on the set of Little Monsters.

In fact, everything was
going horribly wrong.

I was perilously close
to missing my flight

because I was exhausted,
stressed,

and I wasn't prepared

as I should be
to get, to be on that set.

And the one thing no actor
could afford to be

when working with Tom Cruise,
was underprepared.

I roll in like, you know,
in my T-shirt and jeans,

Tom Cruise, he's dressed.

He's all set.

- Shit, I heard about that.
-

[Frank] So we start to rehearse.

And Cruise
is in full performance.

He's not rehearsing.

He's actually doing the...

He's doing the part

and no cameras are rolling
we're just rehearsing.

I'm reading from the thing.

And halfway through the scene,

Oliver Stone yells,
"Cut on rehearsal."

He gets up off his chair
and he walks into me

and he says "Get off my set!

Get off my set,
learn those effing lines.

And when you've got
those lines memorized

and you have respect
for everybody here,

then you come back on the set."

I have never been more mortified
or terrified or embarrassed

or, like,
disappointed in myself,

as I was in that moment.

I will say
that I did relieve myself
inside of my pants.

I don't think we've got
a fucking friend left.

So I went out to my room
and I cried a little bit.

Cursing Howie Mandel,
cursing Fred Savage.

That's not fair!

If Frank's life was a film,

this was the moment
he experienced
his second act turning point.

He was right.

You know, come prepared.

When you're going to be
on the set

with Oliver Stone
and Tom Cruise

don't screw around, man.

It had an effect
that centered me.

This was an important story,

and I wanted
to get it right for Oliver.

I wanted to get it
right for Ron, who was there.

Frank was soon back on set

where Tom had only
one question.

"Ready, man?"
"I'm ready. I'm ready."

And the scene they shot
proved it.

A lot of bad shit up there,
Ronnie, I'm telling you.

Somehow, miraculously,
I had the lines memorized.

I was shaking.

Things I don't even want
to talk about.

You know.

It's one of my favorite things
I've ever done. That scene.

It was crazy.

For me, the greatest moment
of my career.

With all the American locations
complete...

-
- Daddy, the soldiers!

...filming continued,

and they still had
a long way to go.

7,000 miles, in fact.

For the scene shot in Vietnam,
Oliver Stone returned
to the country

that had helped him produce
his Oscar winning Platoon.

I'm Jun Juban.
I was the Philippine producer.

But they hadn't experienced

anything quite like
Cruise's arrival.

[Jun] It was me and my wife
who picked him up.

Practically, it was a standstill
because everybody,

every, every
female airport staff,

was waiting for him
on the tarmac.

So so when he went out
everybody said...

And of course,
when Mr. Cruise or Tom

got into the car,
my wife was starstruck.

But Tom Cruise
was here to work.

And Born on the Fourth of Julywas a serious movie

as Oliver Stone
was keen to remind Jun.

[Jun] He kept on saying

"Jun, we're not making
a Chuck Norris movie."

I want your opinion,
I'll beat it out of you.

That's just one of those movies.

He exacted more
from everybody.

And it shows.

And this time
Oliver Stone expected more.

Even from the Philippines.

[Jun] He said,
"To make it worth our while,

can we do Mexico
in the Philippines?"

I said, "Sure, yeah, we can."

It seems there wasn't a problem

Jun couldn't fix
for Oliver Stone.

The Air Force only had
two C-130s at the time.

One was used operationally.

So the one
that was allotted to us,

unfortunately,
two days before,
had engine trouble.

It conks out.

So when I explained to Oliver

he was good enough,

okay, instead of that,
then we'll use helicopters.

From helicopter blades

to the razor sharp blades
of the edit bay.

We were in the Philippines
for a month.

It was second editor,
Joe Hutshing's job

to wrangle
a mountain of footage.

And his marching orders
from Stone were simple.

He'll say, "Do the cut
and call me when you're ready."

And Oliver Stone
had a particular way

of talking to his editors.

"Are you trying to rat fuck me?
What the fuck is this?

This is garbage.

You have to do this over again."

-
- [Joe laughs]

When released
in December of 1989,

audiences embraced
Tom and Ron Kovic's story

keeping
Born on the Fourth of July

in the top five grossing movies
for nine weeks.

When you really find out
you have a hit

is when you see it
with an audience

and they respond well.

[Joe] You can feel it.

I remember being
really moved by it.

I do remember seeing it
for the first time,

and I just was,
just blown away and so proud.

It was, it was incredible.

- And as
for Frank's other role...
-

I will never look at that.
I will never see it.

It was my Vietnam.

But as for Tom Cruise,

who also filmed two movies
in the same year,

in his 12th feature,
27-year-old Tom Cruise

had earned
his first Oscar nomination.

[Charles] Getting that Oscar nomination

for Born on the Fourth of July

I think added another level
to Tom Cruise.

I mean, to me,
I think he deserved

an Oscar nomination
for Rain Man.

That's the... that's the
harder role to play.

That showed just
what he was capable of.

You know,
the talent that he had.

And finally,
it was a talent

that was recognized
by The Academy.

And the Oscar goes to...

Mmm.

Daniel Day Lewis, My Left Foot.

Despite not winning,

Tom still had
his winning smile.

It was incredible.

To David Brenner
and Joe Hutshing...

-
- ...forBorn on the Fourth of July.

[Joe] I looked out
and the first person I saw

in the front row was Tom Cruise
with a huge grin on his face.

Thank you. I'd like to thank
Oliver Stone, the Academy.

So I gave my speech to Tom.

And the Oscar goes to...

The film was decorated,

clinching two Oscars
from its eight nominations,

including one for its general.

Oliver Stone,Born on the Fourth of July.

Oliver,
once he was receiving the Oscar,

his last sentence was
"I would like to thank..."

...the warm people
of the Philippines.

It melted our hearts.

Tom's reward came
in the form of gratitude.

And to Tom Cruise for making
Ron's dream come true.

I've run into Ron
a number of times, Ron Kovic,

since we made the movie
and what's really meaningful,

you know
you've done something right,

is that he said this like

was life changing for him
and huge...

...just in terms of being able
to tell the story

and to be able
to contribute to that.

It's amazing.

And while Tom didn't receive

a golden statuette
on the night...

And I don't want you
to feel sorry for me.

But I think it was one of
the best things he ever did.

Tom finished the 80s

as one
of Hollywood's biggest draws.

And for Tom, the 90s
were going to be no different.

- Days of Thunder.
- Far and Away.

A Few Good Men.

- The Firm in '93.-Jerry Maguire.

Maybe he would finally
get his Oscar.