Kevin Pollak describes Tom Cruise punching Jack Nicholson after a tense moment during the filming of “A Few Good Men.”
Earlier this week, Pollak was a guest on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast with Steve Kmetko.
“I remember during the filming of ‘A Few Good Men’ there was a climactic scene where Tom and Jack face off. Kaffee versus the colonel. When Tom’s character, Kaffee, comes to kill. ‘I want the truth.’ As he walks in and the camera is next to Jack’s face, he has to get Jack’s face as close to the lens as possible while getting Tom’s POV,” began Pollak, who also stars in the film.
“And Tom walks in, the camera pulls, and this is what Tom is looking at during the scene. Jack does this, he makes the most ridiculous clown face you’ve ever seen,” added Pollak, as he imitated Nicholson’s clown impersonation.
“And Tom stayed in his pocket, finished the scene, and then punched Jack Nicholson in the shoulder. They both laughed. That was Jack and my experience,” he continued.
“A Few Good Men” is a 1992 legal drama directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film follows Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, a military lawyer played by Cruise, who is assigned to defend two US Marines accused of killing a sailor at Guantanamo Bay.
The case focuses on whether the Marines acted under an unauthorized “code red,” a violent disciplinary order allegedly issued by superiors. Demi Moore plays Lt. Cdr. Kaffee’s determined colleague is JoAnne Galloway, while Nicholson delivers the film’s famous “You can’t handle the truth!” with her courtroom statement. He plays Colonel Nathan Jessup, a strong commander who made the sentence. confrontation.
The film also stars Pollak, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland and JT Walsh. It was a major critical and commercial success and received four Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best supporting actor for Nicholson, and best film editing.
In June, Pollak recalled working on the cult classic with the late Reiner and the “wonderful lesson” he learned while making the film.
“The thing about Rob is, if we’re not having fun, there’s no point in any of this,” Pollak told People at the time.
“And he said it was a great lesson and a great way to study while doing a very intense courtroom drama.”
Besides a valuable lesson, Pollak told the press about one of his fondest memories of working with the famous director.
“One of my most enjoyable moments [when] We shot in Washington, D.C. for a few weeks to create the exteriors, and one night we were walking back from somewhere, just the two of us, and someone walked by and said, ‘Oh my God, Rob Reiner, how are you?’ he said. ‘Do you work here?’ He said ‘Yes’. ‘What are you working on?’ he said. And he said, ‘Dad,'” Pollak said.
“And the guy said, ‘Oh great.’ He kept walking and I said, ‘Why did you say Dad?’ I said. And he said, ‘If I said A Few Good Men it was a Broadway play, but if you haven’t seen the Broadway play you don’t know what I’m talking about. So if I say Dad, our conversation is over and you and I can move on with our lives.’ I’ve been using it ever since,” Pollak continued.