Kevin Pollak is opening up about the time Tom Cruise punched Jack Nicholson after a tense moment while filming “A Few Good Men.”
Earlier this week, Pollack was a guest on “Still Here Hollywood” Podcast with Steve Kemetko.
“I remember there was a moment during the shooting of ‘A Few Good Men’ when Tom and Jack were squaring off against each other. Caffey against the Colonel. When Tom’s character, Caffey, comes in for the kill. ‘I want the truth.’ Well, when he’s coming in and the camera is next to Jack’s face, Tom’s POV is being shot by Jack and Jack has to get his face as close to the lens as possible, Pollack, who also starred in the film, began.
“And Tom is coming in, the camera is shooting, and that’s what Tom is looking at during the scene. Jack is doing this, making the most ridiculous Joker face you’ve ever seen,” said Pollack, mimicking Nicholson’s Joker impression.
“And Tom stayed in the pocket and completed the scene and then punched Jack Nicholson in the shoulder. Uh, and they both laughed. So, 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 Caffey, played by Cruise, a military lawyer who is assigned to defend two US Marines accused of murdering a fellow Marine at Guantánamo Bay.
The case centers on whether the Marines were operating under an unauthorized “Code Red” – a violent disciplinary order allegedly given by their superiors. Demi Moore plays Lieutenant Commander. Joan Galloway plays Caffey’s steadfast ally, while Nicholson plays Colonel Nathan Jessup, a powerful commander whose testimony in court leads to the film’s famous “You can’t handle the truth!” Confrontation.
The film also stars Pollack, 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, Pollack recalled working with the late Reiner on the cult classic and the “great lessons” he learned from filming the film.
“The big thing with Rob was that if we’re not having fun, there’s no point,” Pollack explained. People In those days.
“And he said that when we were doing a very intense courtroom drama, and it was a great lesson and a great way to work.”
Along with a valuable lesson, Pollack told the outlet one of his happiest memories was working with the famed director.
“One of my happiest moments was [when] We shot for a couple of weeks in Washington DC to set up the exteriors, and one night we were coming back from somewhere, just the two of us, and someone passed us and said, ‘Oh my God, Rob Reiner, how are you? Are you working here?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘What are you working on?’ And he said, ‘The Godfather,'” Pollack told the outlet.
“And the guy said, ‘Oh great.’ He kept going, and I said, ‘Why did you say The Godfather?’ And he said, ‘Well, if I said A Few Good Men, it was a Broadway play, but if you haven’t seen a Broadway play, you don’t know what I’m talking about. So if I say The Godfather, our conversation will end, and you and I can go on with our lives.’ I’ve used it ever since,” Pollack continued.