Overview
- The actor recounted the decades-old incident during an Oct. 28 Late Show appearance while promoting his new film Ballad of a Small Player.
- He said the trouble followed a May 31 birthday night out before a 6 a.m. pickup, after which he arrived on set in poor shape.
- Assistant director David H. Venghaus Jr. told him he couldn’t go to set, and Farrell asked for six Pacificos and a pack of Marlboro Reds before having “a couple of beers.”
- Farrell remembered freezing on the line, “I’m sure you’ve all grasped the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology,” declined a break, and the scene stretched to 46 takes as Cruise grew unhappy.
- He linked the episode to his substance struggles, noting a rehab stay about two years later and long-term sobriety since 2006, with no public response from Cruise reported.