Sophie Wilde Defends ‘Digger’ Co-Star Tom Cruise, Says He’s ‘Too Hard on Himself’

LOS ANGELES — Sophie Wilde has defended her Digger co-star Tom Cruise after the Hollywood actor recently described himself as someone who can be particularly intense while working on a film.

Earlier this month, Cruise spoke about his demanding approach in an interview, saying, “I expect a lot and I’m upfront about it. It’s like: ‘The rumours are true. And do you want this?’ I’m like, ‘Trust me, the rumours are true. I’ll be here before you. What experience do you want?’”

But Wilde, who shares significant screen time with Cruise in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film, said she experienced something very different.

Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ, the Sydney-born actor called Cruise “the greatest scene partner in the world” and said she never experienced the intensity he had described.

“I think his intensity comes from his passion for the work, but I never felt an intensity being his co-star at all,” Wilde said. “If anything, I found him to be overwhelmingly supportive. We’d do a take, and he’d just start cheering afterwards. And I think as a young actor, that means the world, when your co-star is your biggest champion.”

“I think he’s being too hard on himself when he says that. I didn’t get that at all from him,” she added.

Wilde, who received an AACTA Award for the Australian horror film Talk to Me, stars with Cruise in Digger alongside a cast that includes Oscar winners and nominees John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller and Jesse Plemons.

The 28-year-old actor said she tried to absorb as much as possible from the experience.

She recalled one moment in particular that changed how she viewed the acting process. After filming a scene with Cruise, Wilde felt that her performance had not gone well and apologized to him.

“I was like, ‘Oh, sorry, Tom, I don’t think that was a great take,’” she recalled. Cruise responded, “Sophie, there’s no such thing as bad takes. We’re just exploring, and we’re playing.”

Iñárritu overheard the exchange and offered his own reassurance, telling Wilde, “Yeah, we’re just working it out.”

Wilde said the experience reinforced the importance of avoiding the pressure to get every performance exactly right.

“I think it’s really easy to get trapped in the idea of getting things right, or being good,” she said. “And I think that’s antithetical to performance, and what performance is actually all about, which is exploring and playing and having fun. And I feel like this film is very fun.”