The "Valkyrie" Experience

Last summer (2008), I worked on "Valkyrie."

It was an interesting experience, one that I have to think about more before commenting further on. (Someday I'll write about how I felt when I first watched it ... maybe).

I did get to regularly see a few of the principles- namely, Bryan Singer (director) and Chris McQuarrie (writer/executive producer). I had worked on a Bryan Singer movie before ("Superman Returns") and pretty much knew what to expect.

I had never worked with a writer of a movie- I'd met T.V. writers, commercial writers, "Crank Yankers" writers- but never a movie writer. I didn't know what to expect, but Chris McQuarrie was, in a single word, professional. He was courteous, he was punctual, he was unfailingly polite. He was also really funny (look at his website!).

Somehow, I hadn't thought that any of the principles on a movie (especially a big movie) would be really nice. Chris McQuarrie definitely was, and even if he doesn't remember me, I'll always remember him. He's one of the few people I've met that I know I would want to work with again.

Then, one day, I met Tom Cruise.

He came over while we were looking at VFX shots (if you've seen the movie or even the trailers, you'll notice Tom Cruise's character, Stauffenberg, is missing two fingers on one of his hands, and is missing the other hand completely) and sat in while we reviewed fingers and wigs with Bryan Singer.

I have to say, after the whole Oprah couch jumping incident, I was a little apprehensive. There are so many crazy rumors going around about him. Even people that don't read gossip magazines know some sort of insane story about Tom Cruise, regardless of whether those stories are true or not.

All I can say is, he was very sweet and seemed extremely humble. He made sure he knew all our names, he shook everyone's hand, he thanked us all for our hard work. He smiled a lot, but was much softer-spoken than the (now seemingly unfounded) stories made him sound.

Even in Hollywood (well, Culver City, really), the worst is never true. I am so glad for that-- it means that no matter how terrible something or someone may seem, they may have some hidden, redeeming quality that the media refuses to acknowledge.

I am exhausted after having worked today for the first time since December 24, but I am also happy that "Valkyrie" did so well. ($60 million since Christmas domestically for a movie about Nazis?? Good showing, I say!).

If you go to see the movie, sit through the credits and watch for my name- it's that single line of print that I get for all my work, after all!