The actor recalled an instance in which Nicholson made funny faces at Cruise off camera while the younger actor was delivering his lines.

Kevin Pollak says Jack Nicholson messed with Tom Cruise while filming* A Few Good Men *scenes

The actor recalled an instance in which Nicholson made funny faces at Cruise off camera while the younger actor was delivering his lines.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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June 29, 2026 10:48 a.m. ET

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Kevin Pollak; Tom Cruise; Jack Nicholson. Credit:

Mike Baker/Getty; Gabe Ginsberg/Getty; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

- Jack Nicholson liked to get up to some silly antics on the set of* A Few Good Men*, his costar Kevin Pollak said.

- Pollack explained that Nicholson liked to make funny faces when he was off camera.

- He noted that Nicholson even did it while Cruise was performing his "I want the truth" declaration.

Jack Nicholson enjoyed bringing a little bit of disorder to the court while filming *A Few Good Men*.

Kevin Pollak revealed that his Oscar-winning costar loved to play around on the set of the 1992 legal drama — especially whenever Tom Cruise was trying to deliver his lines.

“Jack [Nicholson] would absolutely mess with Tom [Cruise] while Tom was coming in for the kill in the courtroom,” Pollak told PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of *Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass*.

Tom Cruise and Demi Moore in 'A Few Good Men'.

Columbia/courtesy Everett

The 68-year-old actor and comedian, who played Lieutenant Sam Weinberg in the film, revealed that Nicholson got up to some hilarious hijinks while they were shooting some of its most iconic scenes, including Cruise’s legendary “I want the truth” declaration.

In fact, Pollak told the outlet that Nicholson stood just off camera while Cruise performed the sequence and kept making a bunch of funny faces at him as he delivered his lines.

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But Cruise didn’t waver, finishing the take before marching over to Nicholson and giving him a punch to the shoulder — which, Pollak said, "Jack loved."

Directed by Rob Reiner and adapted from Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 play of the same name, *A Few Good Men* follows two military lawyers (played by Cruise and Demi Moore) as they defend two marines accused of killing a fellow soldier. The film also starred Pollak, Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, and more.

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But Nicholson’s shenanigans weren’t the only fond memories that Pollak had from his time on set. He also recalled a sweet fan experience that he shared with Reiner, who died at 78 last December.

“One of my most enjoyable moments was [when] we shot a couple weeks in Washington D.C. to establish exteriors, and one night we were walking back from somewhere, just the two of us, and someone passed us and said, ‘Oh my God, Rob Reiner, how are you? Are you here working?’” Pollak recalled. “And he said, ‘Yeah.' He said, ‘What are you working on?' And he said, ‘*The Godfather*.’”

Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in 'A Few Good Men'.

Sidney Baldwin/Castle Rock

After the man walked away, Pollak asked Reiner why he claimed that they were working on a different film.

“He said, ‘Well, if I said* A Few Good Men*, it was a Broadway play, but if you didn't see the Broadway play, you don't know what the hell I'm talking about,” he said. “‘So if I say *The Godfather*, we're done talking, and you and I can keep going with our lives.’”

He added, “I’ve used it ever since.”

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Drama”