Excerpt from: The New York Times - 4 July 1999

Title: What They Say About Stanley Kubrick

Sydney Pollack (director, producer, actor; phone relationship with Kubrick since early 70's; featured role in "Eyes Wide Shut")

My initial take on my part [in "Eyes Wide Shut"] was very different from what Stanley wanted. I came in with the idea of being tougher with the character of Tom [Cruise] because he had done something that I disapproved of strongly. And then Stanley had an idea of my wanting to manipulate him more and therefore be kinder, and he was very specific about how to communicate that. He knew I was another director -- he didn't have to beat around the bush. He wasn't trying to work any psychological tricks with me. And he was crazy about both Tom and Nicole.

I always think of Stanley literally on the edge of a smile. His eyes always had mischief in them. He always had this sense of the devil in him while he was very calmly asking questions. He read everything, and knew absolutely all aspects of the business, including literally what the box-office receipts of every theater in the world were over the past few years.

....Cruise woke me up on Thursday morning to tell me how great he thought the picture was. I called Stanley and we talked for an hour and a half or so and I told him how thrilled Tom was. Then I spoke with Terry and Bob [Daly, co-chairman of Warner Brothers] and they were absolutely ecstatic and four days later he died.

....People say he had these phobias, he wouldn't go here and wouldn't go there. The truth is he lived in a paradise -- there wasn't any reason for him to go anywhere. It was a kind of a heaven.