If I had to guess, he’s drawing parallels between Newman and Cruise’s careers. The Hustler was the first of several films Newman made in a short period of time that marketed him as a hero. It wasn’t his first Oscar nomination, but it did earn him one.

The Sting was a huge box-office success Newman was in after a bunch of flops, and helped bring him back into the spotlight.

The Color of Money finally earned Newman an Oscar, and it was reprising the same character he played in The Hustler after 25 years. You can definitely see parallels there between him and Cruise with Top Gun (36 years between it and the sequel), and weirdly enough Cruise is also in The Color of Money.