United Kingdom, March 23 -- Steven Spielberg says he was outworked by Tom Cruise.

The director, 79, reflected on his experiences working with Tom, 63, while speaking at a keynote event at SXSW, in conversation with Sean Fennessey after he directed the A-lister in Minority Report and War of the Worlds.

He said: "Tom Cruise showed up every morning when I showed up.

"I show up before the crew. So I get to the set sometimes at 6.30 in the morning."

Steven continued: "On Minority Report and on War of the Worlds, Tom would insist on getting there when I got there so we would map out the whole day. which was really helpful for me."

Tom has also spoken about his approach to developing skills for his roles.

In an interview with PEOPLE in May...