# The Real American Psycho: Tom Cruise **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235 "2026-09-20T22:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/1 "2026-09-20T22:56:56Z")
Just watched the GQ interview with him. You gotta hand it to the guy; He commits to the role. I think we should all be very grateful that he chose to go into film rather than… ohhhh… I dunno… create an AI company, maybe. We’d all be in a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/2 "2026-09-20T23:18:43Z")
> **[Tom Cruise: Hollywood’s Most Elusive Star Speaks](https://www.gq.com/story/tom-cruise-2026-cover-story-interview)** > > It’s been 20 years since Tom Cruise’s last GQ cover. Zach Baron spoke with Cruise, alongside ‘Digger’ director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, about the film that drew him back. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/3 "2026-09-20T23:20:19Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > You gotta hand it to the guy; He commits to the role. Huh? Tell us more. Why is he a psycho? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/4 "2026-09-21T04:52:58Z")
My guess would be his complete and total commitment to Scientology. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/5 "2026-09-21T04:57:38Z")
He’s very short. His teeth are awful. His weirdness comes from trying to be the perfection he can never be..now he’s aging. I see more craziness coming. Stay tuned. Not me, I won’t watch anything he’s in. Top Gun was it. And it, alone. Seen enough. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/6 "2026-09-21T05:10:37Z")
He was very good in _Rainman_. But for 75% of the film he was being an asshole. Maybe it wasn’t much of a stretch for him? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/7 "2026-09-21T08:07:29Z")
Did something happen? He always seemed strange, like many people afflicted with fame and fortune, but relatively harmless? Did he get worse recently? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/8 "2026-09-21T10:19:19Z")
He’s incredibly committed to his career; he has said he has projects planned out for the next 30 years. As he ages out of the leading man/hero type he seems to be willing to try character roles, which is sensible. He gives me the sense of being very intense and fairly tightly wound, even while he is able to simulate relative normality in venues like talk shows. I don’t pretend to know what is behind that, my best guess is a deep insecurity that makes it imperative to him to be Somebody, and never for even a minute ignored or passed over. Armchair psychology at it’s finest. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/9 "2026-09-21T11:54:34Z")
His acting and movies are not the issue. He strikes me as a highly manipulative sociopath. A painfully hollow and obvious one at that. If he couldn’t play a character in a movie, he wouldn’t have a character at all. Dude always has an angle and zero chill. The story goes, his mother left his father and took Tom with her when he was 11. The father as an abusive bully. Tom didn’t see his father until 10 years later, when he was dying of cancer, under the condition that Tom did not bring up the past. That all may have something to do with how he turned out - a broken, highly functioning, toy. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/10 "2026-09-21T12:03:13Z")
Tom Cruise divorced all three of his wives when they were 33 years-old. Is that some kind of psycho scientology thing? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/11 "2026-09-21T12:17:20Z")
Who knows. Dude’s just fucking weird. What’s even stranger is how close-mouthed they all are. That’s some locked down NDAs they signed. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/12 "2026-09-21T13:14:11Z")
I didn’t know about divorcing wives at 33 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/13 "2026-09-21T13:50:25Z")
Is he weird? Definitely. Is he psycho? Quite possibly. Will I go see his movies, especially action movies? Absolutely. If Tom is in it, I know it will be an excellent action flick. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/14 "2026-09-21T13:53:36Z")
I’ve read that he is always prepared on set, is polite to the entire crew and his movies are successful worldwide, which makes the studio happy. [Sarcasm]Plus did you know that he does his own stunts? Not many people know that. [/Sarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/15 "2026-09-21T14:04:13Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > He’s very short. His teeth are awful. His weirdness comes from trying to be the perfection he can never be..now he’s aging. His teeth aren’t awful. He had them all replaced with veneers or something, though. I think he’s 5’7. I"m not his advocate or defender, but I don’t think those things are true. Now Danny Devito? He’s short. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/16 "2026-09-21T14:09:35Z")
Cruise is definitely shorter than average. It’s sometimes funny to see how this is masked in his movies. Like when in Top Gun, he’s in an elevator with Kelly McGillis, and she leans against the wall so that she’s not standing right next to him. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/17 "2026-09-21T14:39:28Z")
Scientology has much to answer for in this world. But divorcing at 33 probably isn’t one of them. Men who marry sex toys get tired of them about the time they’re not all shiny & new looking. 33-ish is not too far off that age for most women, even the professionally attractive. It’s also about the age where any woman who wants kids starts thinking “If this guy isn’t willing / is a total jerk, I need to start finding somebody else right away to have enough time to solidify the new relationship & make kid(s) before I age out of having safe pregnancies.” My vote is coincidence, but coincidence shaped by external factors into a fairly narrow range. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/18 "2026-09-21T14:50:48Z")
Dude, that’s no fun at all. Can’t it be because Captain Gargleblaster of the Pangalactic Elron Alliance hails from Rigellus 3, which has 33 moons? Something like that? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/19 "2026-09-21T15:16:11Z")
He’s always struck me as being deeply insecure at his core, and I think it comes through in his acting-- he gives off a quality of 'look at me, look at me, I’m _acting_!!". That’s probably why he gravitated toward Scientology. At first it comes across as more of a practical guideline for mental self-help than a crazy made-up religion. I heard a story, no idea if it’s true, that when he got to a high enough level in Scientology and learned info that only the higher-ups were privy to (something about how the ghosts of space aliens, called ‘Thetans’ attach themselves like parasites to our psyches and cause all of our mental issues) , his reaction was so ‘WTF’ that ha almost walked. But they convinced him or threatened him with blackmail material to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/20 "2026-09-21T17:21:33Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > He strikes me as a highly manipulative sociopath. A painfully hollow and obvious one at that. If he couldn’t play a character in a movie, he wouldn’t have a character at all. Dude always has an angle and zero chill. Yeah I get the same feeling. I don’t think anyone has brought this up, but Christian Bale got inspiration for his character Patrick Bateman in American Psycho from watching a Tom Cruise interview. Cruise was very energetic and outgoing, but Bale said there was nothing behind the eyes and it was all an obvious act to him. I know the title is ‘American Psycho’, but that tidbit bears repeating for people who don’t know it. He has an intensity about him. I agree he’s probably a sociopath but a very well controlled one. I also think his repressed homosexuality is a major factor in all of it too, but I don’t know how. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235.md?page=2)