# The Real American Psycho: Tom Cruise

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 24

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**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, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-american-psycho-tom-cruise/1033235/24 "2026-09-21T19:10:12Z")

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> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> Interesting. Can you give us a cite?

> **[Christian Bale Based “Psycho” on Tom Cruise: Director](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/natl-christian-bales-american-psycho-inspired-by-tom-cruise/1863733/)**
>
> Christian Bale’s inspiration for his role as a dead-behind-the-eyes sociopath in the film “American Psycho” was none other than Tom Cruise, the film’s director revealed…

> **[Christian Bale](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/topics?topic=Christian+Bale "Christian Bale")**’s inspiration for his role as a dead-behind-the-eyes sociopath in the film “American Psycho” was none other than **[Tom Cruise](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/topics?topic=Tom+Cruise "Tom Cruise")**, the film’s director revealed.
> 
> **[In an interview with _Black Book_](http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/mary-harron-reveals-inspiration-behind-patrick-bateman/11810)**, director **[Mary Harron](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/topics?topic=Mary+Harron "Mary Harron")** said she spent a lot of time on long-distance phone calls with the hunky actor when he was in L.A. and she was in New York trying to hash out how to best play the merciless murderer **[Patrick Bateman](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/topics?topic=Patrick+Bateman "Patrick Bateman")** in the 2000 horror flick.
> 
> “It was definitely a process,” Harron told the magazine. “We talked a lot.”
> 
> Then, one day it clicked for Bale.
> 
> “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave,” Harron said.
> 
> “And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on **[David Letterman](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/topics?topic=David+Letterman "David Letterman")**, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.”

> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> And a cite for the homosexuality. Thanks.

I don’t have hard evidence, its just been a rumor going on for decades. Heres a thread about it here from 2003.

> [@Tom Cruise: Yay or Nay (or gay)?...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-cruise-yay-or-nay-or-gay/153603):
>
> What are your opinions on the guy (movie-wise)? I never really took notice of the guys roles until Jerry Maguire. After that, I’ve become a really big fan. I think I can relate something of myself to each of his characters, and for some reason they always strike me. My favourite was one of his latest roles, playing John Anderton in Minority Report. I think he brought this unbridled energy to the screen, very passionate about his work (as the chief of the pre-crime unit). What do you guys thi…

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