I did not know that.
That’s not Cruise’s reputation.
I recall several years ago there was a recording made of him screaming and yelling on a movie set. Except Cruise was mad because Covid restrictions weren’t being followed, and he made a point of saying that this jeopardized the jobs of everybody working there.
He is also known to send cakes.
Now, I have no doubt that he’s very intense and controlling . Matt Damon told a story of Cruise telling him about some crazy stunt he wanted to do (I believe it was riding on the outside of a plane when it took off) and when the stunt coordinator told him it was too dangerous, Cruise said “So the first thing I did was get a new stunt guy.”
But he is known to be prepared and very hard working. As I just mentioned, he’s so committed he does his own stunts, despite some very high risk action movies. Hell, at one point he learned to hold his breath underwater for over 6 minutes.
And he’s not afraid to show some range. Born on the 4th of July wasn’t exactly a pretty boy role.
I can even forgive him the Scientology stuff. If you lived the charmed life of Tom Cruise, you might have some really weird views about your place in the universe, too.
He’s probably not close with anybody who doesn’t work for him. I doubt he has really close friends. But that isn’t necessarily unusual among highly successful people. He is uber wealthy and surely quite eccentric, but I’ve not really seen anything malicious in his past. No drugs, no violence. I don’t even think any infidelity. The worst you can say about him is that he’s aloof.
In my ever so humble opinion, Cruise is psycho the way the guy at work who always shows up on time and does a good job is psycho. Surely he has bodies buried in his backyard, eh?
Interesting. Can you give us a cite?
And a cite for the homosexuality. Thanks.
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.
In an interview with Black Book, director 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 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, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.”
I don’t have hard evidence, its just been a rumor going on for decades. Heres a thread about it here from 2003.
I was quite surprised when I read that post as well. But instead of asking for a cite, I just googled it. Took all of 60 seconds to find multiple articles.
I think it’s fair to ask for a cite. But if someone’s going to make an intentionally false claim, won’t they be likely to provide a misleading cite to support it?
There’s quite a few connections between Tom Cruise and American Psycho. In the book, Patrick Bateman lives in the same apartment building with Tom Cruise and has a run in with him in the elevator:
Additionally, the director considered Tom Cruise for the role and didn’t reach out because they didn’t believe they could get him:
“We love the Tom Cruise thing, but we would never have gotten Tom Cruise to be in such a heinous production as American Psycho!” Harron laughs. (In any case, Cruise was busy being “heinous” in another capacity—as an unhinged sex guru in 1999’s Magnolia).
“The real American psycho is Tom Cruise…”
Well of course. He’s Tom Cruise Crazy.
Is there any action actor at his level of fame who isn’t eccentric and intense?
When I first saw him in that infamous Oprah episode standing on the couch or whatever, my immediate thought was, “That man is having a manic episode.”
I’m not qualified to diagnose him, of course, but I have always suspected he is bipolar. When I hear stuff like this, it just reinforces my belief. He seems to have chosen a career that lets him exercise risky and grandiose behavior.
We also know that, if he is bipolar, he’s not medicated for it at all. In fact didn’t he slam psychiatric meds in that same Oprah interview? Like dude… If anyone needs some mood stabilizers…
There’s no way an unmedicated bipolar actor would have Cruise’s reputation for being reliable and easy to work with.
That implies he also suffers from bouts of depression. I’ve never seen an indication of something like that (as I said, no substance use. personal drama, suicidal behavior, stints in rehab, or the like)
He’s no doubt a thrill seeker, and maybe an adrenaline junkie. And grandiose is a good description (although he pulls it off, which is unique)
There was a notorious interview with Matt Lauer where he criticized Brooke Shields for using psych meds due to postpartum depression (good lord why do I know so much about this man?). It’s a Scientology thing.
And that is a nutty cult. I’m not a fan.
I wouldn’t want to be the guy’s friend. I wouldn’t want my family to get involved with him on a personal level - not that this is going to happen.
But if I knew somebody was going to work with him, or if I had the opportunity to do the same, I’d be enthusiastic. He strikes me as a high achieving perfectionist, but one who would support those around him who had the same motivations.
Consider how he treated actor Jake Johnson on a film where it was important to be in shape.
He only seems to lose his temper when others are being slighted. I’m sure he has no problem getting his own way, but he’s not oblivious to those around him. In my experience, assholes just aren’t that considerate.
If you don’t mind his reputation for pushing Scientology on set.
A buddy of mine worked for him in the 90’s and said he was odd but within normal bounds–mainly requiring his own spaces apart from family and staff. Not so weird. I will say that suggesting the role of Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder and then playing it to the hilt suggests a little self reflection and humility.
Sure, he’s definitely a thrill-seeker… but even with all of the crazy stunts he’s done, he hasn’t yet killed himself or inflicted a career-ending injury. You don’t go that long on stunts without destroying yourself unless you’re a very careful thrill-seeker.
Anyone ever seen Legend? A 1985 dark fantasy with Tom Cruise, Sara Mia, and Tim Curry completely unrecognizable as the evil Darkness. He played one hell of a bad guy. If you like weird, surreal movies this is for you.
Tom is weird, but I like his acting. As long as he’s not abusing kids, or his significant others, or the people that work for/under him I’m ok with him.
A senior Hollywood executive once told me something I’ll never forget: “Actors are always acting. Even when you think they aren’t.” So maybe Tom Cruise is nice, professional guy, or maybe he’s a psychopath playing the role of “Tom Cruise: nice, professional guy”, 24/7. We have no way of knowing, and until something really egregious happens, who cares?
Yep, he had orthodontic work done ages ago, and then more work around 2002 where he had visible retainers on during his Minority Report publicity tours.
I’ve known several scientologists. Each one of them was a smug asshole.
That’s just your suppressive personality talking.
It shouldn’t need saying, but I will anyway.
Believing him to be some sort of sociopath doesn’t call into question his work ethic, commitment to his craft, treatment of people on set, or his acting abilities.
For my money, his role as Vincent in Collateral, was arguably my favorite to date.
But given what we all know about Scientology, his very active role in it, his very close friendship with Miscavige, and let’s face it… his bizarre behavior in various interviews over the years… and the evolutionary instinct most of us possess for recognizing “creepy” behavior, is probably sufficient reason for say, not wanting to spend a night alone in the same house with Tom Cruise.