As one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Tom Cruise has been the subject of many rumors – one story he apparently found particularly odd about himself.
Chris McQuarrie, a longtime colleague of Cruise’s who directed the last three Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick, recalled first meeting the actor during a recent interview with the Sunday Times Newspaper.
McQuarrie said he asked Cruise in 2006 to tell the “weirdest story you’ve heard about yourself.”
He said Cruise laughed and responded that the biggest myth about him was that people on set were “not allowed to look me in the eye.”
British actor Simon Pegg, Cruise’s boyfriend and frequent co-star, told The Times that behind “all the bizarre mythology” surrounding Cruise, “he’s just a guy”.
“I like being normal with him,” Pegg said.
In 2020, a video of Cruise blowing up on the set of the seventh “Mission: Impossible” movie went viral around the world. In a rant full of swearwords, the actor threatened to fire any crew members who didn’t comply with pandemic restrictions, shouting, “If I see you do that again, you’ll be the fuck gone!”
“Everything Tom cares about professionally has been at stake because of the pandemic,” Pegg told the Times. “For him, there was a risk that this virus could wipe cinema off the face of the earth.”
Cruise, who is notoriously private about his personal life, has been the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories over the years, partly due to his controversial membership in the Church of Scientology. Former members accuse the organization of being a cult that subjects its members to a culture of abuse, manipulation and fear. Their leader, David Miscavige, faced multiple human trafficking lawsuits.
The seventh installment in Cruise’s blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, is slated to hit theaters in the United States on July 12. The film was originally slated for a 2021 release with a whopping two hours and 43 minutes running time, but was delayed due to COVID-19.