There are good and bad things about the summer blockbuster season. One of the bad things: the movies aren’t always very good, and many of the actors starring in those films kind of phone it in when it comes to promotion. One of the good things: bigger stars, bigger photo-ops, bigger publicity campaigns. I’ve been so focused on Snow White & the Huntsman, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises that I often forget that Rock of Ages is also going to try to get some of the summer-blockbuster pie. Personally, I think Rock of Ages looks like a train wreck. But I’m not really into 1980s nostalgia, and I’m still not buying Julianne Hough as some kind of movie star.

Which brings me to this – Tom Cruise’s promotional work in support of Rock of Ages has begun. Cruise is “The Playboy Interview” for the June issue – you can read the piece online here. I have to say… I didn’t hate the way Tom puts himself out there in this interview. He’s always been known for being hyper-focused and intense, and he’s still that guy. But I like that he doesn’t have any problems discussing the couch-jumping and the Today Show incident, both from 2005. Some highlights from the piece:

On turning 50 this year and looking so young: “I honestly have no idea. [laughs] I work. I’m always with family. I train, go without sleep. I just go hard… When I made Taps, really my first film experience, I remember lying at night in the hotel room, thinking, I love this so much. I’d wanted it since I was four, and there I was, thinking that if I did my best on Taps, maybe I could do this for the rest of my life. Turning 50, when I’m still doing this, is okay. On July 3 I’ll be in Iceland, filming on my birthday. My family, my wife, they understand. It’s who I am. I’ve spent many birthdays on a movie set, all great days.

Work ethic and values: “I’ve always had the same values. Family for me has always been important. When I shoot, everybody comes. When Kate’s shooting, I’m there with her and the kids. We’re always together. I’m always around my mother and sisters. I always wanted to be a father, a husband. And I’ve always had a work ethic. I’ve had paying jobs since I was about eight years old—cutting grass, raking leaves, paper routes, selling Easter cards and Christmas cards.”

There was no drama when Jeremy Renner was brought in for MI 4: “No, because here’s the thing: I had creative control and final cut on Mission Impossible. I brought Renner in. So there’s a separation between what’s happening versus what people say. This is something I learned growing up, moving and always being the new kid. There’s what people say, and there’s reality, and you can’t worry about stuff like that. Do you wish they wouldn’t say certain things? Yeah, you wish. Does refuting things help? Not really. There comes a point when you just have to go, You know what? Here’s how I’ve lived my life: I’ve never been late to set. I make films I believe in. I feel privileged to be able to do what I love. You just have to keep going and remember that. The other stuff? I hear it, I read it, I get it. But life is not a matter of trying to prove anything to anybody.”

What he learned from the Oprah couch-jumping & Today Show incidents: “I agree with you, and I never meant it that way. When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way, and I never have. Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited… But it was important to me to take responsibility, take a hard look and decide where I go from here. That time was interesting. It was that moment when the internet had really spun out. It was a learning experience for all of us, how these things go. All you can do is learn and say, “This is the way it’s going to go from now on. Here is the line.”

On the Church of Scientology: “What’s interesting is, if I don’t talk about my religion, if I say I’m not discussing it or different humanitarian things I’m working on, they’re like, “He’s avoiding it.” If I do talk about it, it becomes, “Oh, he’s proselytizing.” Reviewing the whole thing and how things can be edited and misinterpreted, I decided, You know what? Here’s the deal. I take responsibility for what happened, but everyone now knows that if I am dealing with humanitarian things, I will talk about that. When I’m promoting a film, I’m not going to get caught up in anything else, and that includes all my personal things.”

Standing up to bullies: “You have to. There’s one thing you know with a bully. I don’t care how big or mean they are. If you allow it, if you don’t stand up to that.… And there are different ways to do it. There’s the school yard, but sometimes just confronting them works. I learned hard lessons as a kid, and you think that once you grow up and aren’t at school, it will be different. It isn’t; it’s just bigger. I was being evaluated by the world. You have language barriers. There are lots of ways to incite incidents through miscommunication. The internet has made it more immediate for false stuff. I’ve learned to just let it go or communicate where you can. Since the beginning of my career, you can find something with anyone.”

Suing over false stories: “They know I mean it, that if I have to, I will sue. You start with a letter saying, “Okay, you know it’s not true. Apologize.” There is a point with a lot of things when you just go, You know what? I don’t want to waste my time with this. I’m busy. I’d rather spend this time with my kids and my wife, at home or on our movies, creating a life together. If you have kids, it is the most important thing to create good times.”

On Katie Holmes: “She is an extraordinary person, and if you spent five minutes with her, you’d see it. Everything she does, she does with this beautiful creativity. When she becomes interested in something, she doesn’t talk about it, she does it. One week I said to her, “You’ve been up in the middle of the night. Is everything okay?” She smiled and then threw this thing on my desk and said, “I wrote this script.” She wanted to try it, and she did. She wanted to try designing clothes, and now her line is wonderful and, to me, an example of how she just creates beautiful things in her life. She has a voice and warmth as an artist, as a mother. She’s funny and charming, and when she walks into the room, I just feel better. I’m a romantic. I like doing things like creating romantic dinners, and she enjoys that. I don’t know what to say—I’m just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special.

[From Playboy]

Tom also gets asked if he thinks he was ever hacked by the British press, and Tom says “maybe.” But he also says that he puts that kind of stuff in “a minor pile of things I have to handle.” There’s also some stuff about his voice lessons and dance lessons for Rock of Ages, none of which inspires that much confidence that his performance is going to be incredible. Still… I like this version of Tom. I know he’s crazy and the Church of Scientology is dangerous, etc, etc, but I always end up finding Tom to be kind of sympathetic. I can’t help it.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.