Tom Cruise’s big thing seems to be continuing to prove he can do all the stunt work, but the takeaway I get is of an artist stunted in his growth; a man frozen in another time of his life. Objectively I understand why he was tapped for the Olympics closing ceremony bit — where he rappelled down the Stade de France, then brought the Olympic flag to 2028 host city LA in a prerecorded video. It brought his movie star touch, considering the games are headed towards tinseltown. Now Casey Wasserman, president and chairperson of the LA28 committee, has divulged that Cruise chose to accept his mission almost immediately, and was happy to do it for free, no less. But only if he could do all his own stunts. Quelle surprise.
“The backstory is that we realized we were producing a 15-minute live TV show, and so I hired who I think is the best person in the world to do that,” Wasserman said at the CNBC x Boardroom: Game Plan in Santa Monica, Calif., this week, referring to producer Ben Winston, who had the idea to bring Cruise into the fold.
“The best part of the story is we pitched on a Zoom, and the original idea was a person in the stadium as a stunt double,” Wasserman continued. “We’re like, ‘Well, there’s no way we’re getting this. We’re going to get four hours of filming time. We’ll do the thing with the Hollywood sign, he’ll hand the thing off, and he’s done. Maybe we’ll get the other stuff and the rest will be just a stunt double.’”
To their surprise, Cruise agreed to the gig almost immediately, but not without setting the terms for his participation. Wasserman recalled, “About five minutes into the presentation, [Cruise] goes, ‘I’m in. But I’m only doing it if I get to do everything,’” effectively rejecting the idea of a stunt double and insisting on performing every aspect of the segment himself.
However, Wasserman said Winston told him, “Don’t get too excited. [Cruise] loves doing this stuff, but when his team realizes how many shooting days it’s going to be and rehearsals, this is never happening. I’m telling you I got it, but it’s never happening.”
But the Magnolia star proved them wrong. “Sure enough, every step of the way, he got more involved and more engaged,” Wasserman said.
In addition to participating for free, Cruise agreed to get involved in the Hollywood section of the segment during a particularly busy moment in his schedule, as he was still shooting the eighth Mission: Impossible movie across the pond.
“He finished filming Mission: Impossible at 6 p.m. in London, got right on a plane,” Wasserman recalled. “He landed in L.A. at 4 a.m. and filmed the scene where he pulls onto a military plane. In L.A., he does two jumps out of the [plane]. He didn’t like the first one, so he did a second jump. Then he helicoptered from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from 1 until 5, helicoptered to Burbank Airport, and flew back to London.”
Tom Cruise is utterly confounding and vexing to me. On the one hand, he displays many admirable qualities: remembering friends and colleagues’ birthdays; showing up for female athletes; giving advice to filmmakers trying to navigate difficult Hollywood producers. On the other hand, he’s the VIP of a major global cult, a cult he’s so committed to that he chose his devotion to it over having a relationship with his daughter. But Top Gun: Maverick saved moviegoing, so… I recognize that Cruise is associated with a classic movie star charisma, that certain je ne sais quoi. And I also appreciate that he executed his bit of daredevil risky business for the Olympics perfectly. And while he wasn’t paid a fee for this gig, he did bank millions in favorable press and public goodwill. It gave him a positive counter-narrative to reports of his daughter dropping his last name as she goes off to college, and the reminder that he’s kept his eyes wide shut on her for 12 years.
Photos credit: Vincent Kalut/Panoramic/Avalon, Daniel Leal/Avalon and Getty
It’s so interesting to think back to when Tom was doing interesting work: that span of time from Interview with the Vampire to perhaps Collateral. And then it’s like he decided he didn’t want to do real acting anymore and just wanted to be a glorified stuntman. I would say since then the only film he’s done that was truly interesting was Edge of Tomorrow – and even THAT was still an action film that didn’t require him to stretch or challenge himself. The latter half of his career has truly been a stasis and doing “what works”. He is a LOT like his peers in that way – look at Pitt. Who is also stuck in what worked for him when he was younger.
Edge of Tomorrow is really good (my husband is a huge fan of Emily Blunt so we watch that one a lot, lol) but I feel like he’s peripheral to the quality of the movie. You could have been any number of other actors in that role and it would have been just as good.
So yeah there was a period when he was doing interesting work – sometimes it worked, sometimes it didint – but his movies were less action focused for a while – or like Minority Report, they were action-y movies (lol) but still interesting with different plots etc.
Now its just Mission Impossible, rinse repeat. I get he’s making a shit ton of money off of them but doesnt he have enough?
I think, in Cruise’s case, it’s all tied to a pathological need to be seen as an actual superhero as some sort of proof to support CO$ teachings
It is so pathetic…this guy refuses to age like a normal person…he still wants to look like he’s 30 years old.
I think outside of Scientology he lives a pretty lonely and isolated life so he gets all his validation from fame. He wants to be seen as he has always been – and when you think you can cure people by touching them, ageing like a normal human is not an option.
I’m not surprised he insisted on doing all his own stunts, he lives for that stuff! I am surprised he agreed to not being paid, that was… generous of him I guess. But it doesn’t absolve him for being Scientology ride or die for life and for being an absentee parent to Suri.
He is so strange. I just wonder what he would be like if he had never been involved with Scientology. Like..would he be at Tom Hanks level loved? He’s so sooo driven but by what?
I don’t watch his movies anymore because of his involvement with Scientology. I know he’s been involved for years but I feel like the more we learn about it the more issues I have with supporting him. I watch Edge of tomorrow like I said above but we have that on DVD so I feel like he’s not tracking our watches, lol, like if it was a streamed movie.
I refuse to watch the new Top Gun.
I feel like without Scientology we would watch his movies on repeat in our house, especially the Top Guns (my son wants to be a pilot in the Navy.)
Very much the same! Our local cinema did a showing of OG Top Gun a couple of weeks back so we went and my boyfriend called me a hypocrite because I refuse to watch his more recent films.
I wish the various streaming services had an option to filter out certain actors. Fortunately I have OG Top Gun on DVD so no-one needs to know how often I watch that.
He was a little weird even before he joined Scientology. He didn’t start to publicly going off the rails until he fired the publicist that made him look somewhat normal, but even in his Risky Business days, he was strange. Check out Bronson Pinchot’s interview on what it was like to work with him.
@K: Those are really interesting questions. What is driving him? He’s always continuing to claw forward, but to what? Maybe he thinks he can outrun or outwit time. Like, there’s nothing he can’t do if he puts his mind to it
Tom Cruise has a huge Ego.
He did it for the attention, and he thinks he is in fact “The Last Movie Star”.
He has wealth, he NEEDS attention, constantly.
The man has no inner life. 3X divorced, he has spent decades under CoS, no sane person would step into a romantic relationship w/him, IMO.
I honestly think he has nothing else but the films/stunts to occupy himself.
He has a death wish, I truly think he means to go out doing some idiot move.
What else does he have? Notice that he now makes it known that he was not paid? No one was wondering about that.
I would love to know what he could have been as a human w/o CoS controlling him.
Look back at his time w/Nic in their early marriage, he seemed happy. CoS owns him. But why?
Idk, whenever I see people falling all over this dude and praising his good deeds or what a thoughtful costar he is, I always wonder what that’s like for Suri. To hear everyone applauding the father who emotionally and physically abandoned her at age 6.
Sure he may do some good, but meh. All I see is an absentee father.
I agree. Charity begins at home. You can do all the good in the world you want but that won’t negate or make up for the way you treat your own children.
I can’t weep that Suri lost a precious, precious relationship with her daddy. She’s way better off not being indoctrinated in a cult, even if she’s dad-less. Tom did her a favor by letting her go, though I suspect Katie/Katie’s dad/lawyers are the ones really enforcing this stuff.
Sometimes I wonder if Tom’s decision to abandon Suri was something he justified as protecting her from the cult? Like, he truly knows how awful it is, but he’s in too deep, he could never safely get out himself, and his older kids are too brainwashed and a lost cause in getting out. But Suri was just a young child with her whole life ahead of her when Katie escaped with her. I wonder if Tom stays away to keep Suri safe from being used as a threat to keep him in line? Ultimately I think he’s fine where he is in the cult and he’s a true believer in it. But I occasionally think “what if?”.
From what I understand Katie (with Suri as the extension) was labeled as a suppressive person (SP) due to her very public split with Tom. When it was made semi-public that a big reason she wanted out was she did not want Suri indoctrinated into Scientology. Katie has never actually spoken out against it. I assume as part of their divorce agreement.
When Tom was having very public visitations with Suri post divorce. Like the Disney photo ops. Other Scientology members were grumbling. Why does he get to have a relationship with an SP when they do not. So he actually got in line and completely disconnected from them.
It’s a nice thought thinking he was doing it to ‘save’ Suri from Scientology. But the facts are Tom is #2 behind David Miscavage and is treated like a God in the organization. He will never choose a child over his religion. And even in their religion children aren’t really seen as their children. But more a passenger that is passing through for a new life time off a slave planet. They are seen as little adults. Which is also how they are able to sever relationships within the cult. It’s all by design to keep them enslaved in it. Under the guise of saving the world and this person is toxic and you need to cut them out. Blah, Blah, Blah.
Thank God for Katie and I hope Suri follows the same legal paths as the Jolie children. He does not deserve to have his last name attached to her.
How goofy is that thinking? Children but not children? Yet Tom has openly declared his Mum and Sisters are a huge part of his life?
I do know his sisters and Connor and Bella are all fully into CoS.
Imagine the team of people it would take to get inside his head and deprogram him. Yipes.
I still think Cruise knows all the dirt and criminal activities done by the CoS. All of it.
And no, Tom did not “let” Suri go.
Katie Holmes and her Father did a great job on the divorce/custody.
GrandDad did his best and most important work of his life getting Suri free.
Kismet, nice job with this.
You summed up major points on Cruise very well. 👍
I’m not a fan of Tom Cruise but I’m a fan of the Mission Impossible franchise. The thing that stops me from being a fan is his involvement in Scientology.
Meh, everything with him is self serving. i think the real reason he did it is to warm up relations with France to Scientology. They have been pushing against that cult for years.
He’s a talented actor and I guess a good co-star but the way he legitimizes this dangerous cult just sours me on him completely. I’ll admit I did watch the Top Gun sequel, just because I had some nostalgia for the original from when I was a kid. I won’t watch his other movies any more. The last thing in which I really even liked him was “Tropic Thunder” in which he had a small comedic role.
Is Suri better off without him? Of course, but that doesn’t excuse the way he allowed that to happen. It’s so f**ked up.
I wonder if he wears his lifts while doing stunts..🤔
When Tom C passes away, as we all must, eventually, will all 3 of his children be considered his legal heirs, or only he 2 that he is close to. Does Suri have any legal right at all to his estate?
It depends on what is in his will. My guess would be that he has probably written Suri out of his will, so she wouldn’t be entitled to anything. If he doesn’t have a will, Suri would still be considered a legal heir, but I’m sure someone as wealthy as him would have one.
I think Tom is going to leave his estate to the church if they don’t already have claim over it.
I’ll say that most people who perform at the Olympics don’t for a nominal $1 contract to make it binding. They look at it a a huge deal for prestige and goodwill.
I honestly don’t care, scientology opened a new branch in Paris this very year so that particular stunt was just propaganda for his little cult. Can we stop trying to make it seems as if being part of a cult is cute ?