Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but he’s always relevant. In the June 2012 issue of Playboy, Cruise discusses his wildly successful, and often controversial, career of being in the spotlight. And although Cruise has undergone a good deal of criticism over the past few years, he is focusing on his passion for his work, and is approaching life with a very positive attitude.
For the first half of his career, Cruise was practically the biggest man in show business, with roles in films like Top Gun and A Few Good Men. However, his commitment to Scientology, sparked an onslaught of criticism. “What’s interesting is, if I don’t talk about my religion … they’re like, ‘He’s avoiding it,'” he says in the magazine. “If I do talk about it, it becomes, ‘Oh, he’s proselytizing.’
But the Cruise controversy didn’t end there. In 2005, Cruise was criticized for chastising Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants to combat Postpartum Depression during an interview with Matt Lauer. At that point, it seemed that Maverick had lost his appeal. “I never meant it that way,” Cruise now says. “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.”
In the Playboy interview, Cruise also touches upon some of his contemporary projects that have sparked conversations. For his upcoming flick, Rock of Ages, Cruise had to perform Def Leppard’s hit single, “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” in front of band. “The lead singer, Joe Elliott, points at me and goes, ‘F**k you! F**k you!'” Cruise recalls. “Then I saw big smiles on their faces, and I realized I’d gotten their stamp. It was a very cool moment.”
The actor’s choice to rappel 124 stories above the grounds of Dubai for Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (that came out in 2011) has got to be one of the most talked about movie stunts in recent years. Of course, Cruise could have just opted for visual effects, but that’s not his style. “As great as visual effects are, it just would not have been the same experience for the audience,” he says. “And look, if I’m at the third or the second floor, a fall will kill me anyway. I might as well be on the 124th floor.”
Cruise is also able to laugh about the heat he’s gotten for being cast in the upcoming film One Shot. “I bring [everything] but the height,” he laughs. “It’s a visual thing. There are some ass beatings in this. They’ll see that it delivers what I love about the Reacher series.”
But, after everything that Cruise has been through, it doesn’t seem to bother him that he’s one of the most talked about actors of all time. He is just living the way he believes that is right for him. “Whether it’s making a film or raising my children, personally I’m striving to do the right things and to learn,” he says.
[Photo Credit: David Edwards/Daily Celeb]
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[Playboy]
