As a veteran Hollywood A-lister of 40 years, Tom Cruise has no doubt heard and read a lot of rumors about himself. But one in particular is making him laugh a lot recently.
The 61-year-old Mission Impossible star has been subjected to tons of news stories over the years, including one from 2020 surrounding a reported on-set blowup over people not following Covid protocols.
However, in a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Cruise's Mission Impossible co-star Simon Pegg and director Richard McQuarrie were quick to shoot down the drama surrounding the four time Oscar nominee.
McQuarrie relayed a story to the Times of a rumor Cruise himself shared with the director ahead of filming Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh instalment in the franchise.
The filmmaker had asked Cruise what the "weirdest story you've ever heard about yourself" was and Cruise delighted in giving him the answer.
Cruise revealed to McQuarrie, after a laugh, that he had heard that on set during filming, people "were not allowed to look me in the eye".
The Collateral actor was known to engage in dance-offs on the set of Top Gun: Maverick, which certainly wouldn't be all that enjoyable if no eye contact were allowed during them.
Pegg, meanwhile, also myth busted some of the rumors surrounding Cruise, with whom he has worked together for over a decade, since joining the Mission Impossible franchise with Ghost Protocol in 2011.
"I’ve been able to hack my way through all the bizarre mythology that surrounds him. On one side he’s Tom Cruise — this enigmatic film star everyone wants to know about. And on the other, he’s just a guy. I like being normal with him."
Speaking on the 2020 bust-up that received so much media publicity, which saw on-set audio of Cruise leaked shouting "If I see you do it again you’re f***ing gone" at two crew members who had ignored social distancing guidelines at a time when Dead Reckoning was one of the first shoots to reopen during the pandemic, Pegg said, "Everything that Tom cares about, in terms of his job, was at stake due to the pandemic. For him, there was a danger this virus could wipe cinema off the face of this earth."
Post-pandemic, Cruise's work has received a ton of plaudits and has been credited with reviving cinema after the industry incurred so many horrendous financial losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Top Gun: Maverick was an extraordinary success last year, grossing nearly $1.5 billion so far, while the latest Mission Impossible picture is already drawing in brilliant reviews, currently sitting on a 98% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film has so far received a limited release and will be opened everywhere as of today (July 11).