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The Resurrection of Tom Cruise
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Susana Vera / Reuters
Nearly four years after jumping on Oprah’s couch, Tom Cruise has slowly rehabilitated his image in Hollywood. Kim Masters reports on how he accomplished this impossible mission.
I have started to admire Tom Cruise. I think. Last week, Variety ran an article saying that Cruise was considering so many projects that he had “single-handedly propped up the script-doctoring biz.” (That is, various screenwriters have been picking up $250,000 a week to rework scripts that Cruise might pick for his next project.)
This article may have been a plant; some in the industry figured it came from CAA, an agency that not only wants to hype its star but to draw attention to the fact that its screenwriter clients are still getting top dollar in tough times.
But the story got me thinking about Cruise and how he seems to be getting a damaged career back on track—something that didn’t necessarily seem possible a couple of years ago.
“He’s had some hard conversations with a lot of people. He’s doing everything he can to be the best guy to be in business with.”
I’ve written a lot of stuff about Tom Cruise, notably a 2005 cover story in Radar magazine about the star’s relationship to the Church of Scientology. It chronicled Cruise’s slow-motion spinout in the days leading up to the release of War of the Worlds. (This was around the time that he was jumping on Oprah’s couch, chiding Matt Lauer for being “glib,” and criticizing Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants.) Whether Cruise was aware of the article I can’t say because, as a former Scientologist told me, members of the group are “kept in a bubble” and “never hear bad news.”
About a year later, I wrote another piece for Slate with the headline, “The Cootie Factor.” A prominent agent used that telling phrase to describe the problem that was afflicting Cruise. It’s one thing to apologize for throwing a phone; it’s another to recover from the type of relentless scorn that was being poured on Cruise, from South Park to Scary Movie 4.
A source close to Cruise acknowledged then that he was “teetering on the brink of a certain kind of trouble that no star like him has ever been in before.” But this knowledgeable source said Cruise still hadn’t gotten the word. “You’ve got to be very careful in conversations with him," he explained. "Tom is not ever going to face facts."
Now it seems that he has—though perhaps only up to a point. Cruise has been rebuilding his image brick by brick. He did a comic turn in Tropic Thunder and a quirky commercial for Jimmy Kimmel that aired during the Oscars. Last May he allowed Oprah to interrogate him and in December he went on the Today show to apologize to Lauer.
The strategy was aimed at more than one demographic: Tropic Thunder and Jimmy Kimmel were for the Internet snarkers while Oprah and Matt drove up his approval ratings among older women—exactly the group that had been most turned off by the couch-jumping and Shields-bashing.
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The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
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Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
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Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
hammer
Yea Valkyrie was a monumental winner and I'm sure the studios were thrilled by its success. The born again Scientologist gives everyone the creeps with his fake smile and his canned responses. But after all this is Hollywood where press relations is the only thing that is important. iu wonder what favors Cruise and his team did to get this puff piece planted into the DB?
Banjo1
Good actor, bad person. That pretty much describes all the people in front of the camera in Hollywood -- except for the bad actors.
Ritarita
It's hard
To watch
Someone so
Uncomfortable
In their own skin.
He could be a
Great actor
I can't tell.
FNYGY1
Good actor? Tom Cruise? I think not. Pretty good movie star but not much of an actor. One can certainly see the wheels turning. The eye patch was too much for me - it simply SCREAMED "movie!"
FingBruges
Haha hammer.. so cynical.
Although most times I don't care much about celebrity news, I DO care about things that happen with Tom Cruise because, besides being a phenomenal actor, he is a scientologist.
I would really like to see a well-researched and thoughtful piece about scientology on DB. Scientology is a serious problem in many parts of the U.S. (i.e. Florida, California...) that gets swept under the rug. It's not important like economy and healthcare, etc., but it shouldn't be treated as a non-issue.
Everybody, including scientologists needs to understand:
Scientology is a business, like alternative medicine, and NOT a religion.
Keyser
scientology is a business, absolutely, but let's not trick ourselves into thinking that mainstream religions aren't.
Just because you've been in business for a millennium or more doesn't make you something more. It just means that you've been able to adapt quite well (and that IRS won't take quite as hard a look at you when filing for 501(c)(3) and "church" status).
ColorBox
Only half true.
All religions may be business oriented...I mean, you can't run a church unless you take money in, right?
But the other big difference between Scientology and mainstream religions is the fact that you can LEAVE the faith if you want to.
I was raised Catholic but I am Catholic no more.
Dollars to donuts that Tom Cruise's kids will not have that kind of freedom.
You are not allowed to think for yourself AT ALL in Scientology. Which is not unlike other religions...I mean, mostly that's what religion does: it takes away a need to think for yourself...but, like I said..you are free to leave mainstream religions, and there are more freedoms as well.
Scientology is not just a business...it is a cult too. It's way more dangerous than mainstream religions.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
sophieozz
This reads like a silly PR puff piece. Typical.
angelas02
No, Tom Cruise has not been rehabilitated. He made a movie that left most film-goers indifferent. It only made 20 million in the US which does not single a hit by a star of his (past) stature.
His Scientology devotion is still creepy and his marriage a mystery and the fact that anyone who works with them have to sign insanely complicated "confidentially" agreements shows that they have something to hide. I don't think he's talented or interested or worth a $12 movie ticket. If he stopped making movies, Scientology would certainly lose its budget and the movie world would be richer.
Fentro
go to youtube and search for "Cruise Scientology Rant" and you will see very bizarre behavior. Tom Cruise is a person with a destiny of success since he started acting, and in that regard, blessed- however, it has inflated his ego to a point where I can't imagine the guy really caring about others all that much, except in a controlling way. Scientology has aggravated this quality.
Let's face it, in just about every movie, he plays Tom Cruise (and is always running alot). I generally enjoy his films, but he has become over-exposed. It would be good if the Hollywack powers-that-be gave others a chance (and give Tom walking papers - he's rich enough and has accomplished enough. Let him discover the real world).
As far as his image - who cares, except those that exploit it for monetary gain.
People should be free to believe in whatever nonsense they want, be it L. Ron Hubbard, Santa Claus, Aliens, Elvis or Jesus, as long as their actions are harmless.
peterbyrne
Cruise's career is only being "resurrected" by a media that wants to write about him in order to service some flack. Puhleaze--can we have some NEWS, not more garbage.
FingBruges
I've seen the clip, and yes, it's bizarre. And about people being free to belive what they want.. that's ok, until you start hurting other people; that's what scientologists do. They hurt others in active and passive ways, such as witholding medicine from their son who subsequently kills himself due to his mental ilness(es). (See: Travolta family). That's serious.
p.s. - Ritarita: give it up. You aren't adding anything to any discussion. You're a gimmick.
Ritarita
I like
Economy.
Sue me.
SantaFromTheNorth
I defend Mr. Cruise's right to express his beliefs, as long as it does no harm. One would argue that Scientology has left a trail of the dead, injured, and swindled, much like some that follow the Koran or certain interpretations of the Bible.
Valkyrie's $20 mil. was due to curiosity. It had poor word of mouth. Tropic Thunder was not a Tom Cruise film, he was a supporting player, much like when he played the washed up drunk in Magnolia. He could be gifted, but he chooses to phone it in. I have no desire to pay to see any of output if continues to phone it in and give aid to hucksters.
BTW: the only harm that anybody got believing in Santa was a bunch of gifts on Dec24th or 25th.
CyberJoe
Now if he would just get it over with and come out of the closet.
saaddaas
hate to say it but this articled does look like a PR plant.
decodent
His antics have, unfortunately, made it hard to watch him on film. I think Cruise is a good - if not great - actor. His roles in Magnolia and Collateral were amazing.
Believing in an actor's role means losing yourself in whatever character they play.
Unfortunately, if the first thing that comes to mind when you see their face is of coach jumping, playing pop psychologist, or some other idiotic display, it's hard to do that.
I admire the actors that can take on any role and otherwise stay below the radar screen of idiocy. I think di Caprio, Norton, and Downey do this well.
Cruise would do well to learn from them.
edouglas
I don't think its a coincidence that the media decided that Tom Criuse was 'crazy' only when he bashed the drug companies. Companies that spend a lot of money on ads. The same is going on now with Jenny McCarthy when she suggests that all of these shots that kids are getting now might be connected with the rise in autism, but I digress. Also, I believe it's the media that keeps bringing up his belief in Scientology, not him (In the infamous Today show interview, Matt Lauer pressed the issue, not Tom).
I'm not the biggest fan, but let's face facts: Tom Cruise is a bonafide movie star and has been so for a very long time. Let's face another fact: Whenever there's some smear piece written about him, the guy puts those to task, sues and if I'm not mistaken, he usually wins.
If you like his movies, see them. If you don't, nothing wrong with that either. But leave the guy alone when it comes to his personal life and his choices.
Ritarita
edoug-
Your theory
Does not explain
His own frenetic
Behavior.
connie47
"If you like his movies, see them. If you don't, nothing wrong with that either. But leave the guy alone when it comes to his personal life and his choices."
That's the most sensible thing I've read here.
The same applies to Rita's posts. Personally, I think I agree with her a lot, but I'm not sure because I find the style annoying. No point in attacking her, though, or Tom Cruise for how he lives his life.
Thank you.
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