Editor’s Note
They still love him
How do you feel about Tom Cruise?
Your answer probably depends on which Tom Cruise springs to mind. Is it the slick action star of the 1990s? The accomplished actor who proved himself (to some people’s surprise) in Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July and Magnolia? Or is it the mystifying creature of Hollywood whose recent years have been plagued by peculiar PR problems?
Over the past few weeks I’ve encountered people with all three takes on Mr. C. But, regardless, all seem to find him fascinating. I know this because — more than for any other actor I’ve interviewed — their eyes light up when they find out we spoke. Then comes that question: “What was he like?”
The short answer is, he was pretty normal. He was tired, he’d just “locked picture” on his new World War II movie Valkyrie earlier that day. He was passionate about the film, gracious and polite. And his brain moved faster than his mouth, which often meant he was onto a new concept before he’d finished with the first one. But that wasn’t what intrigued me the most. What I found most fascinating about Mr. Cruise was his openness.
Now, by “openness” I don’t mean that he told me secrets about Suri, or finally explained all that stuff about Thetans. I mean that he put no conditions on our lengthy phone interview. There were no topics I could not broach. He did not ask to approve the story before it went to press (which is a deal breaker here at Famous, but you’d be surprised how many publications agree to this stipulation). And perhaps most interesting of all — when the call came through it was not, as is almost always the case, a publicist or assistant waiting to patch me through. Instead, the voice on the other end of the phone was as familiar as my own: “Marni, this is Tom Cruise.”
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Unlike, say, Jim Carrey or even Mike Myers, Cruise is usually quite happy to do interviews, to promote his films. It’s just that it was, well, Tom Cruise. So, that’s what he was like. As for the interview, “The Good German,” you can read it for yourself.
Brendan Fraser is settling comfortably into the role of family-friendly action star. Inkheart, his third such movie in less than a year, comes out this month. In “The Family Guy,” Fraser explains why it’s so important to make movies his kids will like, yet so hard to please them.
Kate Hudson isn’t nearly as comfortable with the role many expect her to fill — Queen of the Rom-Coms. In “Veiled Threats,” Hudson tells you why her new comedy, Bride Wars, is anything but romantic.
If you want to talk about a guy who’s turned his pigeonhole inside out, how about Gary Oldman? Long known for playing intense parts in strange little movies, Oldman is now most famous for roles in two of the most mainstream — albeit dark — franchises around, Batman and Harry Potter. As the actor explains in “Exorcising With Gary Oldman,” his latest role sees him playing (we kid you not) a demon-fighting rabbi in The Unborn.
And we have “New Blood,” a Q&A session in which British bombshell Rhona Mitra talks about taking over the female lead in the Underworld series.
Marni Weisz, editor