Tom Cruise speaks out on film crews 'not being allowed to look him in the eye'

Tom Cruise makes epic blockbuster films, but the 61-year-old actor and producer doesn't consider himself above his co-stars and film crew members.

In a new profile for The Times of London, Cruise's Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1 co-stars and collaborators open up about the man behind the mega star.

In the flattering profile, Cruise's Mission director, Christopher McQuarrie (aka McQ), recalls asking the Oscar-nominated actor for the "weirdest story" he'd ever heard about himself.

McQ says that Cruise laughed and said the strangest rumor was that people on set "were not allowed to look me in the eye."

In 2020, Cruise's rant against a crew member who was not following COVID-19 protocols went viral. During the recorded moment, the actor angrily shouts at the person who was not following social distancing rule, "If I see you do that again, you're f**king gone."

Cruise's co-star, Simon Pegg, defends the actor's behavior in the new profile, saying, "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."

Pegg goes on to note that cinema is not "frivolous," adding, "Cinema brings people together at a time we're pulling apart, and that just added to Tom's determination to put people in a room together. The power of cinema is, for him, precious and it’s vital we sustain it."

On Monday, ET's Nischelle Turner spoke with Cruise at the New York City premiere of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1, which ET hosted, and he opened up about his love for making blockbuster films.

"[I hope] the people are entertained... In my movies, whatever genre that I'm making, I want them to be entertained," he explained. "And [I want to] make high-quality cinema that is made for the big screen."

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