This article is about the American actor. For other people named Tom Cruise, see Tom Cruise (disambiguation).

Tom Cruise
Cruise at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Thomas Cruise Mapother IV July 3, 1962 (age 63) Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Occupations	Actorfilm producer
Years active	1981–present
Works	Filmography
Spouses	Mimi Rogers​​(m. 1987; div. 1990)​Nicole Kidman​​(m. 1990; div. 2001)​Katie Holmes​​(m. 2006; div. 2012)​
Children	3
Relatives	William Mapother (cousin)
Awards	Honorary Palme d’Or3 Golden Globe AwardsNavy Distinguished Public Service AwardBFI FellowshipFull list
Website	tomcruise.com
Signature

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Tom Cruise (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d’Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. As of 2025, his films have grossed over $13.3 billion worldwide, placing him among the highest-grossing actors of all time. One of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, he is consistently one of the world’s highest-paid actors.

Tom Cruise began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in Risky Business (1983) and Top Gun (1986), the latter earning him a reputation as a sex symbol. Critical acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). For his portrayal of Ron Kovic in the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s,

Tom Cruise starred in commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the sports comedy-drama Jerry Maguire (1996); for the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and his second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Cruise’s performance in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Tom Cruise subsequently established himself as a star of science fiction and action films, often performing his own risky stunts. He played fictional agent Ethan Hunt in eight Mission: Impossible films, beginning with Mission: Impossible (1996) and ending with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025). His other films in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

Tom Cruise holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive $100-million-grossing movies, a feat achieved with seven films released between 2011 and 2018. In December 2024, he was awarded the US Navy’s highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Public Service Award, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the military through his screen roles. In March 2025, he was named the recipient of the British Film Institute Fellowship, the BFI’s highest honor, for his contributions to cinema.

Forbes ranked him as the world’s most powerful celebrity in 2006. He was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1990, and received the top honor of “Most Beautiful People” in 1997. Outside his film career, Cruise has been an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology, which has resulted in controversy and scrutiny of his involvement in the organization. An aviation enthusiast, he has held a pilot certificate since 1994.

Early life

Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to electrical engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III and special education teacher Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer). His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Cruise has three sisters named Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. One of his cousins, William Mapother, is also an actor who has appeared alongside Cruise in five films.

Tom Cruise grew up in near poverty and had a Catholic upbringing. He later described his father as “a merchant of chaos,” a “bully,” and a “coward” who beat his children. He elaborated, “[My father] was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, ‘There’s something wrong with this guy. Don’t trust him. Be careful around him.'” Cruise’s father died of cancer in 1984.

In total, Tom Cruise attended fifteen schools in fourteen years. Cruise spent part of his childhood in Canada; when his father took a job as a defense consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces, his family moved in late 1971 to Beacon Hill, Ottawa. He attended the new Robert Hopkins Public School for his fourth and fifth grade education.

He first became involved in drama in fourth grade, under drama teacher George Steinburg. He and six other boys put on an improvised play to music called IT at the Carleton Elementary School drama festival. Drama organizer Val Wright was in the audience and later said that “the movement and improvisation were excellent … a classic ensemble piece.”

In sixth grade, Tom Cruise went to Henry Munro Middle School in Ottawa. That year, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sisters back to the United States. In 1978 she married Jack South. Cruise briefly took a Catholic church scholarship and attended St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati. He aspired to become a priest in the Franciscan order but left after a year.

Priests at the seminary have said Cruise chose to leave the school when his family relocated again; however, a former classmate said that they were both asked to leave after getting caught taking liquor. In his senior year of high school, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker, but was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game. He went on to star in the school’s production of Guys and Dolls. In 1980, he graduated from Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

Acting career

1980s: Breakthrough and stardom

Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to electrical engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III and special education teacher Mary Lee. His parents were from Louisville, Kentucky, and had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Cruise has three sisters named Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. One of his cousins, William Mapother, is also an actor.

Cruise grew up in near poverty and had a Catholic upbringing. He later described his father as a bully who beat his children and said it taught him to be cautious. His father died of cancer in 1984.

Tom Cruise attended fifteen schools in fourteen years. He spent part of his childhood in Canada when his father worked with the Canadian Armed Forces, and the family moved to Beacon Hill, Ottawa. He attended Robert Hopkins Public School for fourth and fifth grade.

He first became involved in drama in fourth grade, performing an improvised play called IT at the Carleton Elementary School drama festival, which was praised for its creativity.

In sixth grade, Cruise went to Henry Munro Middle School in Ottawa. That year, his mother left his father and took the children back to the United States. She later married Jack South. Cruise briefly attended St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati on a Catholic church scholarship, aspiring to become a Franciscan priest, but left after a year.

In high school, Cruise played football as a linebacker but was cut from the team after drinking beer before a game. He also starred in the school’s production of Guys and Dolls. He graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1980.

In 1989, Tom Cruise portrayed paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone’s war film Born on the Fourth of July. His performance was widely acclaimed and earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

The performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

1990s: Dramatic roles

Tom Cruise’s next films were Days of Thunder (1990) and Far and Away (1992), both of which co-starred then-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest, followed by the legal thriller The Firm, which was a critical and commercial success. In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, and Christian Slater in Interview with the Vampire, a gothic drama/horror film based on Anne Rice’s best-selling novel.

The film was well-received, although Rice initially criticized Cruise’s casting. Upon seeing the film, however, she later praised his performance and apologized for her previous doubts.

In 1996, Cruise starred as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of Mission: Impossible, which he also produced. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and was a box office success. In the same year, Cruise took on the title role in Cameron Crowe’s sports drama Jerry Maguire, playing a sports agent in search of love. The film was a massive financial success, grossing more than $273 million worldwide against its $50 million budget.

In 1999, Cruise costarred with Kidman in Stanley Kubrick’s erotic and psychological drama Eyes Wide Shut. That same year he took a rare supporting role as motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. For his performance, he received another Golden Globe and a nomination for an Academy Award.

2000s: Established career

In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission: Impossible films, Mission: Impossible 2. The film was directed by John Woo and featured his signature gun-fu style; it continued the series’ box office success, earning $547 million worldwide. Unlike its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year but received mixed critical reviews.

Cruise received an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for the film. His next five films were major critical and commercial successes. The following year, Cruise starred in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, he starred in the dystopian science fiction action film Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. The film has since been included in lists of the greatest science fiction films of all time.

In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick’s period action drama The Last Samurai, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. In 2004, Cruise received critical acclaim for his performance as Vincent in Collateral, a stylish and compelling noir thriller directed by Michael Mann.

In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in War of the Worlds, a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel, which became the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, earning $591.4 million worldwide. That year, he was nominated for the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star and won the MTV Generation Award. Between 2002 and 2009, Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards, winning once, and nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office.

In 2006, he returned as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible III, which was more positively received than previous films in the series and grossed nearly $400 million. In 2007, Cruise took a rare supporting role in Lions for Lambs, which was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by an unrecognizable appearance as Les Grossman in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder alongside Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr., earning him a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise also played the central role in the historical thriller Valkyrie, released on December 25, 2008, to box office success.

2010s: Action star

In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy Knight and Day, in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010.On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he would star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible series. The film was released in December 2011 to high critical acclaim and box office success.Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise’s biggest commercial success to that date.

On May 6, 2011, Cruise was awarded a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist.In mid-2011, Cruise started shooting the movie Rock of Ages (2012), in which he played the fictional character Stacee Jaxx. The film was released in June 2012 and was a rare box-office misstep for Cruise.

Cruise however received positive reviews for his performance with Variety‘s film critic Justin Chang writing, “Channeling the likes of Axl Rose and Keith Richards with his tattoos, heavy furs and even heavier eyeshadow, Cruise clearly relishes the opportunity to play against type even as he sends up his world’s-biggest-movie-star identity, displaying a cock-of-the-rock strut that viewers haven’t seen since his turn in Magnolia.”

Cruise starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of Lee Child’s 2005 novel One Shot, released on December 21, 2012. The film received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $217 million worldwide. In 2013, he starred in the science fiction film Oblivion, based on Joseph Kosinski’s graphic novel of the same name, which received mixed reviews and grossed $286 million worldwide. The film also starred Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko.

In 2014, Cruise starred in the science fiction-action film Edge of Tomorrow, which received positive reviews and grossed over $370 million. In 2015, he returned as Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which he also produced. Returning cast members included Simon Pegg as Benji and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, with Christopher McQuarrie directing. The film earned high critical acclaim and was a commercial success.

Cruise starred in the 2017 reboot of The Mummy, which received negative reviews but still grossed over $400 million. In 2018, he again reprised Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which was more positively received than previous films in the series and grossed over $791 million worldwide, marking Cruise’s biggest commercial success to date, unadjusted for inflation.

2020s: Franchise films

In May 2020, it was reported that Cruise would be starring in and producing a movie shot in outer space. Doug Liman would be directing, writing, and co-producing. Both are set to fly to the International Space Station as part of a future Axiom Space mission in a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft.

In May 2021, Cruise protested against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association by returning all three of his Golden Globe Awards due to controversy surrounding the HFPA, particularly its lack of diversity and ethical questions related to financial benefits for some members

In 2022, Cruise reprised his role as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, a film which he also produced. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where Cruise earned an Honorary Palme d’Or. It was released to widespread critical praise, with many reviewers deeming it superior to its predecessor.

The film broke several box office records upon its release, earning over $1 billion and becoming the highest-grossing film of his career. Cruise earned $100 million for the film, combining ticket sales, his salary, and his share of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenues.

Cruise reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which was released in theaters on July 12, 2023. The film received critical acclaim but was a box office disappointment due to the same-day release of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a phenomenon dubbed “Barbenheimer.” Peter Debruge of Variety praised Dead Reckoning for its performances, action sequences, and satisfying ending, noting that it provides enough closure to stand on its own.

In 2024, Cruise appeared in the Paris 2024 Olympics closing ceremony to promote the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, jumping from the roof of the Stade de France stadium and taking the flag from Mayor Karen Bass and athlete Simone Biles.

Cruise reprised the role of Ethan Hunt in the second part, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, released in May 2025, which he declared would be his last film portraying the character. He will also star in an untitled film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, marking his first project with Warner Bros. Pictures in twelve years.

Production

Cruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993, and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise’s films, the first being Mission: Impossible in 1996, which was also Cruise’s first project as a producer. In addition, Cruise has produced films in which he does not appear, including The Others, Shattered Glass, Elizabethtown, Narc, Ask the Dust, and Without Limits.

Cruise is noted for negotiating some of the most lucrative film deals in Hollywood and has been described as one of the most powerful and wealthy figures in the industry. He is considered one of the few producers capable of guaranteeing the success of a billion-dollar film franchise. Observers also note that public focus on Cruise’s tabloid controversies can overshadow full appreciation of his exceptional commercial prowess.

Break with Paramount

On August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. The decision was reportedly influenced by the economic impact of Cruise’s controversial public behavior and views on his value as an actor and producer. Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount’s announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had secured alternative financing from private equity firms. Industry analysts suggested that the underlying reason for the split was likely Paramount’s dissatisfaction with Cruise/Wagner’s exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Management of United Artists

In November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over the film studio United Artists (UA). Cruise acted as a producer and starred in films for UA, while Wagner served as UA’s chief executive. Production began in 2007 on Valkyrie, a thriller based on the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. Cruise signed to play Claus von Stauffenberg, the protagonist. This was the second film produced under their leadership at UA, following Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep, and Cruise. In August 2008, Wagner stepped down as UA’s chief executive but retained her stake in the studio, which combined with Cruise’s share amounted to 30% of UA.

Return to Paramount

Cruise began working with Paramount again as a producer and star with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, without Wagner, which was a critical and commercial success. He and Wagner would collaborate for the final time on the modestly successful Jack Reacher series, also for Paramount.

Move to Warner Bros. Discovery

In January 2024, it was announced that his production company was forming a new strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to develop and produce original and franchise films.

Acting credits and accolades

See also: Tom Cruise filmography and List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise

Cruise’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Cruise’s handprints in Leicester Square, London

In 2006, Premiere ranked Cruise as Hollywood’s most powerful actor, placing him at number 13 on the magazine’s Power List, the highest-ranked actor that year. Forbes magazine also named him the world’s most powerful celebrity. The founder of CinemaScore cited Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio as stars who could boost box office results regardless of a film’s reception. October 10, 2006, was declared “Tom Cruise Day” in Japan in recognition of his love for and close association with the country.

While reviewing Days of Thunder (co-written Cruise), film critic Roger Ebert noted the similarities between several of Cruise’s 1980s films and nicknamed the formula the “Tom Cruise Picture”.Ebert listed nine key ingredients that make up the Tom Cruise Picture: the Cruise character, the mentor, the superior woman, the craft he must hone, the arena it takes place in, the arcana or knowledge he must learn,

the trail or journey, the proto enemy, and the eventual enemy of the character. Some of Cruise’s later films like A Few Good Men and The Last Samurai can also be considered to be part of this formula. Widescreenings compares two of these Cruise characters in an article on the film A Few Good Men:

[screenwriter] Aaron Sorkin interestingly takes the opposite approach of Top Gun, where Cruise also starred as the protagonist. In Top Gun, Cruise plays Mitchell who is a ‘hot shot’ military underachiever who makes mistakes because he is trying to outperform his late father. Where Maverick Mitchell needs to rein in the discipline, Daniel Kaffee needs to let it go, finally see what he can do.

Cruise is an aerobatic pilot and was inducted as part of the Living Legends of Aviation in 2010, receiving the Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award from the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy. In addition to other aircraft, Cruise owns a P-51 Mustang.

Personal life

Marriages and relationships

Cruise splits his time between homes in Beverly Hills, California; Clearwater, Florida;and the south of England, where he has lived in various places such as Central London, Dulwich,East Grinstea and Biggin Hill.In the early-to-mid-1980s, Cruise had relationships with Melissa Gilbert,Rebecca De Mornay Patti Scialfa,and Cher.

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987. They divorced on February 4, 1990. Rogers had grown up in Scientology, and they met when Cruise became one of her clients. In a 1993 interview, Rogers mentioned that Cruise had been considering becoming a monk, which affected their intimacy.

Rogers later claimed she had been misinterpreted. According to a friend, Cruise, his agents, and certain studios were furious about her interview and warned her that her career could be affected unless she corrected it. Rogers received a $4 million divorce settlement.

Cruise met his second wife, actress Nicole Kidman, on the set of their film Days of Thunder (1990). The couple married on December 24, 1990. They adopted two children: Isabella Jane (born 1992) and Connor Antony (born 1995). On February 5, 2001, the couple’s spokesperson announced their separation.Cruise filed for divorce two days later, and their marriage was dissolved later that year,

with Cruise citing irreconcilable differences.Kidman stated that their marriage failed because at the time, she “was a child” who “needed to grow up.”According to former church spokesperson and board member Mike Rinder, the Church of Scientology used various means to push the couple to break up,

including pressuring Cruise into more auditing and tapping Kidman’s phone.In a 2007 interview with Marie Claire, Kidman noted the incorrect reporting of a miscarriage early in her marriage: “It was wrongly reported as miscarriage by everyone who picked up the story. So it’s huge news, and it didn’t happen. I had a miscarriage at the end of my marriage, but I had an ectopic pregnancy at the beginning of my marriage.”

Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, his co-star in Vanilla Sky (2001). Their three-year relationship ended in 2004.An article in the October 2012 issue of Vanity Fair stated that several sources have said that after the breakup with Cruz, Scientologist leaders launched a secret project to find Cruise a new girlfriend. According to those sources, a series of “auditions” of Scientologist actresses resulted in a short-lived

relationship with Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi, who subsequently left Scientology.Scientology and Cruise’s lawyers issued strongly worded denials and threatened to sue, accusing Vanity Fair of “shoddy journalism” and “religious bigotry”.Journalist Roger Friedman later reported that he received an email from director and ex-Scientologist Paul Haggis confirming the story.

In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes. On April 27, they made their first public appearance together in Rome. A month later, Cruise publicly declared his love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show by jumping on Winfrey’s yellow couch. On October 6, 2005, they announced they were expecting a child, and in April 2006, their daughter Suri was born.

On November 18, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Bracciano, in a Scientologist ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars. Their publicists said the couple had “officialized” their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony. There was widespread speculation that their marriage was arranged by the Church of Scientology, and David Miscavige, the head of Scientology, served as Cruise’s best man.

On June 29, 2012, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise. On July 9, the couple signed a divorce settlement worked out by their lawyers. New York law requires all divorce documents to remain sealed, so the exact terms of the settlement are not publicly available. Cruise stated that Holmes divorced him in part to protect their daughter Suri from Scientology, and that Suri is no longer a practicing member of the organization.

Litigation

Cruise also sued Bold Magazine publisher Michael Davis for $100 million, because Davis had alleged that he had video that would prove Cruise was gay. The suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that the video was not of Cruise, and that Cruise was heterosexual.

In 2006, Cruise sued cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to obtain control of the TomCruise.com domain name. When owned by Burgar, the domain redirected to information about Cruise on Celebrity1000.com. The World Intellectual Property Organization decided to turn TomCruise.com over to Cruise on July 5, 2006.

In 1998, Cruise successfully sued the Daily Express, a British tabloid that alleged his marriage to Kidman was a sham to cover up his sexuality. In May 2001, Cruise filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater, who had claimed an affair with Cruise. Slater was ordered to pay $10 million in damages after admitting his claims were false.

In 2009, magazine editor Michael Davis Sapir filed a suit claiming his phone had been wiretapped at Cruise’s behest, but the suit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. In October 2012, Cruise filed a defamation lawsuit against In Touch and Life & Style magazines for claiming he had abandoned his six-year-old daughter. During deposition, Cruise admitted he had not seen his daughter for 110 days. The suit was settled the following year.

Scientology advocacy

Cruise was introduced to Scientology by his first wife, Mimi Rogers, in 1986 and became an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology in the 2000s. He publicly announced his affiliation with Scientology in a 1992 interview and has said that its teaching methods helped him overcome dyslexia. Cruise has been a close friend of Scientology leader David Miscavige since the 1980s.

After initially studying Scientology, Cruise stepped back from the Church for a period while working on Eyes Wide Shut. He later returned, encouraged by the organization’s leadership, and became actively involved in promoting Scientology, which sparked controversy in the 2000s.

Following 9/11, Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City rescue workers “detoxification therapy,” a move criticized by medical professionals and firefighters. David Miscavige later awarded Cruise the Scientology Freedom Medal of Valor for this work. Former Scientologists have claimed that Cruise tried to introduce several celebrities to Scientology. Since 2008, he has limited discussions about the Church in interviews.

Political lobbying

As well as promoting various programs to introduce people to Scientology, Cruise campaigned for Scientology to be recognized as a religion in Europe. In 2005, the Council of Paris revealed that Cruise had lobbied French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Senate President Jean-Claude Gaudin; they described Cruise as a militant spokesman for Scientology and barred any further dealings with him.

Politics

In 2025, Cruise was selected by President Donald Trump for the Kennedy Center Honors but he declined it.

Controversies

Criticism of psychiatry

See also: Anti-psychiatry

In January 2004, Cruise stated that he believed psychiatry should be outlawed. In 2005, he criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the antidepressant Paxil to treat postpartum depression, arguing that chemical imbalances do not exist and calling psychiatry a form of pseudoscience. Shields responded that Cruise should let women experiencing postpartum depression make their own treatment choices. This led to a heated on-air argument between Cruise and Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today.

Medical authorities criticized Cruise’s comments for reinforcing the social stigma around mental illness, noting that while lifestyle changes and exercise can help with depression, public statements like his can discourage people from seeking treatment. Shields later described his remarks as harmful to mothers, and Cruise apologized to her in person in 2006.

Cruise’s anti-psychiatry stance aligns with Scientology’s well-known opposition to mainstream psychiatry and psychiatric drugs. His actions reportedly caused tension with director Steven Spielberg after a doctor friend of Spielberg’s, who prescribed psychiatric medication, had his office picketed by Scientologists.

YouTube video removal

Main article: Project Chanology § Tom Cruise video

On January 15, 2008, a video produced by Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube by the Anonymous-linked group Project Chanology, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him.Church of Scientology said the video had been “pirated and edited”, and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology.

YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation.It was subsequently reinstated on the site, and as of June 2020, the video has achieved over 15 million views.

Purported influence

In March 2004, Cruise’s long-time publicist Pat Kingsley resigned. He was succeeded by his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, who was also a Scientologist, and she served in that role until November 2005. Paul Bloch then took over as his publicist. These changes were seen as efforts to manage publicity surrounding Cruise’s views on Scientology and the controversy over his relationship with Katie Holmes.

Books and documentaries on Scientology later highlighted Cruise’s involvement with the organization, claiming that the Church influenced his romantic relationships and used members for labor. Some former associates alleged controversial practices, including wiretapping and strict control over partners, though Cruise and his representatives have denied these claims.

See also

• Supercouple – Popular or wealthy pairing
• Tom Cruise: Unauthorized (1998)
• Tom Cruise: All the World’s a Stage (2006)
• Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography (2008)
• Tom Cruise Purple – Cannabis strain