Why can't all of Hollywood stand Tom Cruise (anymore)?
Women hate him, men hate him, the former Top Gun is considered one of the most insufferable actors of all time. But the real reason?
Over the course of his 35-year career, Tom Cruise went from a sex symbol with uncombed hair to one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. He went straight into the history of cinema and into the hearts of everyone like Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the film that made him the most famous and paid actor of the time: Top Gun. But it was in the role of Ethan Hunt in the 1996 action series: Mission Impossible that his character literally exploded. But lately, all the love for Tom Cruise has started to fade and public opinion about him has changed dramatically. Until a few years ago he was the man every boy wanted to be and every girl dreamed of marrying, now the actor's name represents something completely different and is related to anything but cinema. Hollywood can't stand it anymore. Reason? Oops reasons? At least 11 and Nickiswift.com listed them all:
1. Skepticism about his religious faith
Film aside, Tom Cruise is a member of the Church of Scientology, known through his first wife, actress Mimi Rogers (his father, Phil Spickler, was a prominent member of the movement). According to what former member Nancy Many tells RadarOnline, the actor was targeted by the church. "They tricked him into becoming a member," he said, "Manipulation is invisible to the person being manipulated." You will think: how can a person hate someone based only on his faith? Tom Cruise's hypocrisy when it comes to Scientology reaches such high levels that it rejects anyone who feels the desire to help him.
2. He started to expose himself politically
Although Rogers and Cruise separated in 1990 after three years of marriage, his dedication to Scientology continued to intensify. Cruise's fervent convictions turned him into something of a politician leading the church's race to become a recognized religion across Europe. The BBC reported that in 2007 Germany was refusing to run the WWII thriller Valkyrie (2008) on its military sites due to the Hollywood star's membership in Scientology. While the government then backtracked, this was not the case for some Protestant clerics. Spokesman Thomas Gandow argued that the film would "have the same propaganda benefits for Scientology as the 1936 Olympics had for the Nazis."
3. He has been divorced three times
Not long after splitting from Rogers, Tom Cruise married Days of Thunder (1990) co-star Nicole Kidman. The couple became one of the most powerful in Hollywood of the 90s, but when their union ended after 11 years, it marked the beginning of the end for the actor's public image. After his brief relationship with the protagonist of Vanilla Sky (2001), Penélope Cruz, the Church of Scientology would organize real secret hearings to find him a new wife. The first selected was the English-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi, but after a few months she was replaced by actress Katie Holmes. The Dawson's Creek star (1998 - 2003) became Tom Cruise's third wife. Less than six years later, however, Katie Holmes files for divorce. The reason? According to the Daily Mail, besides being a bad father to her daughter Surifiglia Suri, Holmes feared that Scientology's overbearing influence could compromise her daughter's serenity.
4. They say he's a control freak
A control freak, as Tom Cruise is defined by those who know him well. In an interview with David Letterman not long after their divorce, Nicole Kidman joked that she could finally go back to wearing high heels (Kidman is several inches taller than Cruise). Alex Gibney's documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015), tells how Tom Cruise, thanks to the Church of Scientologhy, attempted to manipulate divorce proceedings. According to the Daily Mail, the actor became even more intrusive in the life of his third wife Katie Holmes: he even decided what he should wear and who he could meet. As if to show solidarity with Kidman, in one of the first public appearances after her separation from Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes wore a 12cm heel (by the way, she is again and happily engaged to Jamie Foxx and together they are a space couple) .
5. His huge ego on set
Tom Cruise's alleged mania for control over his ex-wives is nothing compared to what they say happens on set. As Variety reports, the movie The Mummy is the latest to be negatively affected by its brutal and manic interference. According to insiders, in fact, Tom Cruise had the entire script changed, heavily influencing the direction, editing and even marketing of the film. Result? Income below expectations. But The Mummy isn't the first movie Tom Cruise has compromised. According to actor R. Lee Ermey, collaborator and friend of Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut's failure was partly caused by the star's oversized ego. Ermey told Radar Online that Kubrick thought it was "a piece of shit". Clear
6. Women don't like it anymore
When Holmes was pregnant, some rumors tell of how Tom Cruise forced his wife to prepare for a silent pregnancy: the actress should not have screamed but be in complete silence, according to what the Scientology faith dictates. This is not the first time that Tom Cruise has meddled on issues related to childbirth. His statements made controversy in 2005 when he criticized Endless Love (1981) co-star Brooke Shields for taking medications for postpartum depression. He was told that "he should just save the world from aliens and let women experiencing postpartum depression decide what medical treatments are best for them." Cruise's third and final gaffe is linked to his alleged infidelity on set: Scientology executives would have encouraged him to cheat on first wife Rogers with second wife Kidman on the set of Days of Thunder, rumors confirmed by the former church member. , Marty Rathbun.
7. Even the studios got fed up with him
In 2006, Paramount Pictures ended their 14-year working relationship with the actor because they feared his insane actions could negatively impact Mission: Impossible III's revenue. In fact, it was not just religious faith that influenced this choice. Tom Cruise's bizarre appearance by Oprah Winfrey led many to question his mental health (viewers watched in disbelief as he jumped up and down in his chair).
8. He is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that in 2016 for Mission: Impossible 6 Tom Cruise asked for a salary increase (despite Forbes having named him on the list of highest paid actors of 2015).
9. It has become too powerful
Also Forbes named him as one of the most powerful actors in the world. His films are almost all a box office success, examples of War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible. Even if his reputation precedes him, he remains one of the guarantee actors of success. In Asia, in particular, he is very popular and his fame was consolidated even more after the release of the film The Last Samurai in 2003 (Japan even declared a national holiday in his honor).
10. He tried to convert other celebrities
Dedicating your life to a faith created by a science fiction writer is fine, but trying to coerce other celebrities into doing so is debatable. Tom Cruise wanted at all costs to convert David Beckham, he had an obsession with him and considered him the ideal convert for propaganda. Conversion that did not happen despite having the Church of Scientology build a full-size soccer field just for him.
11. Did you abandon your daughter?
Tom Cruise has three children: Isabella and Connor, adopted with Nicole Kidman, and Suri (the little style icon) had by Katie Holmes. Although Bella claims to have contact with her father, the same cannot be said for the youngest of the Cruise household who has not had contact with the actor for years, to be precise since she was seven (in 2018 she turned twelve) .
