Good news: you are, in fact, allowed to look Tom Cruise in the eye
Cruise's Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One co-stars recently debunked this rumor, which he called the "weirdest story" he had ever heard about himself
Look, Tom Cruise is a weird guy. This shouldn’t be news to anyone. He’s famously a Scientologist, does all of his own insane, mind-numbingly dangerous stunts, and would continue until he was 80, if he had his druthers. All of this is to say, when rumors surface about what Cruise is supposedly like behind closed doors, they tend to take off. Perhaps even a rumor that cast and crew members were forbidden from looking him in the eye on set—one that, apparently, has gotten back to Cruise himself.
In a recent story in The Times Of London, Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One director and frequent Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie revealed that, according to Cruise, the whole eye contact thing is the “weirdest story” the actor had ever heard about himself, and that anyone who isn’t Tom Cruise’s reflection in the mirror is, in fact, allowed to actually interact with him. Which… duh. How else could anyone expect the actor to complete his completely normal film prep regimen of 30 skydives per day without being squashed to a pulp?
Simon Pegg, Cruise’s Mission: Impossible costar and sharer in “simple friendship” (a.k.a., one in which any mention of the S-word is strictly off the table), also weighed in on the churning of the rumor mill, saying that Cruise is really just a normal dude who “took us go-karting and zip-lining,” during off time on set, which, for Cruise, is probably the equivalent of grabbing a beer or having a casual game night.
“I’ve been able to hack my way through all the bizarre mythology that surrounds him,” Pegg added. “On one side he’s Tom Cruise—this enigmatic film star everyone wants to know about. And on the other he’s just a guy. I like being normal with him.”
Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One premieres July 12 in theaters.