Tom Cruise on being called ‘intense’ for decades: ‘I don’t know what to say. I am intense’

Tom Cruise is certainly moving differently this year. What has changed? Does he really want that Oscar for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger? Or is it something else – a different kind of comeback, twenty years past the TomKat era, fourteen years past the implosion of TomKat? I do not know. But here’s Tom Cruise on the cover of the October issue of GQ. This is his first GQ cover in twenty years, which is wild. That being said, he’s barely given any magazine interviews for years now. Which brings me back to the “why now” of it all. I’d also like to ask: who wanted Tom to pose in an unbuttoned shirt? He’s in great shape, of course. But he’s 64 years old – it’s fine to button the shirt. In fact, it’s preferable. Some highlights from Tom’s interview:

Digger is the most challenging character he’s ever played: “It is the culmination of all my skills. I’ve never done it before. Everything that I’ve done has been very thought-out, why I did it. I have personal goals and challenges with everything I do. I was so excited to be able to have this character. It’s the most challenging character ever. Oh my God, not even close. Not even close.

He dreamed of being in the movies: “I had this dream [of making movies]—and I didn’t go to film school. I didn’t go to acting school, and all of a sudden I’m 18 years old and it’s happening. And I guess through time—I had my secret plan that I had because I knew very early on: Don’t tell people you have dreams… I’ve talked to many people, and they’re like, “Sometimes you’ve got to keep things to yourself.” And those dreams, I’d write them on a board and I had them on my wall. And it wasn’t: I want to be famous. I definitely wanted to make movies, but I wanted to travel the world and I wanted to know people and know life. And how do you figure out what works and what doesn’t work? So then I just started studying. I’m on a movie set and I’m looking at every single department and I had a dream. And I didn’t know there were barriers—meaning, you’re not supposed tos—on movie sets.”

Whether he fears death: “Look, I think you could look at my life and go: I like standing on the edge of a cliff physically and metaphorically. Meaning, I look at life as an adventure, and I always have, my whole life. I want to understand people. I want to understand life and cultures. We’re looking at life. I wonder: Who are those people? How do they feel? Do they think the way I do? Do they laugh at the same thing? How do I connect with them? And I didn’t want to just be a tourist. I wanted to go make movies there because I also find you really get to know people when you create with them. Everyone has a different subjective reality of what they think about life, about people. And there is common ground in humanity, and I’m looking for that common ground.

Returning to Pinewood Studios, where he filmed many of his movies: “It was beautiful. I love it. It’s home. For me, home is on a movie set. People go, “Where do you live?” I’m like, “On movie sets. And around the world. I’m a citizen of the world, a citizen of humanity.”

He made Glen Powell watch a six-hour instructional video about screen acting: “It was just very basic. It was something to have people understand, just to have a different concept of lenses and what the lens is and what the frame is. Just the same way as an actor onstage, or in the development of cinema, where it started, and what that frame means and how to understand that frame. There’s just different layers of storytelling, of structure, but also: to understand certain things so that you can forget about it.

What he tells younger people in the business: “I listen first: What do they want? It’s not me. I’m more interested in: What are their goals? What do they want? And it’s not just younger people. This is me when I was a kid. I’m going, “What are you interested in?”

Movies are just different: “So movies are—this is about humanity. I have nothing against cable or TV or Netflix. I think it’s great. Create jobs and everything. But what I like about cinema is it is all of us coming together in a room and sharing an experience. I say, “Understand the tools, then go create what you want to create.” When I’m working with people, I’m not afraid to, as I’m acting, to look foolish, to do it. It’s like: That’s not what this is about. It’s finding our tone, finding these tools together and having an experience, Zach. And look, I work hard, and people that work with me, they know. I expect a lot and I’m up-front about it. It’s like: “The rumors are true. And do you want this?” We’re there. I’m like, “Trust me, the rumors are true. I’ll be here before you. What experience do you want?” And I’m very open. It’s not like we don’t have a plan. We have scripts, we have plans, we’re going through it. But I also feel that level of responsibility for—I guess, for everyone. Even when I was a kid, they were like, “Oh, come on, Tom. You’re so intense.” I’m like, “I don’t know what to say. I am intense.”

What he does on a random Tuesday when he’s not on a movie set. “You know what? I’m preparing for the next. I’m always studying something. I’m always learning something, always. Movies don’t just start when you’re shooting it and on a movie set. There’s sometimes years of preparation. Iñárritu spent 10 years preparing this. And he and I were talking about it since 2018, 2019.

His relationship with his phone: “It’s as far away from me as possible. Sometimes I have to deal with it and I’ll do stuff, but it’s not, no. I’m looking and listening, and I want the least amount of time on it. And my crew and people know it’s like, “Don’t send me a detailed email. Come talk to me.” I like to talk to people.

[From GQ]

The “don’t send a detailed email” thing is fascinating because… he’s worked this long in such a cutthroat industry and he prefers to NOT have a written record? Tom is quite literally built different. It’s something only he could really get away with too – I do not recommend that other people work that way, just working things out with face-to-face conversations. Y’all gotta keep receipts. I also believe that he sits down with people on every set and says some variation of “The rumors are true. And do you want this?” And at this point, it does feel like people know what they’re signing onto when working with Tom. You’re going to get that intensity 24-7, no matter what.

Tom Cruise says the rumors about how intensely he works are true

“People that work with me, they know I expect a lot and I’m upfront about it. It’s like, the rumors are true and do you want this?”

Zach Baron: “But do you say that?”

Tom: “Yes. If we’re there, I’m like, trust… pic.twitter.com/0h2426P9mf

— Casper (@CasperOnChain) September 15, 2026

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, ‘Digger’. Cover courtesy of GQ.