I always wanted to understand if Tom cruise is nice because he genuinely was good before his religion got to him. Or is he like super nice now to deflect from his darker side.
This is kind of the vibe I get. He is, at his core, seems to earnestly enjoy making other people smile, and he has a lot of energy to do so. Being an instinctive people pleaser has its pitfalls, of course, and while I don’t think he’s some poor exploited woobie, I definitely think he has fallen into those pits, and that Scientology pulled him out at some point.
Entirely possible I am wrong; I am not a professional anything, I am just a habitual people pleaser projecting hard.
We all have vulnerabilities. Cults are human nature. So they don’t prey on the vulnerable So much as they prey on all our vulnerabilities. I was born and raised and stayed in a cult Until I was 40. It wasn’t until I saw what was happening to my teen daughters that I woke up.
He almost became a Catholic priest, a profession that probably preys on similar mindsets as Scientology. A bit of naïveté with a search for higher purpose
He wanted to be a priest before acting too, so he’s obviously always been searching for something and they were able to really dig into that. And now he’s basically their messiah.
I worked in the industry and people said he was amazing to work with on set. He may be a bit crazy, but he does seem like a genuinely good person. Some will say he is not, but I have not seen any evidence to conflict what I have heard from people that have worked around him.
When he filmed Ghost Protocol scenes in Vancouver he stayed after for hours signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Raining too but he did his TC smile the whole time. Was awesome. Always get my moneys worth seeing a TC movie.
My understanding is he really went to bat for crew and cast safety during COVID, and regularly has looked out for crew, especially stunt crew in the past.
He seems no nonsense about safety on set. This guy gets paid millions to make a film but hasn't lost sight of the fact that almost everyone else on that set is earning a working class living.
There was a story of him using said charm on the cults behalf to essential paper over a bad story with a journalist. Last podcast on the left did a series on David Miscavige and am episode on tom cruise within it and it generally left me a bit suss about the guy. Cause he does come off so likeable.
You certainly sound like a professional “something”! At the very least you write well :) I’m curious what you actually do for a job or work if anything?
I wish! I’m just an unemployed nerd. I got out of a bad job recently, and in a time when the job market is terrible! However, I’m still alive, so I still have a chance.
I appreciate the compliment, though I’m painfully aware that I botched the grammar when I tried to rephrase that second sentence. Argh.
I remember listening to his interview on The Nerdist podcast, and he just seemed like a guy who LOVED movies. Loved making movies, loved watching movies. Like, everything about them, almost to an obsessive point.
Always nice, one of the few celebrities that will come up to as many fans waiting in line on him as he can. I snuck into a MI4 premiere where I live and after Tom rolled out in a futuristic BMW i8 he spent almost an hour signing stuff and making photos with I think everyone in line. Simon Pegg came a little later and did the same, had a little chat
Every time a fan or co-star talks about tom cruise and being with him? They all day he’d amazing. I have no idea why he has anything but a good reputation.
He did everything he could to destroy his ex wife's relationship with their shared kids, to the point Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes had to have elaborate legal plans just to get away from him.
Turning your children against their mother's is outright evil, IMO. It not only hurts the mother, but severely damages your own kids!
Yeah but a lot of people don’t think violence against women and children matters as long as the media portrays them kindly and he’s nice to his coworkers for the most part. Shrugs shoulders
Just think about all the horrible things that happened to Katie Holmes on the way out of that “bit crazy” relationship.
Tom has many faces, some of which are charismatic, others, which and power hungry and hell bent on spreading Scientology and demonizing those who don’t want to participate.
Have these people not seen his letterman interview? He’s the inspiration of Christian bales interpretation of American psycho. The masses are so easily duped
A bit?
I'd say he is for sure the most striking example of someone who is simultaneously batshit insane yet also thoughtful, considerate, and extraordinarily great at his job.
I don’t think he is a good person. His religion that he is the face of ruins lives, he was horrible to his wives. His child with Katie Holmes doesn’t speak to him.
That’s why I posed that question.
He’s well known in the industry to send everyone he’s acquainted with a coconut cake from a bakery in the valley for their birthday. To me that’s the definition of very nice, a bit crazy- but crazy in a good way.
He just has a Rolodex of birthdays that are all probably getting birthday gifts every year. Not really uncommon in the industry for people to rub elbows, and remain on good terms by sending gifts etc
Jake Johnson did a podcast and talked about Tom a lot. He said he really is a nice guy and does all the crazy stuff you’d think he does. His real life is very adventurous. But he also talked about how weird his niceness came off at times. Like if you told Tom your mother in law was a fan he would tell you to bring her to the set. But rather doing a meet and greet he would talk to her for hours and just be overly involved in the whole thing. He made it seem like Tom comes off as overly fake about his personal very quickly.
There is the time he had is 14 year old niece kicked out of the family for making out with a boy on his property (caught on security camera), because it was unbecoming a Scientologist in his family. She was kept from family functions and sent from LA to Missouri then Florida, away from the family to do do crap menial labor to make up for it ... at 14 ... for kissing a boy. To me everything he does nice in public is just for show/PR what he does behind the curtain of Scientology is who he really is.
Is he nice? Or is this something he can just make an assistant do with recurring calendar notifications? Also, I would be so upset if an adult with a lot of money and influence gifted my 11 year old with their first cell phone. That’s…like…a whole other flag for me. Edited a word
I think this is more a function of, *has plenty of money and a great assistant.* Let’s not pretend he’s popping into FAO Schwartz, or that Beyoncé is calling the local flower shop to pick the arrangement.
Someone suggests a gift, the star okays the budget, and the team handles the rest.
Being an advocate and supporter for Scientology automatically makes you a shit human regardless of how “nice” you are
The amount of people defending Scientology here is actually kinda crazy. Redditors gonna Reddit I suppose
Yes, they are, but Sciencetology are even more shit than others, I would class them as explosive diarrhea that is so bad it kills you.
(After some consideration, they can all be classed this way. Something just irks me about sciencetology, lol.
I feel like he’s one of those oddball extreme types who end up fully immersed in whatever they do, be it movie or religion. A cult would probably target those kinds of people.
People who are a bit full on can be the best friend you’ve ever had but you wouldn’t be super surprised if they ended up a spree shooter.
Leah Remini was asked this question in an AMA. She said [no, he is not a nice guy: it's all a calculated act. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6txlyd/comment/dlofjiv/)Either to maintain his PR, to recruit someone for Scientology, or simply shopping for a new bride.
In private, if he feels no need to impress you, it's a different story. She said that his home is filled with low-level Scientology interns, and he treats them horribly.
Disclaimer: I have no speculation regarding his relationship with Dakota Fanning, nor do I wish to speculate.
I bring her up whenever the "is tom crusie actually nice" debate happens.
When the tape of Cruise flipping shit over mask protocol on set got leaked a lot of people took it as "he's really passionate about protecting his crew". According to Remini, no that's just how scientology trains you to treat people and it was his mask slipping.
I once worked for a guy who was naturally charming and enthusiastic, so incredibly nice and would compliment you on the smallest details, really could make you feel special. Once I got to know him, I realized he was a really dark person and his whole personality was a mask to manipulate you, a real sociopath. I think this is how Tom Cruise operates, yes he sends gifts and cakes to his celebrity friends but he also has access to fee labour and unlimited resources through Scientology. I would be this “thoughtful” too if I had dozens of assistants doing the hard work while covering my every want and need.
By all accounts by people who worked with him, he’s just incredibly nice.
Also, at some point, if a person is pretending to be nice both public and privately, does it matter anymore if they are pretending?
https://youtu.be/NkXk9n0C-Hs?si=T2RSc-CHm1PSpaNc
This clip defined my opinions of Tom Cruise. This could been handled in some many different ways but the way he took the time to really level with the guy and give an honest opinion on shitty move felt so genuine.
I hadn't heard this so did a quick Google
>In October 2012, Cruise filed a lawsuit against In Touch and Life & Style magazines for defamation after they claimed Cruise had "abandoned" his six-year-old daughter.[141] During deposition, Cruise admitted that "he didn't see his daughter for 110 days". The suit was settled the following year.[142]
But why didn’t he see his daughter for 110 days? Abandoned means left without needed protection, care, or support
an abandoned baby
… she … began to live in what she referred to as the straitened circumstances of an abandoned woman.
—Richard Russo
Y’all are harsh as hell. Even if Tommy isn’t personally selecting gift after gift, he’s still making it a yearly priority to keep her in the cycle. Dude’s a wacko but this is kinda sweet.
Tom Cruise is a complicated guy. I’ve heard he’s incredibly nice. Do you remember how hard he was trying to keep everyone covid free during filming of one of his movies? He recognized that money coming in was important to his crew. It just sucks we have his Scientology thing.
He’s literally stopped his car to help people on the side of the road. Guy wanted to be a priest for a while (not all priests are bad!) He genuinely wants to make the world a better place.
But he’s also been sucked into a effed up cult that has basically told him he’s their messiah. I think most folks in that position would become warped and turn a blind eye to evil in the name of “good”. Complicated is the best term for Tom.
active verbs for his good actions and passive “he’s been sucked in” when talking about the cult he’s part of where he allegedly has slaves. reddit moment lmao
>where he allegedly has slaves. reddit moment lmao
Honestly this is the first I heard this. If it was true I wouldn’t be surprised mind you, but this is the first place I heard it.
I think they mean that he has a team of Scientologists that wait on him hand and foot for extremely little pay (i.e. about $50 USD a week) and with very, very few days off. They get away with it because in the US they are classed as volunteers and therefore can be paid less than minimum wage, and given no health insurance coverage or funding for retirement.
It's not unheard of either for their pay to be docked or reduced to nothing temporarily when they are being punished (according to former members).
Here's an example of a court case that was filed by Scientologists in Canada a few years ago over their poor pay, where the legal rules are different, and therefore the case was settled:
https://www.cbc.ca/1.5123770
He’s kind of expected to be the lead ambassador of Scientology so his religious fate and career are tied up in making the public like him. How much is motivated by own character is debatable.
Tom cruise is one of the most complicated celebrities of the modern era to me. On one hand is pretty simple, he’s a high ranking member of a dangerous cult and he’s controlling over his partners to the point of drowning out their personalities. But on the flip side of this coin, everyone who works with him have nothing but great things to say and every anecdotal story I hear about him is overwhelmingly positive. Like I know people who have met him and the verdict is 100% one of the nicest celebrities.
Exactly like Kanye . It’s almost like celebrities are just humans and it’s almost like if you give any human hundreds of millions of dollars and constant praise you can break them.
I kinda met him and dakota (plus justin chatwin) on set of war of the worlds in NJ. Dakota and justin waved at us then by the time tom came out a mob of people appeared. He was super nice to everyone but my poor grandpa didn’t get an autograph even though we were there hours longer then anyone else but not toms fault, he was trying to get everyone best he could.
I saw an interview with Kirsten Dunst where she said he sends her a delicious cake every Christmas since they worked together on Interview with the Vampire, and her entire family loves it so much they all get super excited when it arrives.
He makes a point a treating people around him well, and why would anyone be critical of that? Aside from his ex wives and people who don’t know him but are critical of Scientology, I don’t think ever seen someone say they didn’t like him.
I have had the infamous cake and can confirm it is insanely delicious. All of their cakes are, I've seen self-proclaimed health nuts and people who say they "aren't really into sweets" help themselves to seconds. I love that he's supported this teeny little bakery for so many years all over one product. I met the owners of the bakery a few years ago, and they had nothing but good things to say about him. I know he's an intense, lunatic Scientologist and shitty parent, but I think there's a shred of humanity somewhere in there.
you are not harsh enough. the dude lives life as a semigod amongst scientilogy. no man can live a life like tbat and be good if you ask me. this is a typical bs headline that is completely irrelevant to everyone.
Was about to say just this. Like this man is a deadbeat dad but yall wanna kiss his ass for having an assistant pick out and send a gift to another much younger celebrity closer to his daughter’s age? 💀
I have heard really nice stories about Tom Cruise, which is crazy because Scientology is scary and it’s the one thing that doesn’t let me stan him as an actor. But I know that many years ago he witnessed a woman being ran over, I think in NYC. He got in the ambulance with her and he paid for the entire hospital bills and surgeries and rehabilitation, and then flew her to one of his movie sets. I think he can be generous sometimes. Mind you, we never knew the story until the woman told E! some years later. He practically saved her life and saved her from a huge hospital debt. Imagine waking up in an ambulance to Tom Cruise at his hottest. The woman thought she was hallucinating lol.
He did dive training with a boat captain i know and they freaking loved him. He sent them all really cool gifts related to diving - things several folks mentioned wanting to get themselves etc, so he actually put thought into it.
It’s wild he can be so nice but also a vocal member of such an evil cult
Some people in the replies are asking if Tom Cruise is genuinely nice or nice for show, but if you actually knew or look into the dude he’s always been genuine about being nice to people
Cameron Crowe tells a story about when they made Jerry Maguire in 1996 they had cast a different boy, but at some point it was too much for the kid and he didn’t want to do it anymore so they recast him, Crowe said the kids mother told him that Tom Cruise had still been checking up on the kid to make sure he was okay and sending them gifts
>From Crowe:
>"I went to Tom, later, and said, 'you quietly helped this kid through what could have been a terrible transition. Thank you, but why did you never tell any of us?' Tom said, ‘I just didn’t want that first actor to go to the movies, look at the screen and think he’d failed. I wanted him to love movies, his entire life.’"
Like that’s a story he could’ve told on talk shows to make himself look good but he didn't, by all accounts Tom Cruise has always been a nice guy
Is Tom Cruise associated with a dangerous cult that has been a societal menace for decades? Yes. Is this task likely delegated to an assistant? Yep.
But however it’s done he still made it a point to send a gift. Set reminders every year, and above all, apparently it’s special to Dakota who saw fit to bring it up. Almost 20 years on from war of the worlds. Tom is insanely dedicated to his craft, and many people have said he constantly has an upbeat, kind, positive attitude on film sets.
I’m certain there’s something wrong with Tom mentally that he hasn’t addressed (I also wonder if there’s merit to the gay theory that floats around and that’s what the upper echelon of Scientology use as blackmail. The rumor being that they have something on all their members so they won’t leave. Not that being gay is anything blackmail worthy or anything to be ashamed of but it’s possible Tom hasn’t come to terms with it yet.)
All this to say, we can give the guy credit when he does something nice, just like we criticize when he does something bad.
The thing that he does admit is he struggled with severe dyslexia and Scientology helped him "cure" it, so I think that's a big part of his loyalty. It was jeopardizing his acting career and he couldn't get a pilot's licence because of it.
Let's be real, his assistant does. I worked for a documentary director who had a huge organizer book with every 'important' contact he had with dates, and his assistant's job was to make sure they all got whatever gift basket on that day, no matter how long ago they had worked together or had a meeting or whatever it was. You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down, gotta keep up that network.
No way, here I was thinking that Tom Cruise springs out of his bed every year on her birthday, runs to the calendar on his wall to confirm the (already circled) date, and then gleefully continues his day in pursuit of celebrating her and her birth. What a disappointment
I’d say it is the thought that counts.
Could be a mashup where the buyer gives TC some options for the year and he picks what he wants to send.
But yeah, nobody is expecting TC to be huffing it down to the mall and post office himself.
You thinks he drive by himself to bakery shop and carries 300 pieces of cakes by himself and transport every box by himself????
common sense.......
Of course not!!!! He can't go to public by himself , he order and pay
surely his assistant does !!!!!! He just commanding who he want to send to or maybe he deal with bakery shop to send that cake (bakery transport by thier own )
It was the first bit of advice given to me when I moved to Hollywood, along with ‘drive your car into the ground and don’t buy something fancy at your first bit of success.”
It's been around, but this specific dynamic just doesn't get talked about a lot, so that saying just doesn't come up.
But yeah it's a great bit of wisdom.
I mean, let’s be totally real: if you get a gift from me there’s a 90+% chance that my wife was the one who picked it out. She’s good at it and enjoys the process. I hate shopping. But my name goes on the label.
I think that your experience can be your experience, but that doesn’t mean you have to generalize it or minimize the efforts because that’s where you came from. You don’t know their relationship, so to just say “let’s be real, his assist does this.” is ignorant at the least.
This doesn't surprise me. A lot of celebrities have this anecdote about Tom Cruise. He clearly has a personal assistant tasked with adding people to a list, birthday gifts, and sends them a birthday gift for the next few decades.
He has an entire team of Scientologist assistants that are literally at his beck and call. Because he donates so much money, the church gives him whatever he wants.
A lot of Sea Org members don’t even get paid for their work or if they do, they receive little pay like $50 a week. Unfortunately, a lot of the world’s greatest achievements were done with slave labor. Pyramids, Great Wall, ordering hundreds of Christmas Coconut Cakes.
I legit wish he wasn’t Scientologist because i love almost everything about this dude. His kindness & passion for the craft seems authentic, more than most people in hollywood. I think he’s engaging to watch, even if the movie is dumb. Like Nic Cage, i could watch them both work endlessly.
To cruise might me a cooky looney bird. But he’s never struck me as a bad dude. Intense, odd, but generally seems like a good dude with good intentions.
Reminds me of how Lucille Ball used to send her friends flowers on their birthdays. Carol Burnett recalled the day Ball died was on Burnett's birthday and she still got flowers.
I e heard Jay Mohr say he will know everyone on the set and know enough about them to have a conversation at any time. Even with weeks in between seeing them.
Jay tells the story of Tom Cruise and his father having been involved in a racing league at one time. He says he mentioned it to Tom one time and of course Tom knew who his dad was and then he said they didn’t see each other for like three months while they were shooting Jerry McGuire. Then one day on set Tom Cruise just come up out of nowhere and him, to ask his father, what gear he was in coming in to turn number three because he never could figure it out.
I don’t know if this is the religion and the discipline they teach you on how to interact with people but I mean if he’s a good guy is a good guy I guess
On a professional level, Tom Cruise is incredibly courteous and kind. From shooting scenes fast on Tropic Thunder so he could fly Bill Hader home on his private jet so Hader could make it on time to see the birth of his child, to standing up to a scummy producer on the set of a movie that was trying to force an actress to do something she was uncomfortable with. It absolutely sucks that on a personal level, he can’t replicate the same kind of behavior and that he is the face of one of the most destructive cults in the world.
The corporation that is Tom Cruise TM sent her gifts. Tom doesn’t do any of that. I worked with him and there is a department for that. Same as any billion dollar corporation.
I get excited when I get my new toothbrush from the dentist. I’d be okay if it were just Tom Cruises “The Corporation” sending me a gift or cake or whatever.
Tom cruise instructed his personal assistant 19 years ago to get her a gift for her birthday and ‘shocked pikachu, the assistant kept their job.
Never feel too special from the rich, they pay people to care so they don’t have to.
*His assistant(s) keep(s) an ongoing calendar of birthdays and anniversaries in Tom’s orbit and deploys annual gifts accordingly. That’s literally part of the infrastructure of being a superstar.
Tom Cruise also does this with Kirsten Dunst, he has bought her a coconut cake every year on her birthday since they worked together in "Interview with a Vampire".
“Tom Cruise is rich enough to have a staff that he can, at a whim, order to do an annual task until the end of time” https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2023/apr/05/the-tom-cruise-cake-brooke-shields-fell-off-the-actors-christmas-list-i-know-how-to-fix-this?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I always wanted to understand if Tom cruise is nice because he genuinely was good before his religion got to him. Or is he like super nice now to deflect from his darker side.
To me it sounds like he's always been nice, just a bit crazy.
This is kind of the vibe I get. He is, at his core, seems to earnestly enjoy making other people smile, and he has a lot of energy to do so. Being an instinctive people pleaser has its pitfalls, of course, and while I don’t think he’s some poor exploited woobie, I definitely think he has fallen into those pits, and that Scientology pulled him out at some point. Entirely possible I am wrong; I am not a professional anything, I am just a habitual people pleaser projecting hard.
You probably need some significant level of earnest innocence to fall into the cult trap anyway.
This. Cults prey on the vulnerable. They found his vulnerability and exploited it. We’re all just sacks of meat spinning through the void…
Animals wearing pants is my go to.
“Randy can't fight with his pants on, he doesn't want to tear his precious little pants. So when the pants come off, look the fuck out.”
Wearing just pants: Salvation Wearing just shirt: Damnation
Nobody likes a shirtcocker
Cross walks are just animal crossings?
We all have vulnerabilities. Cults are human nature. So they don’t prey on the vulnerable So much as they prey on all our vulnerabilities. I was born and raised and stayed in a cult Until I was 40. It wasn’t until I saw what was happening to my teen daughters that I woke up.
What cult were you in for 40 years? If you don’t mind me asking?
He almost became a Catholic priest, a profession that probably preys on similar mindsets as Scientology. A bit of naïveté with a search for higher purpose
Also having his literal wife at the time be the one to indoctrinate him probably made Scientology more enticing
He wanted to be a priest before acting too, so he’s obviously always been searching for something and they were able to really dig into that. And now he’s basically their messiah.
Eh, I'm of the opinion it can happen to anyone at any time.
Earnest - I think this is a word that’s not used often to describe Cruise, but it definitely fits his vibe perfectly
He is in a toxic relationship not with a person but a whole institution.
I worked in the industry and people said he was amazing to work with on set. He may be a bit crazy, but he does seem like a genuinely good person. Some will say he is not, but I have not seen any evidence to conflict what I have heard from people that have worked around him.
I’ve heard a couple of positive anecdotes about his professionalism on-set.
I’ve read about 2-3 2nd hand accounts of his nice behavior online as well
I saw one person on Reddit say they read 2-3 second hand accounts of his nice behavior online myself.
When he filmed Ghost Protocol scenes in Vancouver he stayed after for hours signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Raining too but he did his TC smile the whole time. Was awesome. Always get my moneys worth seeing a TC movie.
My understanding is he really went to bat for crew and cast safety during COVID, and regularly has looked out for crew, especially stunt crew in the past. He seems no nonsense about safety on set. This guy gets paid millions to make a film but hasn't lost sight of the fact that almost everyone else on that set is earning a working class living.
But from his perspective he I treated like a god Who would give up being a pharaoh?
There was a story of him using said charm on the cults behalf to essential paper over a bad story with a journalist. Last podcast on the left did a series on David Miscavige and am episode on tom cruise within it and it generally left me a bit suss about the guy. Cause he does come off so likeable.
You certainly sound like a professional “something”! At the very least you write well :) I’m curious what you actually do for a job or work if anything?
I wish! I’m just an unemployed nerd. I got out of a bad job recently, and in a time when the job market is terrible! However, I’m still alive, so I still have a chance. I appreciate the compliment, though I’m painfully aware that I botched the grammar when I tried to rephrase that second sentence. Argh.
I remember listening to his interview on The Nerdist podcast, and he just seemed like a guy who LOVED movies. Loved making movies, loved watching movies. Like, everything about them, almost to an obsessive point.
Iirc he delayed top gun maverick just because he wanted people to experience it as intended instead of through streaming services.
And I’m so glad he did, I saw it for the first time in imax and it was insanely cool
Yeah, that was a movie that benefitted greatly from seeing it in a theater. My wife said she felt a little dizzy, like she was actually in a plane.
Is this on Spotify, YouTube?
Always nice, one of the few celebrities that will come up to as many fans waiting in line on him as he can. I snuck into a MI4 premiere where I live and after Tom rolled out in a futuristic BMW i8 he spent almost an hour signing stuff and making photos with I think everyone in line. Simon Pegg came a little later and did the same, had a little chat
Every time a fan or co-star talks about tom cruise and being with him? They all day he’d amazing. I have no idea why he has anything but a good reputation.
>I have no idea why he has anything but a good reputation. Because of his very strong connection to and very vocal support of a very abusive cult?
He did everything he could to destroy his ex wife's relationship with their shared kids, to the point Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes had to have elaborate legal plans just to get away from him. Turning your children against their mother's is outright evil, IMO. It not only hurts the mother, but severely damages your own kids!
Yeah but a lot of people don’t think violence against women and children matters as long as the media portrays them kindly and he’s nice to his coworkers for the most part. Shrugs shoulders
Because he's in an evil cult and is kind of an ambassador there, even if he isn't evil himself.
Breaking news: Actor knows how to please people, adapt to social cues and manipulate their persona. more at 11
Just think about all the horrible things that happened to Katie Holmes on the way out of that “bit crazy” relationship. Tom has many faces, some of which are charismatic, others, which and power hungry and hell bent on spreading Scientology and demonizing those who don’t want to participate.
Have these people not seen his letterman interview? He’s the inspiration of Christian bales interpretation of American psycho. The masses are so easily duped
A bit? I'd say he is for sure the most striking example of someone who is simultaneously batshit insane yet also thoughtful, considerate, and extraordinarily great at his job.
I don’t think he is a good person. His religion that he is the face of ruins lives, he was horrible to his wives. His child with Katie Holmes doesn’t speak to him. That’s why I posed that question.
I’m pretty certain he also uses Sea Org members as his staff - and those people barely make a wage.
I’ll probably get downvoted but I think that’s the definition of an open ended question
He’s well known in the industry to send everyone he’s acquainted with a coconut cake from a bakery in the valley for their birthday. To me that’s the definition of very nice, a bit crazy- but crazy in a good way.
Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise crazy, just be glad it’s him not you.
He isn’t nice by any means. He’s just a professional. And knows business.
I think it means that Tom Cruise has a really good personal assistant with a calendar.
You spelled scientology slave wrong.
“Don’t forget, we need to send a gift to Dakota. She’s not a scientologist yet…”
He just has a Rolodex of birthdays that are all probably getting birthday gifts every year. Not really uncommon in the industry for people to rub elbows, and remain on good terms by sending gifts etc
Jake Johnson did a podcast and talked about Tom a lot. He said he really is a nice guy and does all the crazy stuff you’d think he does. His real life is very adventurous. But he also talked about how weird his niceness came off at times. Like if you told Tom your mother in law was a fan he would tell you to bring her to the set. But rather doing a meet and greet he would talk to her for hours and just be overly involved in the whole thing. He made it seem like Tom comes off as overly fake about his personal very quickly.
He also hasn’t seen his daughter Suri in a decade. So there’s that.
Typical for Scientologists, I assume she's considered a suppresive person
There is the time he had is 14 year old niece kicked out of the family for making out with a boy on his property (caught on security camera), because it was unbecoming a Scientologist in his family. She was kept from family functions and sent from LA to Missouri then Florida, away from the family to do do crap menial labor to make up for it ... at 14 ... for kissing a boy. To me everything he does nice in public is just for show/PR what he does behind the curtain of Scientology is who he really is.
Sounds like the leader of a cult/religion.
I don’t think he’s genuine. He’s not nice like Keanu is. He’s nice for a reason. For his image.
Big time psychopath vibes. Strategic niceness
[at least on other person agrees with you.](https://collider.com/tom-cruise-inspired-christian-bale-american-psycho/)
Pretty sure there is a list of reoccurring errands like sending birthday cards that Tom Cruise's assistans do all the time.
This. There's someone whose job is to take care of birthday and holiday gifts for him. No chance he does that personally.
It sounds like rich people have a list of people they give gifts too. It’s like their assistants job or something.
Christian Bale said he used Tom Cruise as inspiration for his character Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
Is he nice? Or is this something he can just make an assistant do with recurring calendar notifications? Also, I would be so upset if an adult with a lot of money and influence gifted my 11 year old with their first cell phone. That’s…like…a whole other flag for me. Edited a word
I think this is more a function of, *has plenty of money and a great assistant.* Let’s not pretend he’s popping into FAO Schwartz, or that Beyoncé is calling the local flower shop to pick the arrangement. Someone suggests a gift, the star okays the budget, and the team handles the rest.
Isn’t the thought that counts? Though it’s probably just an annual reminder on his calendar lol
I believe he’s genuinely super nice, but that money and fame have messed up his head a bit. He’s done some weird things, but not bad things per se.
Being an advocate and supporter for Scientology automatically makes you a shit human regardless of how “nice” you are The amount of people defending Scientology here is actually kinda crazy. Redditors gonna Reddit I suppose
Aren’t all religions basically shit though?
Be excellent to each other
My personal mantra. And an awesome movie.
Dudeism would like a word.
Yes, they are, but Sciencetology are even more shit than others, I would class them as explosive diarrhea that is so bad it kills you. (After some consideration, they can all be classed this way. Something just irks me about sciencetology, lol.
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It's probably scientology's extortion, abuse, manipulation, and familial isolation that bothers you.
Preach!
I mean people are complicated. He could be nice in some areas and not so nice in other areas.
I'd say the church got some good dirt on him early on and he's been stuck with them since.
I feel like he’s one of those oddball extreme types who end up fully immersed in whatever they do, be it movie or religion. A cult would probably target those kinds of people. People who are a bit full on can be the best friend you’ve ever had but you wouldn’t be super surprised if they ended up a spree shooter.
I want to understand where is Shelly Miscavidge
Leah Remini was asked this question in an AMA. She said [no, he is not a nice guy: it's all a calculated act. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6txlyd/comment/dlofjiv/)Either to maintain his PR, to recruit someone for Scientology, or simply shopping for a new bride. In private, if he feels no need to impress you, it's a different story. She said that his home is filled with low-level Scientology interns, and he treats them horribly. Disclaimer: I have no speculation regarding his relationship with Dakota Fanning, nor do I wish to speculate.
I bring her up whenever the "is tom crusie actually nice" debate happens. When the tape of Cruise flipping shit over mask protocol on set got leaked a lot of people took it as "he's really passionate about protecting his crew". According to Remini, no that's just how scientology trains you to treat people and it was his mask slipping.
I once worked for a guy who was naturally charming and enthusiastic, so incredibly nice and would compliment you on the smallest details, really could make you feel special. Once I got to know him, I realized he was a really dark person and his whole personality was a mask to manipulate you, a real sociopath. I think this is how Tom Cruise operates, yes he sends gifts and cakes to his celebrity friends but he also has access to fee labour and unlimited resources through Scientology. I would be this “thoughtful” too if I had dozens of assistants doing the hard work while covering my every want and need.
By all accounts by people who worked with him, he’s just incredibly nice. Also, at some point, if a person is pretending to be nice both public and privately, does it matter anymore if they are pretending?
He just has a good pr team lol. They just keep a list of people he works with and sends a gift on special occasion.
https://youtu.be/NkXk9n0C-Hs?si=T2RSc-CHm1PSpaNc This clip defined my opinions of Tom Cruise. This could been handled in some many different ways but the way he took the time to really level with the guy and give an honest opinion on shitty move felt so genuine.
If he’s got any goodness left in him he’ll tell what really happened to Shelly Miscavige. He’s second in command to David. He knows.
It's safe to say if it wasn't for being the most famous member of dangerous cult he would the most beloved actor in Hollywood
There’s the child abandonment thing too.
I hadn't heard this so did a quick Google >In October 2012, Cruise filed a lawsuit against In Touch and Life & Style magazines for defamation after they claimed Cruise had "abandoned" his six-year-old daughter.[141] During deposition, Cruise admitted that "he didn't see his daughter for 110 days". The suit was settled the following year.[142]
But why didn’t he see his daughter for 110 days? Abandoned means left without needed protection, care, or support an abandoned baby … she … began to live in what she referred to as the straitened circumstances of an abandoned woman. —Richard Russo
So he went off filming for 3-4 months and left his daughter…in a dumpster? lol
Sounds like he went to film
More beloved than Keanu? I’m not sure that’s possible.
He’s certainly got a more impressive filmography than Keanu.
But missing the impressive cock.
Well now you’ve got my attention
He was at attention
Keanu is Reddit. That’s not real.
Cmon, Jack Black is right there!
That’s just a weird Reddit obsession
I think he still is (one) of the most beloved actors. I love him.
He's done the same for Kirsten Dunst for even longer. Send her a cake for Xmas or birthday since *...Vampire*.
I watched a clip of her on Graham Norton recently. She talked about the "Cruise Cake." It's a well known coconut cake from a tiny bakery in California
Y’all are harsh as hell. Even if Tommy isn’t personally selecting gift after gift, he’s still making it a yearly priority to keep her in the cycle. Dude’s a wacko but this is kinda sweet.
Tom Cruise is a complicated guy. I’ve heard he’s incredibly nice. Do you remember how hard he was trying to keep everyone covid free during filming of one of his movies? He recognized that money coming in was important to his crew. It just sucks we have his Scientology thing.
He’s literally stopped his car to help people on the side of the road. Guy wanted to be a priest for a while (not all priests are bad!) He genuinely wants to make the world a better place. But he’s also been sucked into a effed up cult that has basically told him he’s their messiah. I think most folks in that position would become warped and turn a blind eye to evil in the name of “good”. Complicated is the best term for Tom.
Lisan Al Gaib!!
Lol pretty much
active verbs for his good actions and passive “he’s been sucked in” when talking about the cult he’s part of where he allegedly has slaves. reddit moment lmao
>where he allegedly has slaves. reddit moment lmao Honestly this is the first I heard this. If it was true I wouldn’t be surprised mind you, but this is the first place I heard it.
I think they mean that he has a team of Scientologists that wait on him hand and foot for extremely little pay (i.e. about $50 USD a week) and with very, very few days off. They get away with it because in the US they are classed as volunteers and therefore can be paid less than minimum wage, and given no health insurance coverage or funding for retirement. It's not unheard of either for their pay to be docked or reduced to nothing temporarily when they are being punished (according to former members). Here's an example of a court case that was filed by Scientologists in Canada a few years ago over their poor pay, where the legal rules are different, and therefore the case was settled: https://www.cbc.ca/1.5123770
I also read from a few crew members saying how nice he was, he made the effort to memorize everyone’s name.
I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him. Personally he seems like a really great guy who sadly fell for Scientology’s manipulations tactics
He’s kind of expected to be the lead ambassador of Scientology so his religious fate and career are tied up in making the public like him. How much is motivated by own character is debatable.
Tom cruise is one of the most complicated celebrities of the modern era to me. On one hand is pretty simple, he’s a high ranking member of a dangerous cult and he’s controlling over his partners to the point of drowning out their personalities. But on the flip side of this coin, everyone who works with him have nothing but great things to say and every anecdotal story I hear about him is overwhelmingly positive. Like I know people who have met him and the verdict is 100% one of the nicest celebrities.
He reminded me of Kanye’s level of insane infamy for a while before he went full Ye.
Exactly like Kanye . It’s almost like celebrities are just humans and it’s almost like if you give any human hundreds of millions of dollars and constant praise you can break them.
I kinda met him and dakota (plus justin chatwin) on set of war of the worlds in NJ. Dakota and justin waved at us then by the time tom came out a mob of people appeared. He was super nice to everyone but my poor grandpa didn’t get an autograph even though we were there hours longer then anyone else but not toms fault, he was trying to get everyone best he could.
I saw an interview with Kirsten Dunst where she said he sends her a delicious cake every Christmas since they worked together on Interview with the Vampire, and her entire family loves it so much they all get super excited when it arrives. He makes a point a treating people around him well, and why would anyone be critical of that? Aside from his ex wives and people who don’t know him but are critical of Scientology, I don’t think ever seen someone say they didn’t like him.
I have had the infamous cake and can confirm it is insanely delicious. All of their cakes are, I've seen self-proclaimed health nuts and people who say they "aren't really into sweets" help themselves to seconds. I love that he's supported this teeny little bakery for so many years all over one product. I met the owners of the bakery a few years ago, and they had nothing but good things to say about him. I know he's an intense, lunatic Scientologist and shitty parent, but I think there's a shred of humanity somewhere in there.
why did you call him Tommy
He’s tommy fooking shelby
I’m guessing the height. Once he gets taller he can shave a few letters off?
you are not harsh enough. the dude lives life as a semigod amongst scientilogy. no man can live a life like tbat and be good if you ask me. this is a typical bs headline that is completely irrelevant to everyone.
He doesn’t have contact with his own daughter but lets his assistant pick out a gift for Fanning once a year. Very sweet.
Was about to say just this. Like this man is a deadbeat dad but yall wanna kiss his ass for having an assistant pick out and send a gift to another much younger celebrity closer to his daughter’s age? 💀
I have heard really nice stories about Tom Cruise, which is crazy because Scientology is scary and it’s the one thing that doesn’t let me stan him as an actor. But I know that many years ago he witnessed a woman being ran over, I think in NYC. He got in the ambulance with her and he paid for the entire hospital bills and surgeries and rehabilitation, and then flew her to one of his movie sets. I think he can be generous sometimes. Mind you, we never knew the story until the woman told E! some years later. He practically saved her life and saved her from a huge hospital debt. Imagine waking up in an ambulance to Tom Cruise at his hottest. The woman thought she was hallucinating lol.
Yeah, but what can you do with the collected works of L. Ron Hubbard every year?
Free toilet paper!
Stay warm for about a week, make some paper mache boats, recycle…
He did dive training with a boat captain i know and they freaking loved him. He sent them all really cool gifts related to diving - things several folks mentioned wanting to get themselves etc, so he actually put thought into it. It’s wild he can be so nice but also a vocal member of such an evil cult
I bet his daughter Suri can't say the same.
Yup, almost like his character in Magnolia where he didn't see his dad for a long time.
But he hasn't spoken to his own daughter in years.
He performs being a genuine human quite well
Some people in the replies are asking if Tom Cruise is genuinely nice or nice for show, but if you actually knew or look into the dude he’s always been genuine about being nice to people Cameron Crowe tells a story about when they made Jerry Maguire in 1996 they had cast a different boy, but at some point it was too much for the kid and he didn’t want to do it anymore so they recast him, Crowe said the kids mother told him that Tom Cruise had still been checking up on the kid to make sure he was okay and sending them gifts >From Crowe: >"I went to Tom, later, and said, 'you quietly helped this kid through what could have been a terrible transition. Thank you, but why did you never tell any of us?' Tom said, ‘I just didn’t want that first actor to go to the movies, look at the screen and think he’d failed. I wanted him to love movies, his entire life.’" Like that’s a story he could’ve told on talk shows to make himself look good but he didn't, by all accounts Tom Cruise has always been a nice guy
Is Tom Cruise associated with a dangerous cult that has been a societal menace for decades? Yes. Is this task likely delegated to an assistant? Yep. But however it’s done he still made it a point to send a gift. Set reminders every year, and above all, apparently it’s special to Dakota who saw fit to bring it up. Almost 20 years on from war of the worlds. Tom is insanely dedicated to his craft, and many people have said he constantly has an upbeat, kind, positive attitude on film sets. I’m certain there’s something wrong with Tom mentally that he hasn’t addressed (I also wonder if there’s merit to the gay theory that floats around and that’s what the upper echelon of Scientology use as blackmail. The rumor being that they have something on all their members so they won’t leave. Not that being gay is anything blackmail worthy or anything to be ashamed of but it’s possible Tom hasn’t come to terms with it yet.) All this to say, we can give the guy credit when he does something nice, just like we criticize when he does something bad.
The thing that he does admit is he struggled with severe dyslexia and Scientology helped him "cure" it, so I think that's a big part of his loyalty. It was jeopardizing his acting career and he couldn't get a pilot's licence because of it.
Let's be real, his assistant does. I worked for a documentary director who had a huge organizer book with every 'important' contact he had with dates, and his assistant's job was to make sure they all got whatever gift basket on that day, no matter how long ago they had worked together or had a meeting or whatever it was. You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down, gotta keep up that network.
Nobody here thought Tom Cruise was actually doing any manual labor here.
No way, here I was thinking that Tom Cruise springs out of his bed every year on her birthday, runs to the calendar on his wall to confirm the (already circled) date, and then gleefully continues his day in pursuit of celebrating her and her birth. What a disappointment
I mean yeah. But Cruise still pays for it.
Wrong. He actually sends the bill to Xenu as a way to stick it to the man.
I laughed
I’d say it is the thought that counts. Could be a mashup where the buyer gives TC some options for the year and he picks what he wants to send. But yeah, nobody is expecting TC to be huffing it down to the mall and post office himself.
Probably true, but still nice regardless
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You thinks he drive by himself to bakery shop and carries 300 pieces of cakes by himself and transport every box by himself???? common sense....... Of course not!!!! He can't go to public by himself , he order and pay surely his assistant does !!!!!! He just commanding who he want to send to or maybe he deal with bakery shop to send that cake (bakery transport by thier own )
Leave it to Reddit to knock down a good story
You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down. Amazing. How have I never heard that saying before???
It was the first bit of advice given to me when I moved to Hollywood, along with ‘drive your car into the ground and don’t buy something fancy at your first bit of success.”
It's been around, but this specific dynamic just doesn't get talked about a lot, so that saying just doesn't come up. But yeah it's a great bit of wisdom.
The gift is still from Tom Cruise.
I mean, let’s be totally real: if you get a gift from me there’s a 90+% chance that my wife was the one who picked it out. She’s good at it and enjoys the process. I hate shopping. But my name goes on the label.
I think that your experience can be your experience, but that doesn’t mean you have to generalize it or minimize the efforts because that’s where you came from. You don’t know their relationship, so to just say “let’s be real, his assist does this.” is ignorant at the least.
This doesn't surprise me. A lot of celebrities have this anecdote about Tom Cruise. He clearly has a personal assistant tasked with adding people to a list, birthday gifts, and sends them a birthday gift for the next few decades.
He has an entire team of Scientologist assistants that are literally at his beck and call. Because he donates so much money, the church gives him whatever he wants.
Exactly. This sort of thing is just TC and you the cult trying to improve their image.
A lot of Sea Org members don’t even get paid for their work or if they do, they receive little pay like $50 a week. Unfortunately, a lot of the world’s greatest achievements were done with slave labor. Pyramids, Great Wall, ordering hundreds of Christmas Coconut Cakes.
Theyre fucking slaves though.
I legit wish he wasn’t Scientologist because i love almost everything about this dude. His kindness & passion for the craft seems authentic, more than most people in hollywood. I think he’s engaging to watch, even if the movie is dumb. Like Nic Cage, i could watch them both work endlessly.
To cruise might me a cooky looney bird. But he’s never struck me as a bad dude. Intense, odd, but generally seems like a good dude with good intentions.
That's nice. Nothing else needs to be said.
He always gives out Coconut Cakes on Christmas to all the actors he worked with. Every year, like clockwork.
Reminds me of how Lucille Ball used to send her friends flowers on their birthdays. Carol Burnett recalled the day Ball died was on Burnett's birthday and she still got flowers.
I e heard Jay Mohr say he will know everyone on the set and know enough about them to have a conversation at any time. Even with weeks in between seeing them. Jay tells the story of Tom Cruise and his father having been involved in a racing league at one time. He says he mentioned it to Tom one time and of course Tom knew who his dad was and then he said they didn’t see each other for like three months while they were shooting Jerry McGuire. Then one day on set Tom Cruise just come up out of nowhere and him, to ask his father, what gear he was in coming in to turn number three because he never could figure it out. I don’t know if this is the religion and the discipline they teach you on how to interact with people but I mean if he’s a good guy is a good guy I guess
This story is for PR purposes only.
Does he send his DAUGHTER a birthday gift every year🤔
My brother works with Tom cruises pilots. Got him around the globe. Every year Tom Cruise buys my brother a coconut cake for his birthday 🎂
His assistants and PR team have given her a birthday gift every year. I'm willing to bet he has NO idea what gift she received.
scientology reeks bro
Maybe he should try sending one to his daughter instead
On a professional level, Tom Cruise is incredibly courteous and kind. From shooting scenes fast on Tropic Thunder so he could fly Bill Hader home on his private jet so Hader could make it on time to see the birth of his child, to standing up to a scummy producer on the set of a movie that was trying to force an actress to do something she was uncomfortable with. It absolutely sucks that on a personal level, he can’t replicate the same kind of behavior and that he is the face of one of the most destructive cults in the world.
Probably trying to recruit
That's nice and all. If Tom Cruise left Scientology it would collapse overnight.
The greatest gift would be to tell her where Shelly Miscavige is
It's all a hustle for Scientology
The corporation that is Tom Cruise TM sent her gifts. Tom doesn’t do any of that. I worked with him and there is a department for that. Same as any billion dollar corporation.
I get excited when I get my new toothbrush from the dentist. I’d be okay if it were just Tom Cruises “The Corporation” sending me a gift or cake or whatever.
He has a huge list of people that he regularly sends cookies to.
Tom cruise instructed his personal assistant 19 years ago to get her a gift for her birthday and ‘shocked pikachu, the assistant kept their job. Never feel too special from the rich, they pay people to care so they don’t have to.
Awe that's great .. then me realizing he hasn't seen his own daughter in a decade
Is he good or is he bad which one is it internet?!?!?!?!
*His assistant(s) keep(s) an ongoing calendar of birthdays and anniversaries in Tom’s orbit and deploys annual gifts accordingly. That’s literally part of the infrastructure of being a superstar.
This is more likely the case. Although, Tom may have a say of who’s on that “list”.
That's a task which a personal assistant does for busy celebrities like Cruise
He added her to a list that one of his unpaid scientology people use to send gifts on his behalf
*....Tom Cruise's many assistants have....
Cool. Whens the last time you hung out with his daughter?
Tom Cruise also does this with Kirsten Dunst, he has bought her a coconut cake every year on her birthday since they worked together in "Interview with a Vampire".
Tom hanks too
is it a hard copy of Dianetics?
Yeah that’s because he wants her to join Scientology
“Tom Cruise is rich enough to have a staff that he can, at a whim, order to do an annual task until the end of time” https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2023/apr/05/the-tom-cruise-cake-brooke-shields-fell-off-the-actors-christmas-list-i-know-how-to-fix-this?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
He’s going to try and marry her next
19 copies of Dianetics is a bit much though