Late last year news surfaced of an outburst on the set of Mission: Impossible 7. Furious that crew members were not following COVID safety protocols, Tom Cruise reportedly gave workers on set a loud and profanity laced talking-to about the important work they were doing and how they needed to be the “golden standard”. Although it may have come off harsh to outsiders and some crew members actually left after being chastised, other crew members quickly came to Cruise’s defense and now the actor himself has addressed the “high emotions” on set following his reported outburst.
In an interview with Empire, Tom Cruise talks about the particular pressures he was under to get filming back underway for Mission: Impossible 7 and what was really at stake. He says how important it was for people to get back to work, and how his people were concerned about losing their jobs. Here it is in the actor’s own words:
I’ve produced 30 to 40 movies. I am responsible for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of jobs. All my friends in the industry, people that are in distribution, and my crew were like, ‘What are we going to do? I could lose my house!’ So I told the studio and I told the industry, ‘We’re going back. We’re going to get everyone back to work. We’re going to start shooting in the summer. And we’re going to figure out how to do it safely.’
Tom Cruise is a professional. He has been a major name in the film industry as an actor for around 40 years and has been a producer for about half of that time as well. He is not being dramatic when he says he is responsible for people’s jobs and even their livelihood. Honestly, it’s pretty relieving that he takes that very seriously, even putting his money where his mouth is when needed.
Having that kind of responsibility to other people has got to be stressful, especially when he already has the double role of star and producer on the set of Mission: Impossible 7. In the same interview, Tom Cruise says that he was basically working around the clock on the film and making sure everyone else felt good about where they were at. Here’s what Cruise says, in his exact words:
It was seven days a week, it was around the clock, just dealing with a lot of high emotions with people, and helping them through it.
It’s easy to dismiss an outburst like the one Tom Cruise had as simply a spoiled actor throwing a fit, the typical Hollywood stereotype a lot of people have. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth, though, and the man was under some serious pressure and just wanted to look after his people.
