Tom Cruise - Interviews

Cruise achieves the impossible

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise isn't just hoping to break box office records with his new film Mission: Impossible 2 - he's also expecting to set a new pay record.

The actor is set to earn £75 million in the film, which sees him reprising his role as special agent Ethan Hunt, and has already enjoyed one of the most lucrative openings in cinema history in the US.

From the studios point of view, Cruise has everything - looks, sex appeal and box office clout. Little wonder scriptwriter Robert Towne describes the actor as a "10,000 lb gorilla, who can wrestle the titans of Hollywood and get impossibly difficult movies made."

For his part though, Cruise dismisses suggestions that he is addicted to power and insists that artistic content is all that matters to him.

"I didn't become an actor to have power, but it just happens that I have it and so I have a lot of opportunities," he says matter-of-factly.

"I also realise power is fleeting, it doesn't last forever in this career, so I want to make the most of it. I want to make the kinds of pictures that interest me, it's as simple as that."

He adds: "I've never done work for money ever. If your choices are based on grosses and the film doesn't do well, what does that mean? It leaves you with nothing."

However there is no denying that Cruise's clout in Hollywood is considerable. That's why the fiercely ambitious actor has been able to swing between risky independent dramas like Eyes Wide Shut and conventional blockbusters such as the 80 million dollar M:I2.

The sequel sees Cruise pursuing a globe-trotting villain who is seeking a deadly virus, and along the way becoming entangled with his love interest, played by British actress Thandie Newton.

Because Cruise has very definite ideas of what he wants, there were reports of creative differences on the Australian set during the seven-month M:I2 shoot.

The main differences arose because Cruise insisted on doing his own stunts on motorbikes and cars. The actor also demanded that he, rather than a stunt double, climb a 1,500-foot cliff in the movie's opening shots.

"I do it because it's fun. I'm not a great mountain climber but things like that excite me. I think a lot of people are going to think that stuff is special effects, but it's not. I'm on the mountain. Throughout the fight scenes, when things come dangerously close, that's all real," he says.

Although this may have given the studio executives some heart-stopping moments, Cruise insists he was never really in danger.

"We had a great stunt co-ordinator. I just dislocated my finger once and that was it. I never really got injured. The exciting part of acting, I don't know how else to explain it, are those moments when you surprise yourself," he says with a grin.

Cruise says he likes the fact that the second Mission: Impossible has been fashioned by director John Woo, who's known for treating his action sequences like dance movements.

"His action has a combination of reality and surrealism that makes the emotion in his pictures very real," says Cruise.

If M:I2 proves as big a box office hit as is anticipated, Cruise should keep his place as the highest paid star in Hollywood, and is looking forward to taking on some unusual projects.

While the actor is likely to do Minority Report with Steven Spielberg, followed by another Robert Towne script Dead Reckoning, there are reports he is considering doing another film with wife Nicole Kidman. This time about wife-swapping, and the couple may team up in a stage version of the Tennessee Williams' classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

The off-screen relationship between Cruise and Kidman is undoubtedly one of the keys to both their success. The actor claims the happiness of his private life has had a calming influence on his life.

"Sure I've learned to relax more. Everybody feels pressure in what they do, maybe mine is just a little different because there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish what I want to.

"The thing about film-making is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own cheques, be responsible," he says.

With homes in Britain, American and Australia, Cruise, Kidman and their adopted children go to a lot of trouble to protect their privacy. But the actor says attracting attention in public is just part of the business.

"When I first started out all the attention could be a bit unnerving, especially when people stared. Now I find the best thing is to just relax. Being recognized is just something you have to get used to."

Although Kidman's box office success has yet to match her husband's, Cruise is supportive of her career.

"I like it that she's independent, it challenges me. Nicole's my best friend, with her it just seems right."