According to Tom Cruise‘s frequent “Mission: Impossible” director Christopher McQuarrie, the mega-star actor once told him that the “weirdest story” he ever heard about himself was that his co-stars “were not allowed to look me in the eye.” McQuarrie and the rest of his “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” cast told The Times of London that rumor is just a myth. Simon Pegg said Cruise is far more generous and fun than that rumor suggests, and that he even “took us go-karting and zip-lining” during off hours on “Dead Reckoning Part One.”
“I’ve been able to hack my way through all the bizarre mythology that surrounds him,” added Pegg, who has starred in every “Mission: Impossible” movie opposite Cruise since 2006’s “Mission: Impossible III.” “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.”
Pegg previously said on BBC’s “Desert Island Discs” radio show that he does not ask Cruise about anything related to his “personal beliefs” when they are together because “that would be me abusing my privileged access that I get to him.” That means Scientology questions are off the table. So what does Pegg talk to Cruise about on set? Cruise’s fame.
“We joke about it,” Pegg said. “I mean, I always make fun of him for it, you know, about the things that he can access. We were filming in South Africa recently on this mountain and then he decided he wanted to swim with sharks. He flew us in a helicopter to this seaside part and we dived with sharks. At the end of the day we said, ‘That was a real Tom Cruise kind of day.’ He kind of appreciates the ridiculousness of it sometimes.”
Pegg added, “My relationship with him is just very simple and amiable. It’s always been a very easy relationship. I think you realize, when you meet the person rather than the thicket of mythology that’s built up around them, it’s a different experience. I mean, he loves [the fame] and he really relishes it, it’s all he knows. It energizes him and spurs him on. I don’t think I would appreciate that particularly. I’d find it very stressful and overwhelming and it would make me want to retreat. I’m happy where I am.”
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opens July 12 from Paramount Pictures.
