The Real Reason Tom Cruise Lost It During Mission: Impossible 7 Filming
Tom Cruise is no stranger to gaining media attention by "losing it" on set. Remember the time he jumped up and down on Oprah's interview couch announcing he was in love with Katie Holmes? Well, this time Cruise is making headlines for an altogether different sort of outburst. While on the set of the next Mission Impossible movie, Mission: Impossible 7, in England, he witnessed two crew members standing closely together, looking at a television screen. In a normal world, this likely wouldn't incite any type of upset. But in the current state of the COVID pandemic, this lack of respect for protocol got under Cruise's skin (via Vulture).
Cruise, who is a producer on the film as well as the star, was caught on tape obtained by The Sun reprimanding the crew members by saying, "We are the gold standard. They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we're doing." If the reprimand stopped there, likely no one would have raised an eyebrow. But it didn't.
Cruise cites health concerns along with preservation of the film industry
While Cruise was concerned about the health of the people on set, what he said next made it clear that his concern was also much larger than that: he hammered home the point that the film industry creates countless jobs, and if movies like the one on which he is working gets shut down due to failure to comply with CDC guidelines, thousands could lose their livelihoods (via Vulture).
Cruise's expletive-laden rant showed how serious he was about the economic consequences of a Hollywood tentpole film like a Mission Impossible "I'm on the phone with every f***ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs... I don't ever want to see it again. Ever!" He continued that people are losing their homes "because our industry is shut down... It's not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That's what I sleep with every night."
According to The Sun, Cruise has taken on personal responsibility for set safety, wearing his own mask religiously and keeping a sharp eye out for rule breakers.