GQ TOM CRUISE Why He Doesn't Do Interviews (and Why He Agreed to This One)

@gq

1.8M followers · usually 22.2K views a post

Views

1.1M

Likes

36.0K

Comments

2.9K

SoundTikTok sound · original sound - gq

View velocity

+151.1K views over 4.1d · ~37.0K/day · 4 observations

Why it worked

The video works because it offers a rare glimpse into Tom Cruise's perspective on his career and his approach to filmmaking, framed by his personal reflections and experiences, which resonates with his audience's curiosity.

Summary

Tom Cruise discusses why he rarely does interviews, attributing his career trajectory to deliberate choices and opportunities rather than happenstance. He reflects on his journey as both a teacher and student in filmmaking, and how the pandemic forced a high-intensity pace that has now led him to a point where he feels ready to talk.

Structure

1Tom Cruise explains his reluctance for interviews.
2He reflects on his career path and deliberate choices.
3He discusses his role as both a teacher and student in cinema.
4He mentions the intense pace during the pandemic.
5He states that now is the time to talk about it.

Product placement

GQ (magazine/brand) APPEARS - a logo in the corner of the screen. Removing it would not change what happens in the video. It is not promotional. Tom Cruise (actor) ACTS - he is the subject of the interview and speaks. Removing him would change what happens in the video. He is not promotional.

Call to action

See the whole conversation at the link above

On-screen text

GQ TOM CRUISE Why He Doesn't Do Interviews (and Why He Agreed to This One)

Original caption

#TomCruise rarely speaks at length to journalists. He hasn’t sat down for a cover interview with a US publication in more than a decade. But now, with the new film #DiggerMovie on the way with director Alejandro Iñárritu, he’s got some things he’d like to talk about. See the whole conversation at the link above caption.

More from @gq

More breakout videos from this creator.

Transcript

You've said to me already a couple of times, you're like, "I don't talk about this," before you talked about something. And I was reflecting like you haven't really sat down in a context like this one. No. Mm-mm. Yeah, so yeah. For a long time. Why not? Been busy, one. Been very busy. And, and there's things that I want other artists to know, you know? They see it in the same way that it's like, I want them to know. When people see a movie, you want it to look easy. I don't sit here, and... Understanding the joy of, that it's okay if it hurts. That it's hard. That it can be confusing and you don't know. If you look at my career, it's not like happenstance that I ended up in Prague at the time that I ended up in Prague. Or China when I was there or, you know, Dubai or wherever I, England, you know, going there in 1982, you know, to make Legend with Ridley Scott. And I, I would see those doors that open. I'm going, "Here's an opportunity." When I look at that time, I sincerely mean like I'm grateful for the amount of time that I've spent where people have shared their lives with me. I can look at it for myself and go, okay, you know, this is what acting is, or story or lens or what I see. I have a question about that, but just to square the circle. So you're saying basically you have not sat down in contexts like this one because you don't want to reveal the magic trick? I haven't just had the time where I'm like, and I'm looking at it's like the journey is, you know, and where, where we're going and the amount of things that that I set in motion and decided I was going to do. And looking back on those things that that I felt worked, Like, I went for competence. For whatever level that was, being able to then go, "Oh, this is what I need to focus on," because I'm also I'm a teacher and I'm a student. So I'm having to educate people on cinema and movies and I'm being, hearing what they think also. So I have a question. Well, one. What do we owe the honor then for you to slow down and talk to me? And I swear I'm not fishing for a compliment. No, it's just no, it's listen, it's very nice. It's like, this is... here we are. You know, first of all, I have to say the amount of time that Covid took when we're going through it. It was, We were in a dead sprint at a at a very long pace up against a lot of things to be able to... We wanted to keep everyone going and going through it and operating at a very, very high level. And just this, this is the time to be able to talk about it.