Tom Cruise is one of the most in-demand actors in the Hollywood industry and has undeniably charmed people worldwide with his great looks and hard-to-resist action chops. But when we closely look at Cruise, the actor has some weird requirements of his own, which may seem indigestible to some. I say without a shadow of a doubt that an actor acts with his eyes, and perhaps it’s common for all in the acting fraternity. But when it comes to eye contact on set, Tom Cruise has some strict rules, and this isn’t what I say, but these are the words of veteran Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair.
What tea does Mira Nair have about Tom Cruise’s on-set behavior?
Recently, during a conversation between Nair and Indian actress Shabana Azmi, the two veterans from the film industry discussed the importance of an actor remaining connected to common people and how difficult this can become as they become more and more famous. This conversation led to Nair spilling some bizarre truths about Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise. The filmmaker claimed that he has it stipulated in his contracts that people on set can’t look him directly in the eye.
This conversation took place at the New York Indian Film Festival, where Nair asked Azmi how she keeps herself ‘sprightly’ as an actor between roles, to which the actress replied,
“An actor’s resource base has to be life. When you’re alive to everything that is happening around you, that is the fuel, that is the experience. Because what happens with stars is that as they become bigger and bigger, they move away from life completely. You get into an ivory tower, and there’s no chance that you will have even the slightest contact with the real world.”
Azmi’s profound statement took the conversation to the next step, where Nair concurred with Azmi while presenting a contrasting case, where she said, “Tom Cruise has in his contract that you cannot meet his eyes. You’re not allowed to look at him in the eyes.” Hearing this, Azmi, as expected, was left startled. Intrigued by Nair’s statement, the actress asked, “Why?” And Mira replied, “I don’t know! But it’s in the contract, I’m telling you. Serious. Maybe he believes that his juice will be robbed by people perhaps, let’s conserve it for the screen. I don’t know. But this is real.”
The conversation became even more interesting as the two most opinionated women enthusiastically talked about Cruise, the man known globally. Shabana asked if this applies to people in real life or on set and asked, “If I don’t look at you, how can I act?” Mira replied with a laugh, “The actors and directors can (look at him). But not for long. I’m telling you. Anyway, this might have changed. I shouldn’t be talking so much about somebody I’ve only just seen and not been able to see… But in any case, it is true.”
While perspectives may vary, and his contract might also seem bizarre to many, it’s hard to know why the actor has such demands on set. However, regardless of all, one thing that can’t be denied at any cost is that Tom Cruise is a heartthrob whose presence on screen is nothing less than a treat for fans.
