He might be used to playing characters who are calm under pressure but Tom Cruise once went in on a reporter during an interview, although the clip left fans divided.
The video went semi-viral on Reddit as users debated whether the Mission Impossible actor was in the wrong for telling off the journalist who asks increasingly intrusive questions about Cruise and ex Nicole Kidman’s divorce.
Understandably, the actor is a little defensive about the topic and the interview is toe-curlingly awkward to watch:
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During the tense 60 Minutes interview from 2005, journalist Peter Overton asks the Hollywood actor whether his ex-wife was the ‘love of his life’.
Cruise bluntly responded: “How do you answer that question?”.
Overton continues and added that the public wanted to know the answer.
Though Cruise explains he just wants his ex to be happy, the journalist didn't stop digging.
Eventually, Cruise loses his cool and tells Overton to ‘put his manners back in’ and warns: "You're stepping over a line here, you know you are".
At the time Cruise and Kidman had not long separated, ending their 10-year marriage just four years prior.
Despite this clearly being a touchy subject for the star, not everyone has sided with the Jack Reacher actor since watching the footage.
Some users have said he should expect it, with one arguing that it was not Overton’s job to be polite.
They wrote: “...the purpose of journalism is not to be ''appropriate'' or ''inappropriate'' its to ask honest challenging questions. Its's ignorant to say that perception does not exist in the public perception.”
Others users quickly followed, stating the public also wanted to know about the actor’s previous marriage.
“He is wrong about that other people don't want to know answers to those question. It's not just interviewer's curiosity," wrote another.
However, many have praised the actor’s response to the invasive questions.
"To be honest I'm with Cruise. It's his personal life and he was able to shut down that reporter calmly and respectfully," wrote one of the actor's fans.
Even those who aren’t so enamoured with the actor seemed to agree with them.
“I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm 100 percent on Tom Cruise's side," joked another user in the lengthy thread.
Some also questioned whether the interview would have been ‘rude’ if Overton had been speaking to a member of the public.
The user wrote: “You really have to consider how rude these questions would be if you were not referring to a celebrity.”
I guess Overton is just grateful Cruise didn’t hunt him down like he does most bad guys.
Topics: Tom Cruise, Reddit, Film and TV, Celebrity
Katherine Sidnell