Cruise: Prankster All Wet

Angry As He's Squirted With Water At 'War of Worlds' London Debut

(CBS)  The usually mild-mannered Tom Cruise had an angry outburst on the red carpet.

The star had some harsh words for a group of men who pulled a prank on him, squirting him with water at the London premiere of his new movie, "War of the Worlds."

CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth points out that it was more than just a movie premiere. It was the London debut of an engagement that's now a whole weekend old, with Cruise and new fiancée Katie Holmes providing a glimpse at the diamond Cruise gave Holmes last Friday in Paris.

But romance wasn't the only distraction from the elaborately staged Hollywood promotion.

A prankster's fake microphone squirted Cruise with water.

The movie star kept his composure. But he displayed anger, and didn't appear to be acting, Roth says.

"What's so funny about that?" Cruise asked.

The prankster gave an inaudible answer.

"That's ridiculous," Cruise responded, getting visibly angry. "Do you like thinking less of people, is that it?"

Again, an inaudible reply from the prankster.

"You like doing mean things to people, is that it?" Cruise continued, as he wiped his face with his hand, then a blue shirt that he was given.

As the prankster turned to go, Cruise reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey," Cruise said. "No, don't run away. …It's incredibly rude. I'm here giving you an interview, and answering your questions, and you do something really nasty. You're a jerk. You're a jerk."

Cruise wiped his face again as the prankster said something else, then Cruise came back with, "Well, you know what? You're a jerk. …You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

With that, Cruise threw his hands up and, smiling, observed, "Amazing."

And as he walked away, the crowd yelled out, "Tom, Tom…"

The bogus interviewer and his camera crew, working for a local comedy show, were led away. They face assault charges, Roth says.

With a movie to promote, Cruise was quickly back on script, commenting about the film.

In "War of the Worlds," notes Roth, Cruise plays a divorced dad, facing alien invaders, who hopes to save his family, the world -- and a slumping Hollywood box office. This is not to be confused with real life, where he's a divorced dad facing enthusiastic fans who hopes to convince the world this romance is true love, which might, incidentally, provide a boost to the movie business.