What Is Tom Cruise Thinking?

Wednesday, Tom Cruise makes his way back to theaters in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi epic "War Of The Worlds." Besides the film's opening, Cruise has been making headlines for many different reasons.

He recently sat down with The Early Show entertainment contributor and People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle to set the record straight. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Cruise, laughing: We could sit here for a few weeks.

Cagle: Make yourself comfortable, and I hope you brought a clean T-shirt. We have watched the last couple of months, a lot has happened.

Cruise: Has it really?

Cagle: Good for you! What is the greatest moment of the last couple of months?

Cruise: "It stared with...the last couple of months, meeting Kate, and it has just been as escalation. It's just been an escalation.

For those who live on another planet or haven't passed a newsstand in the last three months, "Kate" is actress Katie Holmes, who became engaged to Cruise on June 16.

Cagle: What would she say, if I were to ask Katie: "What do you see in Tom?" What do you think she would say?

Cruise, with a big laugh: What does she see in me?

Cagle: I can't imagine, frankly

Cruise: Jess, I know, I can't imagine. We're soul mates, dear friends, and I can't wait, can't wait, can't wait for the adventures we're going to have together.

Cagle: Why did you choose the Eiffel Tower for the proposal?

Cruise: It's incredibly romantic. For me, as an American, I dreamed of going to places like that and traveling that way. And I just wanted it to be special, and I wanted a landmark that any time she saw that it would remind us of that moment together.

Cagle: Were you worried she would say no?"

Cruise with a big laugh: No, honestly, no. I felt pretty confident"

Cagle: After you went on "Oprah," you got all kinds of heat for that, I think we all read about that. Steven Spielberg was asked about it. He said, "Tom lost his cool because he was deliriously happy."

(Cruise laughs)
Cagle: "… and now he was being punished for that public display of happiness." He's talking about the heat you got afterwards. Why do you think people responded the way they did?

Cruise: I don't think about it. What I got from many people is an outpouring of happiness, an outpouring of congratulations. You know, there's always going to be people who are wanting to squirt water in your face. You know, that is a small percentage of people, and they try to make their voices very loud.

Cagle: I know you were asked about this a lot when you were in Europe, and people said you have two movies coming out, and it's all for publicity. How do you explain this level...and by the way this publicity stunt has gone way too far?

Cruise, laughing: This whole thing of spending your life together is just...

Cagle: I know it's "Batman" and "War Of The Worlds." Why do you think there is this skepticism about movie stars these days that didn't used to exist?

Cruise: As I said, it's a small percentage. You know, Jess, I don't waste my time worrying about it, even thinking about it. It doesn't matter.

Cagle: Most people are reluctant to talk about religion, or anything controversial, when it is your job to be likable to mass number of people around the globe. Why, especially in recent years, have you become so vocal about Scientology, about psychiatry, which you're against?

Cruise: Communication is the universal solvent. That's why I talk about it. What I believe in is that people should be able to think for themselves, and they should be able to make decisions, based on information, on being informed. I don't believe that children should be forced on drugs. I think parents should be informed on the effects of these drugs.

Cagle: I think what upsets some people when you talk about this, what upset Brooke Shields, for example, is that you imply that someone's own experience with psychiatric drugs was, they were mistaken by the way it helped them; that other studies that are done that contradict what you believe are erroneous

Cruise: What do you mean?

Cagle: Other studies that show that maybe Ritalin does help some kids.

Cruise: When you see a study done, you have to look and see who did the study. When someone's on these psychiatric drugs, they have to try and step off these drugs, and I've stepped people off these drugs, Jess. They can go into seizure. All right, it's easier to step someone off heroin. It's more dangerous. They need a medical detox on these drugs.

Cagle: And yet some people have said they've taken them for a while, and then they've gotten off them, and it's helped them through a rough time.

Cruise: Jess, it's a point of, you look at something and you go OK. I've been on the other side of that, when people's lives have been torn apart, where you talk about suicides, where we're looking at now Ritalin is street drug; it's a study drug, because it's an amphetamine. Look, you don't have to believe me. I'm just saying, look at the data and where does that data come from? Now you need to evaluate" What is help, Jess? Is "help" that that person will sit there quiet? Did you really get to the root of the problem?

Wednesday, Cagle will have part two of his conversation with Cruise, when they'll discuss his other great passion: movie making and "War of the Worlds."