Last December, some audio leaked online featuring Mission: Impossible 7 star Tom Cruise berating crew members for not following the strict COVID guidelines that had been put in place on the movie. "If I see you do it again, you're f***ing gone," he was heard saying. "And if anyone in this crew does it, that's it - and you too and you too. And you, don't you ever f***ing do it again."
Some wondered whether this was a deliberate leak to emphasise how seriously the actor and Paramount Pictures were taking shooting the movie in a safe way in the midst of a pandemic. Regardless, Cruise has now broken his silence about that rant in an interview with Empire (via Digital Spy).
"I said what I said," he stated, pointing out that there was actually "a surge" in COVID-19 cases in England at the time. "There was a lot at stake at that point. But it wasn't my entire crew. I had the crew leave the set, and it was just select people."
So, Cruise wasn't shouting at everyone on set, just certain people (what an experience that must have been given the actor's iconic status). He later noted that filming was "never shut down again" after that, adding: "And here we are, continuing to film. I do Zoom parties and kids' parties also, you know!"
It's hard to fault Cruise for trying to keep everyone safe and healthy on the set of Mission: Impossible 7, and this foul-mouthed tirade was arguably more reasonable than Christian Bale's on the set of Terminator: Salvation way back when (that was about the cinematographer walking on set to check some lighting while he was shooting a scene).