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At least he won't ask you to do his stunts.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Jan 14, 2023
As one of Hollywood’s most longstanding and successful leading men, Tom Cruise must run a tight ship, employing only the best of the best to work for him and keep up with his many demands and desires.
The 60-year-old “Top Gun: Maverick” star has worked with thousands of people over the course of his Hollywood career, and as his ties with the Scientology community deepened, so did the public’s skepticism toward the former golden boy.
Over the years, some people who have worked with the star have spoken out about their time under his tenure and made claims about the rules that the A-lister made them follow.
Here are 8 strict rules that Tom Cruise makes his staff follow.
1. Be prepared to follow Tom Cruise wherever he sets his sights.
Cruise is one of Hollywood’s biggest go-getters.
With 50 acting credits on his IMDb page, it’s undeniable that the man is not only a workhorse but is fully capable of achieving any goal that he sets his sights on.
Part of working for the actor means having to keep up with a man who’s working on multiple different projects at the same time — while also being the stunt actor for all of them.
In fact, while filming the 2018 “Mission: Impossible” film, Cruise performed a stunt that ended up breaking his ankle — only for him to continue filming the scene and finishing out the movie with his ankle not fully healed.
2. Don’t talk down on Tom Cruise’s ‘Scientology’ faith.
Cruise’s ties with Scientology have been very publicly documented and talked about for years now.
Everyone is fully aware of how fully committed to the religion he is, and as such, he likely wouldn’t appreciate having people around him that criticize him for it.
During an interview with Playboy in 2012, via E! News, he talked about how the public opinion of his beliefs has shaped the way he speaks about it.
“If I don't talk about my religion, if I say I'm not discussing it or different humanitarian things I'm working on, they're like, 'He's avoiding it,'” he said. “If I do talk about it, it becomes, 'Oh, he's proselytizing.'”
As a result, he’s kept to a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” policy.
3. Expect the actor to ignore whatever criticisms you give him.
A man with a net worth of over $600 million has been around the acting block at least a few times in his life.
Whenever he receives criticism, he’ll always be there to listen to it — but that doesn’t mean he’ll accept it.
During an interview with Interview Magazine in 2011, Cruise was asked what he thinks his specialty when it comes to performance is.
“I’m a good listener. I think it’s the one characteristic that’s most important. I’ve always been that way,” he explained. “Not that I take all the advice, but you’ve got to listen to it and have the courage to make your own decision. Then I just go for it.”
“The important thing is to be relaxed in your work. Same in life. Don’t make everything too intense. Then you can let everything go and not ‘act.’”
4. Don’t speak to the press about him or working for him.
Probably the most obvious thing of them all, keep everything on a down-low, hush-hush, and need-to-know basis.
Given Cruise’s lack of success in the PR world — from Oprah’s couch incident to messy breakups — he’s switched from sticking to the spotlight to hiding in the shadows.
Major media news outlets have taken note of Cruise’s increased value towards his privacy, as even Page Six news reported “When was the last time paparazzi captured Tom Cruise on the street or anywhere but a film set or premiere?” just a year ago in May 2022.
Suzanne Hansen, Cruise’s former nanny during his marriage to Nicole Kidman, even revealed that the actor has strict confidentiality guidelines in her tell-all memoir, “You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again.”
If you’re going to work for Cruise, you’re likely going to be signed under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) — something that seems to be an industry standard at this point.
5. Don’t talk about his daughter, Suri, or show him pictures of her.
To say that Cruise’s relationship with his only biological daughter, Suri Cruise, is strained would be an understatement.
Daughter to Tom and his ex-wife, Kate Holmes, Suri hasn’t heard from her father in years, largely due to her parents’ falling out.
The situation had gotten so bad, that according to a report from Cinema Blend in November 2017, the actor had reached out to his official fan page and requested they stop posting photos of her.
“The page's manager, someone named Maryann Carter, allegedly posted, ‘I am going to ask that no one post anything with Suri in the future. [Suri] is no longer part of his life! If you do, I will erase it! If you continue, I will have to remove you! Thanks!’”
After someone had asked if she meant all photos or just new ones, she replied “Yes .... no photos! His request.”
Although the statement was never confirmed to have come from Tom, it isn’t far-fetched to believe that he may have put in such a request.
6. His ex-nanny alleged that you can expect him to do a little bit of lying.
In order to keep up and keep control of his own public image, Tom might have to do a little bit of lying in order to maintain the facade.
Hansen claimed that part of her job as his nanny was to abide by whatever he told the public.
“So basically, if [Cruise] went on camera and said how he didn't have any help raising his children, [we nannies] couldn't say anything,” she wrote.
To be fair, you can’t expect the man with hundreds of millions of dollars, ties to a top-secret cult, and a minimal relationship with his only biological child to be the poster boy of honesty.
7. You go wherever Tom Cruise tells you to go.
Tom has several multi-million dollar homes all over the world — from West Sussex in the United Kingdom to the woods of Colorado, and all the way down to the Hollywood Hills.
As such, he’s constantly traveling between homes and has to ensure the safety of himself and others around him.
According to a source close to the actor, Radar Online reported in 2012 that Tom has set up various “zones” in his Bel Air estate for his workers to stay in — if they aren’t designated to work in another zone, then they can’t enter another zone.
“Tom runs his household staff with absolute military precision and with the utmost attention paid to security,” the source said.
“His Bel Air mansion is divided into zones, meaning that housekeepers and other support staff that work in the kitchen and food preparation area, aren't permitted to go into another area of the house that falls outside of their allocated zone.”
They went on to explain that the only people with access to the entire property are the estate manager and the head of Tom’s security team.
8. Whatever you do, do NOT touch his hair.
Not only does Tom take his public appearance seriously, but his physical appearance is also just as important to him.
Ahead of the film release for “The Mummy,” the actor was on a promo tour that landed him an appearance on The Project in May 2017.
According to The Daily Telegraph, per Daily Mail, one of Tom’s minders told the staff that they are never allowed to touch his hair unless they are in private.
When one of the show’s hair and makeup artists had “attempted to tame” one of Tom’s strands that had come loose, the minder said “no, no, no, no” and instructed her to “step away” from him.
Although the actor might set some strict guidelines for what he expects from his employees, it’s not every day that people get to come so close to one of the most sought-after men in all of Hollywood.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.