For Tom Cruise, choosing a movie begins with a listening session—not a trip through the script’s pages.
The actor revealed that he asks directors to read scripts aloud when he is deciding whether a potential project is right for him.
“What I do with directors and writers is, I don’t read the scripts. I have them read it to me,” Cruise, 64, said during his Sept. 18 appearance on Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast.
Cruise explained that hearing the material directly from its creators allows him to absorb their vision before his own ideas begin to shape the story. “I don’t want my ideas to invade it yet,” he said. Instead, he wants to understand how the writers and directors communicate something they have spent time developing.
While listening, the “Digger” star said he evaluates the story from the perspective of an audience member sitting in a theater.
“I’m a popcorn guy. I’m a meat-and-potatoes popcorn [guy],” Cruise said. He listens for the moments that pull him in, asking himself whether he feels moved, invested and engaged—or whether the story loses his attention.
“That’s just who I am,” he added.
Cruise also wants to hear how the wardrobe and lighting teams imagine the scene, saying he values “their take on it” before deciding how he can contribute.
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As the creative pieces come together, Cruise said he begins to see where his instincts fit. “I know how to contribute to that motion now,” he explained. The process inspires ideas about what he might explore as a performer, though he does not always announce those thoughts—he simply brings them to the scene.
The podcast appearance came only days after Cruise was seen speaking with Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce’s wife, from a VIP suite at Arrowhead Stadium during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Sept. 14 matchup with the Denver Broncos.
The exchange quickly sparked fan speculation about the conversation. Cruise later cleared up the mystery on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” saying Swift had been “schooling” him about football and describing her as a “genius.”
Cruise said he had not attended a football game since before the COVID-19 pandemic because of his work schedule. Being back in the stadium and spending time with Swift was “a lot of fun,” he said, adding that she “knows her stuff.”
He also shared Swift’s story that she knew little about football when she first began dating Kelce, who plays tight end for the Chiefs. According to Cruise, Swift said Kelce was “so patient” while helping her learn the game.
“I said, ‘I’m sure he was.’ I think everybody would be very patient [with her],” Cruise joked.
The Golden Globe winner has also addressed his reputation for being particularly demanding on movie sets. In a GQ cover story published Sept. 15, Cruise acknowledged that people have long described him as “intense.”
“Even when I was a kid, they were like, ‘Oh, come on, Tom. You’re so intense.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know what to say. I am intense,’” he told the magazine.
Cruise said his high standards are no secret to the people who work with him. “I work hard,” he said, adding that he expects a great deal from collaborators while being direct about those expectations: “The rumors are true. And do you want this?”