Tom Cruise is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, as well as an enigmatic celebrity who's been making headlines for decades. So while almost everyone knows who he is, few people really know him. That select group includes his co-stars, who are often asked about him. In an interview with The Times, Cruise's co-star for several Mission: Impossible movies, Simon Pegg, opened up about something he learned from the actor. After the revelation went viral online, Pegg had to clarify his comments on Instagram. Read on to see what the Shaun of the Dead star had to say about Cruise and why he later took it back.
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Pegg said there's something Cruise never does.
Rene Teichmann / ShutterstockIn his Times interview, Pegg, who plays Benji Dunn to Cruise's Ethan Hunt in the M:I series, said that Cruise doesn't apologize, even if something is his fault.
"If something goes wrong and it's his fault, he'll flatly deny it," Pegg said (via Entertainment Weekly). "And then if someone corrects him, instead of saying sorry, he'll just say, 'Yeah,' and wink at me."
It's how Cruise "maintains his authority."
Cubankite / ShutterstockThe actor further explained that Cruise tried to pass along the advice.
Pegg continued, "I admitted [expletive] up once, and [Cruise] said—with a wry smile, I hasten to add—'Simon, don't do that.' He maintains his authority by never being to blame for anything."
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Pegg later had to clarify his comments.
Cubankite / ShutterstockAs reported by The Guardian, not long after the Times interview came out, Pegg went live on Instagram and addressed his comments about Cruise.
"I’m currently trending on Twitter for something I said in the Times interview about Tom Cruise never accepting responsibility for his mistakes," Pegg said, adding, "Like it isn’t just a [expletive] running joke that we have."
"Stop being so [expletive] literal," he chided the public.
Cruise has been prompted to publicly take responsibility for some of his actions.
Claudio Bottoni / ShutterstockOver the years, Cruise has made headlines both for apologizing and refusing to. For instance, in 2006, Brooke Shields said Cruise apologized to her after he criticized her use of antidepressants to manage her postpartum depression during a controversial interview on Today.
More recently, in 2021, Cruise did not apologize for his pandemic-related rant on the set of the latest Mission: Impossible movie. The expletive-filled speech was directed at crew members who were reportedly breaking COVID protocol by not distancing.
"I said what I said,” Cruise told Empire magazine (via The Los Angeles Times). “There was a lot at stake at that point.” He added that he was "very emotional" at the idea that production would be shut down again after already being delayed due to the pandemic. "All those emotions were going through my mind," Cruise said. "I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief.”
The released of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One has been delayed several times. The movie is currently due out next summer.
Pegg also talked about his connection with Cruise.
James Devaney/Getty ImagesPegg also discussed his friendship with Cruise and how they connect in his Times interview.
"He likes me because I make him laugh," the Hot Fuzz star said. "I'll pull him up on stuff and I can be frank with him. But he's still Tom Cruise. When you're on set, he's the boss."
Pegg said he'd be stressed to be in Cruise's position, being as famous as he is and having people speculate about his life.
"I'd be so stressed out," he said, "but he's very okay with it. He understands that's the price for the level of movie star he is. He's perhaps the only movie star left." Pegg continued, "People have these opinions about him, which are based entirely on gossip, and he doesn't really do anything to combat that. When I hear people speculating about his weird religion and making assumptions about who he is as a person, I say, 'You know he risks his life for his audience?'"
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