Dec 14 2008
Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer, together again on Today
In his continuing quest of a positive image once more, Tom Cruise sits down again with Matt Lauer on Today, this Monday December 15. You may remember Tom’s stint of jumping on Oprah’s couch in joy over Katie Holmes, followed by his attacks on Brooke Shields and psychiatry the “pseudo-science”. Tom Cruise the fine and charismatic actor became known as Tom Cruise the couch-jumping Scientology freak. His cause was further damaged when he appeared on Today with Matt Lauer, seeming tense, agitated, and a little bit crazy. He infamously accused Matt Lauer of being “glib” and basically uninformed about psychiatry and medicine and other subjects Tom Cruise felt he was much more qualified to speak on.
Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer on Today, 2005:
You may not have guessed that all this happened three years ago, and it’s been a hard road for Tom Cruise ever since. Persistent rumors about his marriage to Katie Holmes and their baby Suri flooded the tabloids, while more stories surfaced about his pushing his Scientology agenda on costars and–well, anyone within earshot, apparently.
In recent months, Tom Cruise has been having success remodeling his image by smartly displaying a sense of humor about all of this. After a comedy turn in Tropic Thunder, he turned up at Matt Lauer’s celebrity roast and took as many shots at himself as he did at Lauer. He’s been less manic and serious at events and interviews, and even admitted recently to People magazine that he “could have handled things better” in 2005, his “year of jumping dangerously”. See the sense of humor? He’s making it work for him. Now he’s set to return to the Today show set with his glib friend Matt Lauer, hopefully to further clear the air.
Tom Cruise and Today cast at Matt Lauer’s Celebrity Roast:
Monday’s interview with Matt Lauer of course also will help him promote Valkyrie, his new film about a German plot to assasinate Hitler during WWII. (The film may well be excellent, but it’s a concern when Eddie Izzard has the most convincing German accent in the trailers…) I’m sure that both Tom Cruise and the studio are hoping he can improve his public image in time for the Christmas Day opening of Valkyrie. Considering his long and distinguished career, I’d personally like to see Tom Cruise improve his image for posterity. It’s been a shame to see a lifetime of hard work and attractive charisma reduced to a nightmare of tabloid fodder and public ridicule.
The Today show with Matt Lauer airs on NBC, weekdays 7am-11am.
