Tom Cruise has gone quiet lately in terms of the media, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost any of his fire. Indeed, Cruise knows he’s at a turning point: He’s determined to lock in his next two movies in the next two weeks and to reassert himself as the chief of United Artists.

Yet I found him in a relaxed and garrulous mood last week and eager to compare war stories about the filmmaking business. Cruise shot a one-hour TV special called “Storymakers” with Peter Guber and myself where he made it very clear that, while many possibilities have beckoned, by no means was he putting the business of being a movie star on the back burner.

Along the way Cruise acknowledged that someday he would like to find a movie to direct but understands that it would represent a considerable sacrifice both in terms of family time and movie-star time. He also said that Broadway held a lure now that he had shared his wife Katie’s experience making her bow in "All My Sons.” “The camaraderie among actors in the theater is enticing,” he said, as is the sheer energy of the Great White Way.

Yet Cruise acknowledged that he was still a committed movie nut and has been since childhood. He cheerfully recalled sneaking into "The Godfather” as a little boy in Canada (his parents had barred him from seeing it because of its violence). “I would always go to movies alone as a kid,” he said. “I knew what I wanted to see and I planned my weekends and odd jobs around movie schedules.”

Cruise realizes that he must have been a pain in the ass as a young actor and says he remains eternally grateful for those directors who endured his relentless questions and challenges. Harold Becker on "Taps” let him see dailies, the editor invited him to spend hours in the cutting room, the cinematographer explained lenses and camera angles. “I had to know it all,” Cruise reflects. “I had to understand the process.”

Cruise’s almost manic dedication to “the process” is still evident, but he seems more relaxed about it. After committing to play the crazed studio chief in "Tropic Thunder” for Ben Stiller, Cruise spent three months prepping his lines and practicing movements in his fat suit. “I knew there was a good chance it wouldn’t work, but I needed to push the envelope,” he said. “The same for 'Valkyrie.’ It was a risk. I’m passionate about my movies and that means taking risks.”

Now 46, few stars have ranged as far and wide in their roles, from "Born on the Fourth of July” to "Rain Man,” or worked with such a wide range of major filmmakers, from Spielberg to Coppola to Kubrick. When Cruise commits to a project, his commitment has been stalwart – on “Rain Man,” he hung on through four directors before the movie started shooting.

“I wanted to do that piece with Dustin (Hoffman),” Cruise explains. “He’s an actor’s actor. Just like Jack Nicholson. On "A Few Good Men," Jack and I worked on our scenes over and over. I couldn’t get enough of those moments – I wanted to keep doing them.”

Cruise has been battered by the media in times past, but now seems at peace with it all. “I just want to keep moving forward,” he says. “My passion is my work. I’m always learning from what I do. That’s what matters."

Source:  Peter Bart, Variety