# In 2005, Tom Cruise almost tanked his career in under 15 minutes. He thought it was a “terrific interview”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-2005-tom-cruise-almost-tanked-his-career-in-under-15-minutes-he-thought-it-was-a-terrific-interview/
- Published: 2026-10-30T20:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T21:55:36+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/tom-cruise-almost-tanked-career-in-under-15-minutes/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Cruise’s 2005 interview with Matt Lauer damaged his public image.
- He attacked psychiatry and criticised Brooke Shields.
- Cruise later said he thought the interview went well.

## Summary

In June 2005, Tom Cruise’s interview with Matt Lauer became a major setback for his public image during publicity for *War of the Worlds*. Cruise criticised psychiatry and medication, questioned the idea of chemical imbalances, and singled out Brooke Shields, prompting a sharp public response from her.

The interview lasted just under 15 minutes, following Cruise’s widely discussed appearance on *The Oprah Winfrey Show* a month earlier. The article links the backlash to the poor box office performance of *Mission: Impossible III* and Cruise’s subsequent departure from Paramount, though it presents these as part of a wider career fallout. In 2006, Cruise said he thought the Lauer interview had been “terrific” and described himself as intense rather than angry.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.