The world is obsessed with Tom Cruise. And why wouldn't we be? With a handsome face and a long list of box-office hits, Cruise has earned the right to be hounded by paparazzi every step of the way.
And there's much to be obsessed about too.
For one, we don't know much about his personal life other than his deep devotion to his faith. And for another, whatever we do know is from all the negative press around his many divorces and romances through the years.
Not that he volunteered any of those details. They just keep finding their way onto the front pages of the news cycle from sources who are both credible and controversial.
So, if you too are enchanted by the enigma called Tom Cruise, read on, because in this article we will reveal 20 little-known details about his life that surfaced after all three of his divorces.
And don't be surprised if the story seems to be heavily influenced by his religion. After all, it's no secret that Cruise's life is quite intertwined with the current leader of his faith.
20 Tom Cruise Had Marital Issues With 1st Wife, Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers and Tom Cruise's marriage was doomed from the start.
For one, she was six years his senior (although in an interview with Michael Shelden of The Telegraph, UK, she mentioned that her recorded birth year of 1956 wasn't accurate). And for another, she was two inches taller than Cruise without shoes on.
Sounds laughable, we know, but you have got to remember that people were much more conservative back then. And Rogers found the paparazzi's fixation on their age gap very annoying, as quoted in the same interview.
But the real problem the couple faced was that Cruise was considering monkhood in all seriousness, Rogers revealed in a 1993 interview with Playboy magazine.
19 Rogers Introduced Him To Her Famous Faith To Undergo Their Version Of "Marriage Counselling"
Rogers was the daughter of a Church of Scientology (CoS) missionary and had grown up in close quarters to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the religion. That's why when she met Cruise, she was enthusiastic about introducing him to her religion.
She was a Class VIII auditor in the CoS at that time, which is similar to a religious counselor. And that was how David Miscavige, the current head of the religion came in contact with Cruise.
Unfortunately, the Church and Rogers had different ideas about how her marriage to Cruise should play out and so used Nicole Kidman to plant the seeds of a divorce, as reported by esteemed journalist Lawrence Wright in his book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.
But when Rogers realized what Miscavige was up to, she called for her and Cruise to go through the Church's version of marriage counseling. But that backfired badly for her.
18 Those Same Religious Leaders Weren't Pleased When Kidman And Cruise Got Engaged Later
Mark "Marty" Rathbun, the former second-in-command to Miscavige, revealed to Tony Ortega of The Underground Bunker that though they had successfully intimidated Mimi Rogers into divorcing Cruise and signing an NDA, they had a new problem on their hand soon enough – Nicole Kidman.
They had not anticipated how close Cruise would get to her and were not pleased when he announced that he wanted to marry her.
Why? Because Miscavige deemed her to be a PTS, a "Potential Trouble Source" since her father was a prominent psychologist. The CoS is passionately against psychotherapy and psychiatry and considers members of that profession SPs or "Suppressive Persons" one needs to disconnect from.
17 Kidman Adopted Two (Now Estranged) Children With Cruise, Both Of Whom Follow Tom's Lifestyle
Right from the start, Kidman wanted to have children with Cruise. But in a recent interview with Tatler, she revealed that she had suffered from an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage quite early on in her marriage, after which doctors told her that her chances of ever conceiving a child were next to none.
That's when the couple decided to adopt and their household grew from two to four, welcoming little Connor and Isabella Kidman Cruise. But their bliss was not meant to last.
According to The Underground Bunker, cracks started to form in their relationship when Kidman tried to draw Cruise away from the Church. He ended up serving her divorce papers and enrolled their children, then aged 6 and 8, in a CoS course to identify SPs.
Their kids, now in their 20s, follow Cruise's faith and have disconnected from their mother.
16 The Cruise-Kidman Split Happened Because Tom Was Persuaded To By...
Although Kidman and Cruise were married for 11 years, which Kidman recalled to Holly Millea of The Cut had cocooned her from the evils of being a woman in Hollywood, their marriage had a third wheel in it – David Miscavige.
In Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright's documentary Going Clear, Marty Rathbun exposed that when Cruise had started to distance himself from the Church, Miscavige had tasked him to get Cruise to dump Kidman.
To this end, the Church gathered every bit of intel on Cruise, which Miscavige used to shame him into doing what he wanted – divorce Kidman.
Cruise was later awarded a special, created-just-for-him Freedom Medal of Valour for "bringing greater freedom to mankind".
15 Katie Holmes Was Said To Have 'Auditioned' To Be Tom's Wife
In 2012, special correspondent Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair wrote a cover story for their October issue that opened up a Pandora's box of nastiness in the media.
The feature, called "What Katie Didn't Know", quoted multiple high-ranking former members of the CoS reveal how in the years 2004 and 2005, Shelly Miscavige, the wife of the Church head, had been tasked with finding a suitable girlfriend for Cruise who followed their religion. And how they had zeroed in on Nazanin Boniadi through special auditions, which is how she ended up dating Cruise for a while before he dumped her and moved on to Katie Holmes.
14 Holmes Kept Cruise Waiting At The Altar For Almost Twenty Minutes On Their Wedding Day
It's no secret that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's wedding was a grand one. The duo wed in a castle in Italy for crying out loud!
But there are a lot of things that aren't common knowledge about the wedding. Like the fact that Holmes had kept Cruise waiting at the chapel for almost twenty minutes, during which he had a plastered smile on his face while the wedding guests got increasingly uncomfortable. A fact revealed by former CoS member and celebrity Leah Remini in her book Troublemaker.
The wedding was also considered official Church business since David Miscavige was Cruise's best man on the big day.
13 His Career Always Came First
According to a report published by E! News, a source close to Holmes said that while the divorce seemed abrupt to the rest of the world, Cruise had known for a while that it was coming.
"[Katie] wanted him home, and for them to be together. But Tom only knows how to be a movie star. He's a great dad and husband when he is there and present, but...work comes first."
The source also mentioned that Holmes wanted a project that would let her stay in one place so that Suri could go to school and have friends. The kid did not have any at that time.
12 He Had Attempted To Change Katie's Name After Their Marriage
We aren't kidding you. This happened after Holmes got pregnant with Suri but before the two got married.
When asked about it in an interview with All Headline News, this is what Cruise said, "Katie is a young girl’s name. Her name is Kate now – she’s a child-bearing woman." He also made it sound like Holmes had agreed to the name change and was being called Kate by all her friends and family.
But that was not the case in reality and Holmes continued to use the name Katie both personally and professionally.
Nevertheless, Cruise continued to call her Kate and used the moniker even when he announced to the media that she had served him divorce papers.
11 He Had Imposed Restrictions On Her Acting Career Too
A scoop on Katie Holmes' career on Business Insider showed how the actress had been on her way to potential A-list status after her roles in Batman Begins and Thank You for Smoking but fell off the ladder dramatically once she got married to Cruise, appearing only in small projects that bombed later at the box office.
The reason? Cruise controlled Holmes like a puppetmaster and made all big and small decisions for her, both personally and professionally, a source close to Holmes told TMZ.
Other studio-connected sources had revealed that Cruise had imposed an "art kill" on the producers of Thank You for Smoking, which prevented them from using any "compromising" pictures of Holmes and Aaron Echart, the lead of the movie, for promotional purposes. And that she was restricted from traveling to the sets of Batman Begins unless she used his private jet.
10 He Had Bought An Ultrasound Machine Against Medical Advice To Keep Tabs On Katie's Pregnancy
Cruise surprised everyone when he told Barbara Walters on her annual television special that he had bought an ultrasound machine and hired a medical technician so he and his then-girlfriend Holmes could see their child grow whenever they wanted. He also planned to donate the machine once Suri was born.
This announcement was widely criticized by the medical community because according to the FDA fetal ultrasound should only be performed for medical purposes by trained technicians after it has been prescribed by a physician.
It's because prolonged exposure to high-intensity sound waves can pose developmental risks to the fetus.
9 Suri Was Born Through A Procedure Called "Silent Birthing"
The rumor mills were churning out a lot of surprising stories before Holmes was due to give birth to Suri. And one of them was that she would have to remain silent while giving birth because according to the CoS, unnecessary noise can create psychic scars in the newborn.
Cruise addressed this rumors in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC Primetime and said that the idea was to be respectful to the mother and maintain peace and calm in the birthing area. "The mother makes as much noise ... you know, she's going through it," he said. "But why have other people make noise?"
8 Holmes Was Assigned A "Chaperone" Who Accompanied Her On All Her Press Tours And Interviews
When Katie Holmes was touring to promote Batman Begins, there was a mysterious "best friend" always beside her. The woman was Jessica Rodriguez, a CoS chaperone, who had also been involved in the Nazanin Boniadi affair according to Vanity Fair.
Robert Haskell of W Magazine described her as a "tall, cold-eyed… third wheel at all of Holmes's recent public appearances…Polite and restrained but alert to troublesome questions, Rodriguez chimes in only to offer an amen following one of Holmes's rhapsodies."
The story was the same everywhere. Holmes would attend interviews and only express her love for Cruise regardless of the question she was posed. And Rodriguez would take over when more controversial questions were posed.
The robotic adoration was the main reason why the media had started calling the TomKat thing a hoax.
7 Their Home Was Fully Staffed By Member's Of Tom's Church, Which Is Known For Reporting "Out Ethics" Behavior
While their relationship looked rosy on the outside, in reality, Holmes was being monitored every minute of every day because their mansion was fully staffed by members of Sea Org, an elite clergy-like division of the CoS whose primary role in the house was to cater to Cruise's every whim and report any "out ethics" behavior.
The fact was revealed in the book Ruthless written by Ron Miscavige, former Sea Org member and father of David Miscavige, the Church head.
Ron escaped the Church with his wife in 2012 and revealed that Holmes freaked out when Church members moved into their home. She was afraid that if she didn't move fast, she would end up losing Suri just as Kidman had lost her children because of the Church's disconnection policy.
6 Their Divorce Was Settled In 11 Days Because Katie's Father Had Made Cruise Sign An Iron-Clad Prenup
According to Maureen Orth's Vanity Fair story, Holmes' father never had the wool pulled over his eyes where the Church was concerned, and so drew up an iron-clad prenuptial agreement for Cruise to sign before he could marry Holmes.
The agreement, which ticked "all five banker's boxes," and the fact that the divorced papers were served to Cruise while he was filming in Iceland were some of the reasons why their divorce was settled in 11 days.
Another big reason behind the speedy settlement was the fact that Holmes had only asked for child support for Suri.
5 But Cruise Added A Clause In Their Divorce Papers That Forbade Holmes From Dating Anyone Publicly For Five Years
There was a big reason why Katie Holmes seemed to be perpetually single after her marriage to Tom Cruise ended. It was because Cruise had added a clause in their settlement papers that restricted her from dating anyone publicly for five years after the divorce, a source close to Holmes revealed to Radar Online.
"She’s allowed to date, but she cannot do so in a public, and she’s not supposed to let any boyfriend near their daughter, Suri."
If you are wondering how's that even legal, according to top divorce lawyers, courts would accept it only if there's a monetary fine attached. In this case, Holmes stood to lose the $5 million she had received from Cruise for herself after the divorce.
4 She Also Signed A Mysterious NDA That Does Not Have An End Date
All three of Tom Cruise's ex-wives have one thing in common. They all actively refuse to speak anything about the CoS or their relationship with Cruise while they were married. And that's because they all signed documents that indefinitely prevent them from defaming the religion or Cruise.
Knowing this, it's clear why Cruise settled so quickly with Holmes after she filed for divorce.
According to Marty Rathbun, if the issue reached litigation, it would have become a public nightmare for the Church. One from which they probably wouldn't have recovered.
3 Holmes Made Sure That Cruise Couldn't Legally Challenge The Custody Of Their Daughter Or Indoctrinate Her
According to a report on TMZ, a source close to Holmes said that the husband-wife pair had been arguing for a while over Cruise's desire to send Suri off to join Sea Org, a Church organization Cruise admires greatly.
Members of Sea Org are required to sign a "billion-year contract" in the service of the Church, and Holmes was afraid that move would ultimately separate her from her daughter.
That's why one of the clauses in her divorce settlement was that Suri would never be indoctrinated into Cruise's religion, and neither would she ever be shipped off to any boarding school until the end of high school.
2 He Met Suri Last In 2013 But Sends Her Birthday And Christmas Presents
It has been many years since Cruise last met his daughter Suri. And it's allegedly because according to CoS preachings, Holmes is a "suppressive person" and that, by default, makes Suri a "potential trouble source".
This has been a shock to the public because Cruise had once spoken empathetically about the importance of family and maintaining the bonds between them.
Nevertheless, he still sends Suri Christmas and birthday presents every year, and also sends Holmes the court-obligated sum of $400,000 every year in child support. She will receive it until Suri turns 18.
1 His Own Father Was An Absentee Parent
Like father, like son. Cruise never liked discussing his early childhood years, but opened up about the subject in an interview with Parade magazine in 2006, saying "he was a bully and a coward...It was a great lesson in my life - how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang!"
His own mother left his father when he was 12 and took all four of her children with her. They never saw their father after that.
Cruise met his dad again only when the man was dying of Cancer, but he only agreed to meet Cruise on the condition that he did not ask him anything about the past.
References:
telegraph.co.uk, tonyortega.org, tatler.com, thecut.com, redbookmag.com, vanityfair.com, yahoo.com, eonline.com, wmagazine.com, cbsnews.com, nbcnews.com
