10 Movie Interviews That Went Very Wrong

3. Tom Cruise Loses It On Oprah

Cara Delevingne
King World

In terms of A-lister interviews that made headlines around the globe, nothing tops Tom Cruise's unhinged appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in mid-2005 to promote his new film War of the Worlds.

The bulk of the interview is concerned less with his new movie than his new relationship with Katie Holmes, and an extremely excited Cruise spends most of the sitdown chat, er, not sitting down.

Cruise repeatedly stands to his feet to pose and posture, professes his love for Holmes, jumps up on Oprah's couch, and even grabs Oprah in an especially strange gesture.

It all finally comes to an end when Cruise heads backstage and frog-marches Holmes in front of the audience, who are evidently loving every second of it.

The interview was widely parodied both online through memes and in general entertainment media, and while ultimately a relatively harmless - if deeply odd - exchange, many analysts have suggested that it played a part in negatively affecting Cruise's viability as a movie star.

Tellingly, Mission: Impossible III grossed considerably less than its predecessor the very next year, and it wasn't until the release of 2011's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol that the star truly found his box office footing once again.

Thankfully with Cruise's most recent release, Top Gun: Maverick, ending up the highest-grossing film of his career to date, it's safe to say that this drama is well and truly behind him - yet the Internet never fully forgets.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.