Tom Cruise Was Called A 'Control Freak' By Controversial Hollywood Screenwriter

Tom Cruise is one of the most popular actors of our time, appearing in dozens of movies since breaking into show business in 1981. Through hits like "Top Gun" and "Jerry Maguire," he quickly became something of a Hollywood golden boy, but that doesn't make him immune to drama. In fact, Cruise has had some major controversies over the years, facing everything from speculation surrounding his relationship with his estranged daughter Suri Cruise to backlash regarding his devotion to Scientology.

While many of his scandals have been forward-facing, other drama has originated from behind the scenes; his former co-star Thandiwe Newton admitted to being 'scared' while working with him while his ex-manager made brutal claims about what he's really like. In the 2023 book "Last Post," controversial Hollywood screenwriter Frederic Raphael similarly had some choice words about the "Mission Impossible" star, calling him an "egocentric control freak" (per the Daily Mail).

Raphael was the screenwriter for the 1999 movie "Eyes Wide Shut," one of the many films that Cruise has starred in alongside his ex-wife Nicole Kidman. Following the movie's production, the writer published a divisive autobiography titled "Eyes Wide Open," which chronicled his experiences collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film. Raphael's controversial depictions of the director were criticized by the family and colleagues of Kubrick, including Tom Cruise himself.

In addition to writing "Eyes Wide Open" about famed director Stanley Kubrick, Frederic Raphael also wrote an essay in The New Yorker about the memoir. It was this essay that was criticized by Tom Cruise in a 1999 interview with Roger Ebert, with the "Interview with a Vampire" star brutally questioning the screenwriter's motives.

"He wouldn't have written it if Stanley had been alive," Cruise told the outlet. "Opportunistic. Self-serving. Inaccurate. I don't know that man at all and I've never met him." Raphael took issue with the Hollywood star's comments, grouping him with Christiane Harlan, Kubrick's wife, and her brother Jan in what he alleges were attempts to wrongly defame his name as a response to his publication. 

"The Harlans and Master Cruise have managed to insert some derogatory stuff in my Wikipedia entry," Raphael wrote, seemingly referring to a reference to Cruise's interview. "'I have never been called a liar by anyone as I have been by the Harlan clan and by Tom Cruise" (per the Daily Mail). Even so, the author alleges that Cruise offered him a job following the movie, something he attributes to the actor's apparent desire for control.

While Frederic Raphael accused Tom Cruise of being a "control freak," the screenwriter admitted to never actually having met the Hollywood figure. Even so, he isn't the first one to have commented publicly about Cruise's temper and ego, as a few of those around him have had somewhat similar things to say.

For one, former Scientology member Leah Remini recounted a moment when Cruise blew up at his assistants over cookie dough he couldn't locate, writing about the outburst in her memoir "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology." Remini told People that the assistants "had the fear of God in them because they knew what was coming," adding, "They are probably still in Florida right now because they disgraced him."

Cruise also appeared to have a meticulous temper in leaked audio published by The Sun, in which he goes off on the crew of "Mission Impossible 7" for failing to effectively follow COVID-19 regulations. With all these negative reports, though, there have been a ton of employees and co-stars who have spoken positively about Cruise.