The science of stardom

Right on time, Tom Cruise delivers two huge projects -- Suri and 'M: I-III'

New York Post/April 23, 2006
By Sara Stewart

As a Level VII Operating Thetan for the Church of Scientology, Tom Cruise can heal disease, communicate with plants and animals, and control people's thoughts.

He can even turn a promising young actress into a glassy-eyed Stepford Wife.

But the biggest test of Cruise's Scientological powers may be the opening of "Mission: Impossible III" and whether his new baby will take her place as the greatest publicity stunt in Hollywood history.

"M:I-III" makes its U.S. debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 3rd, dovetailing nicely with the birth of Suri, Cruise's big co-production with fiancée Katie Holmes.

Born Tuesday in California, Suri has been derided as either the culmination of a yearlong marketing ploy to keep Cruise in the public eye - or a Svengali-like tale of a zealous Scientologist who finally found a suitably submissive mate.

But from where the action star is sitting, does it really matter what the public thinks? Is there anyone out there who doesn't have a passing familiarity with the term "TomKat" - even if it evokes a shudder?

"I think the baby probably helps Tom," says a top entertainment publicist, used to working with A-listers, who asked for anonymity to avoid damaging his professional relationships. "He was in such a bad place in the public mind, with all of his antics - the baby is at least a little bit of normalcy."

Which begs the question: What is "normal" for Cruise and Holmes these days?

From the moment the actor leapt onto Oprah's couch last May to maniacally proclaim his love, the couple has been the center of a progressively bizarre tabloid tale, featuring unconvincing public displays of affection, nationally televised anti-psychiatry rants, and the silent, constant presence of a dark-suited Scientology minder.

And like the proverbial car wreck, we can't look away. But "all publicity is not good publicity," warns the publicist. "It doesn't necessarily sell tickets."

Just 37 percent of the movie-going public said they were "definitely" interested in seeing "M:I-III," about 10 points below a similar study for "M:I-II" five years ago, according to industry poll numbers reported by Jeff Wells of Web site Hollwood Elsewhere. More tellingly, the number of people who do not want to see the film jumped from 2 to 9 percent.

But things may yet work out for Cruise - especially if one considers the beginnings of the TomKat relationship, says box-office guru Paul Dergerabedian.

"There was this same issue last year, before 'War of the Worlds,' " he says. "It opened in the wake of a lot of public attention to Tom Cruise. And it didn't hurt the movie - there was no backlash. In fact, it was his biggest-grossing film ever."

Cruise has always been a hugely magnetic presence, as anyone who saw him lip-synching in his underwear in 1983's "Risky Business" can attest. He's had an unprecedented run of more than two decades as one of America's most beloved movie stars, appearing in one mega-hit after another.

But after he fired his longtime publicist Pat Kingsley early last year, the actor's image took a turn for the worse. Or, at least, the incredibly creepy.

"Now that she's not around as his gatekeeper, we're seeing unfiltered Tom Cruise, and what we're seeing is arguably a Scientology fanatic," says cult expert Rick Ross, who thinks it's not surprising the religion would be appealing to the star.

"He's always been a perfectionist, and that meshes well with Scientology, which is about perfecting your mind to a point that you become godlike," Ross says. "To someone like Cruise, that's an appealing theology."

The actor certainly seems godlike to Holmes, who has said that as a teenager she'd dreamed of marrying Cruise. But lately, the "Dawson's Creek" star's life has looked a lot more like a nightmare than a dream.

"If I were a family member of hers, I would be afraid, very afraid," says Ross. "She has been successfully influenced by Scientology to take on his mindset and world view, and to be the appropriate Scientologist wife."

According to multiple accounts from church defectors, new members must undergo a lengthy, draining initiation process that saps them of the ability to think for themselves.

Holmes began to raise eyebrows back in June, when she gave giddy, non sequitur answers at a "Batman Begins" press conference. She followed that up with an interview in W magazine's July 2005 issue, in which the author was clearly disturbed at her inability to answer simple questions coherently.

As rumors swirled of a five-year, $5 million marriage contract, Holmes began to seem out of her depth. Would any marriage contract stipulate publicly acting tranquilized?

"There's an indoctrination many people claim is brainwashing," says Ross. "And Katie is in a cocooned world. Scientologists constantly buzz around her, she submits to endless hours of course work and no doubt auditing."

Auditing involves being hooked to a version of a lie detector called an "E-Meter," which measures nervous tension, Ross says. "At this point, there is probably nothing that Scientology doesn't know about Katie Holmes, and have in her folder."

Not to mention what she had in her womb.

The TomKat pregnancy, announced last October, ratcheted up the freak show, with many amused spectators positing that Holmes' burgeoning belly was a) a strap-on, b) fathered by someone other than Cruise, rumored to be impotent, c) spawned by frozen sperm from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard or d) an alien.

Then there were the reports of the "silent birth." According to Scientology's rules, a baby is supposed to be born in the complete absence of noise, even from the mother - though Cruise insisted, in his interview with Diane Sawyer last weekend, that Holmes would be permitted to "do what she has to do."

But industry insiders say now that Suri's been born - silently or otherwise - she may actually help land TomKat back on Earth, at least as far as the movie-going public is concerned.

"There isn't quite the negative perception of last year," says Dergerabedian. "This is more about their baby."

Of course, Suri is no ordinary child - she'll be a Scientology infant all the way, raised according to church principles.

That means drinking a special barley-water formula instead of regular milk, and a Scientology version of baptism: a naming ceremony, in which the baby is introduced to its parents as if it were simply a very small adult.

In childhood, she'll anticipate full responsibility for her possessions. If she breaks them, "It's none of [the parent's] business," according to the Scientology Handbook.

And woe to anyone who questions Cruise about child-rearing. Consider poor Matt Lauer's run-in with the star over antidepressants.

We've not seen the last of the TomKat saga, though: On Friday, Cruise made a follow-up appearance on "20/20" to describe the details of the "indescribable" birth of his child.

And flash forward to next summer: Cruise will undoubtedly be hyping another movie - and just maybe a romantic, totally unrelated June wedding.