Tom Cruise Explains His Commitment to Scientology and Tells GQ What It Is Really Like to Be the Biggest Star We've Ever Known

Says Cruise of his stardom: 'I don't think I will ever not be giddy about that. It may sound funny but ... there's just an appreciation. A true damn appreciation for it.'

GQ/November 15, 2004

New York -- In the December 2004 "Men of the Year" issue of GQ, cover subject Tom Cruise sits down with features editor Lucy Kaylin for a candid conversation about the learning disorder that led to his empire-building role in Scientology, the "catastrophe of epic proportions" facing us today, and what it is really like to be Tom Cruise.

To prepare for the interview, Kaylin underwent a lengthy Scientology tutorial at three locations with Cruise's sister and publicist, Lee Anne Devette, before talking to Cruise about the boyhood dyslexia diagnosis that eventually led him to Scientology. "You know, when they said, 'You learn a different way,' I was like, Why? I want to know," says Cruise. "Why couldn't I learn? Dyslexia -- what is it? No one really knew. And then when I realized that there's a book called The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" -- the handbook of mental disorders -- "and they voted on what goes in it, I said, 'This is bulls**t.' " He goes on to say, "I tried everything. And then I learned about this study technology. When I started out, quite honestly I wasn't like 'This is it.' But you know, you're hoping. ... "

Kaylin writes that Cruise supports Scientology's sustained assault on the psychiatric profession and the dispensing of diagnoses and drugs like ADD and Ritalin. "You know, we have eight and a half million kids on drugs," says Cruise. "It's a human-rights issue: electroshock, prefrontal lobotomies, and drugging, which is mental straitjacketing. And I feel for the parents. It's a betrayal of them, because they are inundated with propaganda about how this is going to help your child and calm him down. It's a catastrophe of epic proportions."

Cruise says of the controversy of that seems to cling to Scientology: "I really don't care what people say. Here's the thing you've got to understand: I'm not looking for approval from anyone. Because I know when my head hits the pillow at night, I'm doing everything I can to make the world a better place."

As the interview closes, Kaylin asks Cruise whether he ever stops to consider his megastar status. "Are you kidding me?" says Cruise. "We laugh hysterically. My mom, my sisters -- we piss ourselves with laughter. You know, even now, sometimes we go from country to country, and I'll be there with Lee Anne, and I'm getting on my airplane. And it's just that look of 'Can you f**king believe this?" He continues: "I don't think I will ever not be giddy about that. It may sound funny but ... there's just an appreciation. A true damn appreciation for it."