An infamous interview in which Tom Cruise snapped at and stared down journalist Peter Overton has gone viral 17 years after it first aired.
The 2005 footage, in which Cruise angrily told the 60 Minutes interviewer to ‘put your manners back in’ after he asked about Tom’s ex Nicole Kidman, was tweeted by @responsiblerob last week.
It has since been viewed more than 2.1 million times.
Scary: An infamous interview in which Tom Cruise (left) snapped at and stared down journalist Peter Overton (right) has gone viral 17 years after it first aired
In the interview, which took place four years after the couple’s divorce, Overton asked Cruise, ‘Is Nicole the love of your life?’
Cruise demanded, ‘What do you mean, Peter? How do you answer that question?’
Then when Overton asked what sort of relationship the former couple still had, Cruise lost his cool, telling the Nine reporter, ‘You’re stepping over the line now. You’re stepping over the line, and you know you are.’
Rediscovered: The 2005 footage, in which Cruise angrily told the 60 Minutes interviewer to ‘put your manners back in’ after he asked about Tom’s ex Nicole Kidman, was tweeted by @responsiblerob last week
He then stared coolly at Overton, until the journalist explained, ‘I suppose they’re questions that people want to know…’.
However Cruise cut him off, saying, ‘Peter. Peter. You want to know. Take responsibility for what you want to know.’
‘So, I’m just telling you right now, okay, just put your manners back in.’
Twitter users called Cruise’s intense reaction to the line of questioning, ‘terrifying’.
Fear factor: Twitter users called Cruise’s intense reaction to the line of questioning, ‘terrifying’
‘I cannot imagine having this man talk to me this way. I would start crying. He’s so scary,’ tweeted one.
‘He’s literally terrifying without screaming even once,’ wrote another.
Although several of the reactions to the clip were negative, the original poster also shared more adoring posts about the action superstar, suggesting that the video wasn’t intended as a mere takedown.
Overton, 56, spoke about the intimidating interview during a 2020 interview with The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Case of the ex: In the interview, which took place four years after the couple’s divorce, Overton asked Cruise, ‘Is Nicole the love of your life?’ Tom and Nicole seen here with their children Connor and Isabella in 1996
Radio host Kyle Sandilands asked: ‘What were you thinking back then? When you’re being rubbished on camera by Tom Cruise? Are you thinking to yourself, how do I look respectful, but also still in charge of the interview?’
Overton explained: ‘I just maintained who I am, and I didn’t get angry. He did. And I just kept true to myself and said it’s a fair question.’
‘I hold no ill will towards Tom. It was one of those moments,’ he added.
Overton said that he tried to smooth things over with Cruise after the interview, but felt slightly taken aback by the whole experience.
Meet cute: The pair met while filming the film Days of Thunder in 1989
Cruise, who met his former wife Nicole in 1989 while filming his hit racing film Days Of Thunder, just scored one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of his career with his new sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
The film earned a staggering $156 million in its opening weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter, making it both the biggest opening weekend of Cruise’s career, as well as the biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.
The film, which has earned an adoring 96 percent fresh rating from critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes, was originally expected to earn around $151 million over the weekend, but it experienced bigger than expected ticket sales on Sunday, suggesting strong interest.
It earned a global haul of $248 million, which was particularly impressive, as the film won’t be shown in China or Russia and hasn’t yet been released in South Korea.
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