Spielberg: Cruise Punished For Displays Of Happiness

“War of the Worlds” director Steven Spielberg admits he was bothered that Tom Cruise’s public displays of affection for his girlfriend — now fiancee — Katie Holmes would threaten to hijack the publicity for his new $113.5 million film, according to a report in Newsweek magazine. But Spielberg said his irritation was not directed at Cruise, but “at the press for making such a big deal out of a kind of small thing.”

“Tom lost his cool because he was deliriously happy, and now he was being punished for his public display of happiness,” Spielberg said. “On set, when we do a good shot, and we’re both happy, we do a little celebration. What Tom did on ‘Oprah’ was exactly what Tom did with me when he first told me about Katie Holmes. But the press didn’t like the way Tom bared his soul to Oprah.”

In the interview, which appears in the June 27 issue of Newsweek, Spielberg denies that the media attention on the Cruise and Holmes relationship forced a change in the publicity campaign for “War of the Worlds.”

“People say, ‘Oh, you didn’t put Tom on the poster because of what happened.’ No. The poster was designed in January, way before ‘Oprah,’ and my decision with all my films has been to use iconography on the posters,” Spielberg said. “Tom was fine with that. It’s the first time Tom has not been on a poster in his career, by the way.”

Spielberg was introduced to Cruise by David Geffen on the set of the movie “Risky Business,” and the director says the two became good friends.

“To me, Tom has always been like the most popular kid in school who goes out of his way to befriend the geek — me,” said Spielberg, laughing. “He has a pure heart — that’s been consistent about him ever since we met.”

Asked about speculation that many people think the Cruise/Holmes relationship is fake, Spielberg said, “I think what that really says is that people think that the people who make movies are fake — our movies aren’t real, and our private lives aren’t real … I think it’s more a commentary on Hollywood than a commentary on Katie and Tom.”
(AccessHollywood)