Tom Cruise Defends Rant Against ‘MI’ Crew While Filming During COVID: ‘There Was A Lot At Stake’

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Tom Cruise didn’t hold back in his latest interview with Empire. The actor, 58, discussed his explosive December 2020 rant to the Mission: Impossible 7 crew, who were filming overseas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The expletive-laden rant stemmed from some crew members not following safety guidelines on the set, which Tom took issue with. “I said what I said,” Tom told Empire, via The Los Angeles Times.

“There was a lot at stake at that point.” The longtime action star and producer of the lauded and box office successes of the Mission: Impossible franchise, clarified to the magazine that he didn’t admonish the “entire crew,” but only “select people” who were not following safety guidelines during the film’s production.

Once the soundbite from the December incident was made public, some praised Tom for taking guidelines so seriously, while others felt his approach was far too aggressive. The actor also admitted to the outlet that he was “very emotional” at the time of his rant. The film had already gone through production delays due to the ongoing pandemic, and those bottled up emotions came out.

“All those emotions were going through my mind. I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry,” he told Empire, via The LA Times. “And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief.” Tom is still overseas completing the action-packed movie, which is on schedule to meet its release date.

An excerpt from Tom’s December rant included the actor telling members of the crew that he was “on the phone with every f**king studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies.” The actor and producer also said that, because the film was in production, they were “creating thousands of jobs, you motherf**kers. I don’t ever want to see it again. EVER,” he screamed, referencing the lack of adherence to safety protocols.

Mission: Impossible 7 has not undergone more delays for months, while many films and TV productions had to shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movie is still slated to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2022. The seventh movie, however, won’t be the last time that Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt. The actor will reprise the role and serve as producer for Mission: Impossible 8, slated for a 2023 release.