The “Digger” star explained why he’s largely avoided long form interviews in recent years: “I’ve been very busy.”

Tom Cruise, 64, flashes abs for rare magazine cover and explains why he’s avoided long-form interviews

The “Digger” star explained why he’s largely avoided long form interviews in recent years: “I’ve been very busy.”

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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September 15, 2026 5:20 p.m. ET

Tom Cruise for ‘GQ’. Credit:

Mario Sorrenti/GQ (2)

- Tom Cruise appears on the October cover of *GQ*.

- The *Digger* star said that he has largely avoided long-form interviews in recent years because he has “been very busy.”

- He added, “I just haven’t had the time.”

Tom Cruise is opening up in a rare magazine interview — and opening his shirt in the process.

The *Top Gun *star, 64, has largely avoided long-form interviews for over a decade, but sat for two conversations with *GQ* and graced the cover of the magazine’s October issue to promote his forthcoming comedy film *Digger*.

In the cover photo, Cruise wears vintage Levi’s jeans and a button-down shirt from Vintage Warriors, which is unbuttoned to reveal his chest and abs as he grips his belt.

Tom Cruise for ‘GQ’.

Mario Sorrenti/GQ

*GQ* asked Cruise why it’s taken so long for him to sit for a proper magazine cover interview.

“I’ve been very busy,” he responded. “When people see a movie, you want it to look easy. And there are things that I want other artists to know. People ask me, ‘What do you do?’”

Cruise indicated that he has been more focused on actually making movies than talking about them at length in recent years. “I just haven’t had the time, with the amount of things that I set in motion and decided I was going to do and looking back on those things that I felt worked,” he said. “I went for competence. I went for skill, for whatever level that was, of learning something and being able to then go, ‘Oh, this is what I need to focus on.’”

The *Jerry Maguire* star suggested that the pandemic complicated his schedule as he continued production on the last two *Mission: Impossible *films in the early 2020s. “I have to say the amount of time that COVID took when we were going through it. We were in a dead sprint at a very long pace up against a lot of things to be able to — we wanted to keep everyone going and going through it and operating at a very, very high level,” he said. “And just this is the time to be able to talk about it.”

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Cruise also repeatedly said that he doesn’t particularly enjoy talking about himself. “It’s a constant challenge of one step to the next,” he said. “And things that I’ve never talked about — the things that I’ve done and why and what I’m exploring — have been very deliberate. I’m exploring my skill, learning new skills, constantly pushing myself. When you’re looking at it, it’s story, it’s character. It’s: How do you make *Top Gun* a sequel? That has its own challenge. Those are the things that have always fascinated me, always interested me. Less about talking about myself, believe me.”

He added, “I’m more interested in you than hearing myself talk.”

Tom Cruise for ‘GQ’.

Mario Sorrenti/GQ

The *Eyes Wide Shut* star also struggled to come up with an answer to a question about the biggest misconception about him. “I don’t know. I really have no idea,” he said. “I’m not sitting here thinking about that stuff. I never think about that. I’m more looking out. For me, I’m more in present and future.”

Cruise doesn’t tend to ruminate on the past. “I look back to evaluate how I can do things better. Where I’m going, ‘What worked and what didn’t work?’ I can look back at things in a joyful way,” he said. “I’m looking at history. I’m looking at what worked previously. We’re now going back to older lenses, and we’re looking at how do we get that look and how do we get this today and where are we moving forward? I’m not someone who lives in the past. Do you know what I’m saying? I’m not stuck in the past.”

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The *Magnolia* star said that it took everything in him to portray Digger Rockwell in *Digger*. “It is the culmination of all my skills. I’ve never done it before,” he said. “Everything that I’ve done has been very thought-out, why I did it. I have personal goals and challenges with everything I do. I was so excited to be able to have this character. It’s the most challenging character ever.”

*Digger* hits theaters on Oct. 2.

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