![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/cdn1.faroutmagazine.co.uk\/uploads\/1\/2025\/07\/Tom-Cruise-Actor-2025-Cannes-Film-Festival-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n(Credits: Far Out \/ Harald Krichel)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sat 6 September 2025 19:15, UK <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
These days, Tom Cruise<\/a>\u2019s status as one of the greatest movie stars in history is set in stone.<\/p>\n When it comes to doing everything humanly possible to make the most spectacular movies that have ever existed, Cruise is in a league of his own. However, the man is often so laser-focused and intense with his \u201cI love movies\u201d schtick that it can occasionally verge into insincere territory. It can also make the guy come across like some kind of zealot, for lack of a better term, and that\u2019s without even touching on his bizarre religious beliefs.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Cruise is \u2018the movies\u2019 in human form<\/a>, and that\u2019s awesome when a new Mission: Impossible movie comes out. However, it makes the idea of interacting with him in everyday life seem very strange indeed, as it\u2019s almost impossible to think of him as a regular guy. Amusingly, even other mega-famous celebrities feel this way \u2013 like the iconic Guns N\u2019 Roses axeman, Slash. <\/p>\n Over the years, Cruise and Slash\u2019s paths have occasionally intersected for brief, fleeting moments, like two uber-famous ships crossing in the night. In 1990, Guns N\u2019 Roses\u2019 record label wanted them to allow a song from their debut opus Appetite for Destruction to be used on the soundtrack for Cruise\u2019s Days of Thunder. The band\u2019s manager, Alan Niven, wasn\u2019t keen, as he didn\u2019t care for Scientology. He also \u201cmade some phone calls and found that the movie was not that good\u201d (not true, Alan!), but decided that the band should make the final decision. Axl Rose ultimately made the call to record a cover<\/a> of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u2018Knockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door\u2019 for the film, but it\u2019s unknown if Cruise actually met any members of the band at that point.<\/p>\n Fast-forward a few years, though, and Slash actually found himself on the phone with Cruise, telling the A-list star that his latest movie was a piece of shit. You see, Slash was a die-hard fan of Anne Rice\u2019s steamy vampire novels, but when he discovered Cruise and Brad Pitt had been cast in the adaptation of Interview with the Vampire, he \u201chad a hard time imagining\u201d them as Lestat and Louis. Then, when he saw the movie, he raged, \u201cI hated it; I thought it was crap.\u201d<\/p>\n Once again, the filmmakers tried to woo Guns N\u2019 Roses to appear on the soundtrack, and if legend is to be believed, Slash personally spoke to Cruise to let him down not-so-gently. As with everything GNR, though, it was Rose\u2019s decision in the end, and the band wound up recording a cover of The Rolling Stones\u2019 \u2018Sympathy for the Devil\u2019 for the movie.<\/p>\n After this semi-awkward situation, Cruise probably didn\u2019t cross Slash\u2019s mind for the next 16 years. But then, one fateful night in April 2010, he was backstage preparing for a guest spot at a Black Eyed Peas concert<\/a> when his manager told him a certain someone was outside the dressing room door. \u201cIs it OK if Tom Cruise comes in and says hello?\u201d the manager asked, to which a slack-jawed Slash exclaimed, \u201cAs in, Tom Cruise Tom Cruise?!\u201d<\/p>\n Flustered, Slash agreed to chat with the Top Gun star, and what ensued was simultaneously perfectly pleasant and painfully awkward. \u201cI\u2019m a big fan, and I just really wanted to meet you,\u201d Cruise said, his wife Katie Holmes hanging out silently in the background. Slash admitted that he was nervous to go on stage that night, and Cruise empathised, telling him nerves meant \u201cit will be a good performance.\u201d The two men then shared another couple of minutes of light banter, with neither seeming to know who should be the fan and celebrity in the scenario. Rest assured, though, the words \u2018Interview with the Vampire\u2019 were never uttered. <\/p>\n Then, Cruise said goodbye and wished Slash well, before he and Holmes exited to take their seats for the gig. Slash sat back, bemused and vaguely stunned by how irrepressibly nice Cruise was, despite the situation being undeniably stiff, too. \u201cThat has to be one of the weirdest things that has happened to me in at least two weeks,\u201d Slash mused with hilarious specificity. \u201cAnd he\u2019s not as short as everybody seems to think.\u201d<\/p>\n