Tom Cruise has always been the guy clinging to the side of planes, jumping off cliffs, or outrunning explosions. But when he’s not risking his life on set, he’s surprisingly chill. In a new interview with People, Tom Cruise shared that he relaxes by playing piano. Or more accurately, by “hitting the keys.”
He was quick to clarify he doesn’t exactly play the instrument, but finds tapping away at it a relaxing way to disconnect. “I wouldn’t say ‘play.’ I enjoy hitting the keys … I find it relaxing,” he said.
It’s not just piano. He’s also taking dance lessons. Not for a movie, not for a role just because he’s curious about how the human body moves and how emotion is expressed through it. “The teachers understand how to move a body, what the shape does and the emotion it can create in others,” he explained. And if you know anything about Cruise, you know this isn’t just a hobby he’s training. Always.
He says he’s constantly picking up new skills with the belief that eventually, they’ll end up in a film. Whether it’s dancing, piano, flying planes, or skydiving, it’s all part of the same toolkit. “I will learn a skill, and I know eventually I’m going to use it in a movie,” he said. “The wonderful thing is you’re never there. It can always be better.” That kind of relentless mindset is probably why he’s still doing his own stunts at 61.
All this behind-the-scenes zen mode comes as Cruise gears up for the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and final film in the franchise. It’ll premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, with Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie attending. This is Cruise’s third Cannes appearance the last time was 2022 for Top Gun: Maverick, where he picked up an honorary Palme d’Or.
The movie hits theaters on May 21 in France and May 23 in the U.S. He returns as Ethan Hunt, alongside co-stars Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, and Henry Czerny. It’s the end of an era, but Cruise seems at peace with it maybe because between the action scenes and premieres, he’s got a piano and a dance studio waiting.
So yeah, while everyone else is asking what stunt Tom Cruise will do next, he’s somewhere in a quiet room planning to relax by tapping on piano keys, working on a spin turn, and probably figuring out how to do both in zero gravity. Classic Cruise.
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