Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (pronounced /ˌpænɨtiˈɛər/; born August 21, 1989)[1] is an American actress and singer. She came to professional prominence at the age of 10 with her portrayal of Sheryl Yoast in Disney's Remember the Titans, although for five years before that, Panettiere had held roles in two soap operas. She portrayed Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live (1994–1997), and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light (1996–2000). Panettiere reached a wider audience with her starring role as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes.

Hayden Panettiere "Wake Up Call"



Early lifePanettiere was born in and partly raised in Palisades, Rockland County, New York, the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan L. "Skip" Panettiere, a fire department lieutenant.[2][3] Panettiere is of Italian descent, her surname meaning "baker" in Italian.[4][5] She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.[6]

Although Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, she was educated at home from the 9th grade through high school.[7] For now, Panettiere is postponing higher education in favor of an acting career.[8]

[edit] Career[edit] Acting[edit] TelevisionPanettiere first appeared in commercials at 11 months, beginning with an advertisement for Playskool.[9] She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1994–1997), and she followed that up by playing the part of Elizabeth "Lizzie" Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light (1997–2000). While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. For drawing the attention of daytime viewers to the disease, and for improving national awareness, the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society gave her its Special Recognition Award.[10]

For her performance in Lifetime Television's 1999 TV movie If You Believe, she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Young Actress Age Ten or Under in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot.[11] Panettiere appeared on Fox's Ally McBeal as the title character's daughter, had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Panettiere became most prominent as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes, which was created by Tim Kring, as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Thanks to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including Gen Con, New York Comic-Con, and Fan Expo Canada. Panettiere has complained that her acting options are sometimes limited because "people look at [her] as either the 'popular cheerleader' type or just 'the blonde.'"[12]

In early 2007, Panettiere appeared on the MTV show, Punk'd. The appearance was engineered by her mother and involved a male "fan" discussing her work with her, instigating a jealous reaction from the man's spouse.


Panettiere in London[edit] FilmsShe has appeared in over a dozen full-length feature films.

In 1998, she provided the voice for Dot in A Bug's Life.[13] She played the role of Coach Yoast's daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember the Titans. She starred in a 2005 film, Racing Stripes where she plays a teenage girl with a pet Zebra named Stripes. She also starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing as a cheerleader and had a supporting role as Adelaide Bourbon in the recently released independent film Shanghai Kiss. In 2004, she appeared in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise, and in Raising Helen as Kate Hudson's adolescent niece. In 2005, she was the title character's rival in a skating contest in Ice Princess.

In June 2007, she signed with the William Morris Agency, after previously being represented by United Talent Agency.[14] Forbes estimated that she earned $2 million in 2007.[15]

In 2008, Panettiere appeared in the drama Fireflies in the Garden as a younger version of Emily Watson's character, Jane Lawrence. In September 2008, she appeared in a satirical video, a mock-PSA (public service announcement) on funnyordie.com entitled "Hayden Panettiere PSA: Your Vote, Your Choice."[16] Again, in October, Panettiere appeared in another satirical PSA video on funnyordie.com entitled "Vote for McCain: He's just like George Bush, except older and with a worse temper."[17]

In July 2009, Panettiere starred in the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper. In September 2010, Panettiere was signed to star as Amanda Knox in the controversial Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy.[18] Panettiere also provided the voice of Kate, along side Justin Long in 2010's Alpha and Omega.[19]

In 2011, she replaced Anne Hathaway as the voice of Red for the animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil. In April 2011, Panettiere appeared in the sequel of the Scream franchise, Scream 4. She played Kirby Reed, alongside Emma Roberts and Rory Culkin.

[edit] Video gamesPanettiere voices Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games created by Square Enix.

[edit] SingingPanettiere was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for A Bug's Life Read-Along (2000).[20] In 2004, she recorded a song entitled "My Hero Is You" with a video for the Disney Channel film she starred in, Tiger Cruise. The next year she recorded a song entitled "I Fly" for the Disney film Ice Princess in which she also co-starred. She recorded a song for the Hollywood Records compilation Girl Next (2006) and another song entitled "Go to Girl" for Girl Next 2 (2007). Also in 2007, She also recorded a cover for "Cruella De Vil" for DisneyMania 5, "Try" for the Bridge to Terabithia soundtrack and a ballad called "I Still Believe" for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

Panettiere's first single, "Wake Up Call", was digitally released on August 5, 2008. A clothing brand named Candie's announced that it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July. Similarly, Candie's would also provide additional promotion for the single with a television advertisement and a music video.[21]

[edit] Commercial-product endorserIn late 2006, Neutrogena made Panettiere the cover girl for their new worldwide ad campaign;[22] following in the footsteps of actresses Kristin Kreuk, Josie Bissett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mandy Moore, Mischa Barton, Gabrielle Union and Jennifer Freeman.

In September 2007, Panettiere appeared in a Heroes-themed Got Milk? ad for which the photographs were shot by Annie Leibovitz.[23]

In February 2008, Kohl's announced that Panettiere would be their next Candie's spokesperson.[24]

[edit] Personal life
Panettiere with Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia.In 2006, Panettiere began dating Stephen Colletti, the former Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County star.[25] The couple broke up in September 2007.[26] In December 2007, it was widely reported that she was dating her Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia,[27][28] though Panettiere denied these reports in an interview with GQ.[29] These reports continued through the early part of 2008,[30][31] and several sources had reported that she asked Ventimiglia to move in with her.[32][33][34] In April 2008, during an interview on the BBC's The Chris Moyles Show to promote the second season of Heroes, Ventimiglia confirmed that he was dating Panettiere.[35] They ended their relationship in February 2009.[36]

Panettiere has dated heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko. She was ringside for his knockout victory over Samuel Peter on September 11, 2010.[37] The actress confirmed on May 12, 2011 that she and Klitschko called it quits. [38]

Panettiere has a tattoo of the Italian words Vivere senza rimipianti [sic] running down her left side. The word rimpianti is misspelled in what otherwise would mean "To Live Without Regrets".[39]

[edit] ActivismIn 2007, Panettiere became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.[40]

On October 31, 2007, Panettiere joined with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to try to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. She was involved in a confrontation between Japanese fishermen and five other surfers from Australia and the United States (including former Home and Away star Isabel Lucas) of the group. The confrontation lasted more than 10 minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach, after which they left the country.[41] Parts of the confrontation can be seen on the award-winning Sundance Film Festival documentary film, The Cove. The fishermen consider the condemnation as an attack on their culture.[42]

Panettiere told E! News that an arrest warrant has been issued in Japan for her interference in the dolphin hunt, but her claim was later dismissed by the Japanese Fisheries Agency.[43][44] In November 2007, she was awarded the "Compassion in Action Award" from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunt in Japan.[45] She is also a vegetarian.[46][47]

On January 28, 2008, Panettiere handed a letter of protest to the Norwegian ambassador in the United States arguing that Norway should stop its hunt for whales. She also delivered a letter to the Japanese ambassador calling for the end of Japan's hunting of whales. At a 2007 Greenpeace event in Anchorage, Alaska, Panettiere defended aboriginal whaling, saying that there is a difference between commercial whaling and the whaling practiced by aboriginal tribes in the United States.[48]

In May 2008, Panettiere was involved in an eBay auction to benefit SaveTheWhalesAgain.com. The auction included tickets to a fundraising dinner hosted at the Hollywood restaurant Beso, owned by Eva Longoria, and a whale watching tour, with Panettiere, off the coast of Santa Barbara.[49] The same month, during an interview with Teen Vogue, Hayden explained how her fame gives her a platform for her activism: "The show [Heroes] put me in a place to speak for things that I'm passionate about."[50]

In September 2008, Panettiere launched her own line of calfskin leather bags for the company Dooney & Bourke. [51]

In October 2008, Panettiere delved into the presidential election, releasing a public service announcement through the website Funny or Die. In this video Panettiere mocked Republican candidate John McCain for his age and temper.[52] She subsequently made clear her intention to vote for Barack Obama, and urged other young people to vote.[53]

Panettiere also appeared in a public service announcement with DC Shadow Senator Paul Strauss endorsing voting rights for the District of Columbia.[54]

Panettiere is a teen ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, whose mission is to fight teen pregnancy. On May 6, 2009, she participated in a town hall meeting in New York City alongside Bristol Palin and Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza on the issue of teen pregnancy.[55]

[edit] FilmographyYear Film Role Notes
1994—1997 One Life to Live Sarah Victoria 'Flash' Roberts #3 Daytime TV series
1996 Aliens in the Family Young Girl 1 episode: "Too Good to Be True" (1.05)
How Do You Spell God? TV movie
1996—2000 Guiding Light Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Spaulding #2 Nominated for YoungStar Award – Best Young Actress/Performance in a Daytime TV Series
1997 Unhappily Ever After Little Girl 1 episode
1998 A Bug's Life Dot (voice) Animated film
Nominated for Young Artist Awards – Best Performance in a Voice Over in a Feature or TV - Best Young Actress
The Object of My Affection Mermaid
A Will of Their Own TV mini-series
1999 Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke Young Doris Duke miniseries
Message in a Bottle Girl on Sinking Boat
Touched by an Angel Diana 1 episode: "Godspeed" (5.26)
If You Believe Young Susan Stone/Alice Stone, Susan's niece Nominated for Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot – Young Actress Age Ten or Under
2000 Dinosaur Suri (voice) Animated film
Nominated for Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards – Youth in Film
Nominated for YoungStar Award – Best Young Voice Over Talent
Remember the Titans Sheryl Yoast Nominated for Phoenix Film Critics Society Award – Best Performance by a Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role
Nominated for Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards – Youth in Film
For award wins, see Awards section
2001—2002 Ally McBeal Maddie Harrington 10 episodes
2001 Joe Somebody Natalie Scheffer Nominated — Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ashley 1 episode: "Abuse"
Chestnut Hill Molly Eastman TV movie
The Affair of the Necklace Young Jeanne St.Rémy de Valois
2002 Kingdom Hearts Kairi (voice) Video game
2003 Normal Patty Ann Applewood TV film
2003—2005 Malcolm in the Middle Jessica 5 episodes
2004 Fillmore! Yumi TV series (voice), 1 episode: "Code Name: Electric Haircut" (2.09)
The Dust Factory Melanie Lewis
Raising Helen Audrey Davis
Tiger Cruise Maddie Dolan Nominated – Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special – Leading Young Actress
2005 Racing Stripes Channing Walsh
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Angela Agnelli 1 episode: "Hooked"
Lies My Mother Told Me Haylei Sims TV film
Ice Princess Gen Harwood
2006 Bring It On: All or Nothing Britney Allen
The Architect Christina Waters
Mr. Gibb[56][57][58] Allyson 'Ally' Palmer released on DVD as The Good Student
Commander in Chief Stacy 1 episode: "Wind Beneath My Wing"
Skater Boys Kassidy Parker #2 1 episode: "Band of Gold"
Kingdom Hearts II Kairi (voice) Video game
2006—2010 Heroes Claire Bennet Nominated for Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role on Television Series – 2008–2010
Nominated for Teen Choice Award – 2007 – Choice TV: Breakout
For award wins, see Awards section
2007 Shanghai Kiss Adelaide Bourbon
Diary of a New Girl Hannah Rochelle voice
Robot Chicken guest voice
2008 Fireflies in the Garden Young Jane Lawrence
Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King Princess Fairy Willow voice
2009 I Love You, Beth Cooper! Beth Cooper
The Cove Herself Documentary film
2010 Alpha and Omega Kate voice
Carmel Amber
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Kairi (voice) Video game
2011 Scream 4 Kirby Reed In theaters
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil Red Riding Hood voice
Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy Amanda Knox Lifetime TV film
[edit] AwardsNewport Beach Film Festival – Feature Film Award for Acting – Shanghai Kiss (2007)
Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Series – Heroes (2007)
Teen Choice Award – Choice TV Actress: Drama – Heroes (2007)
Teen Choice Award – Choice TV Actress: Action Adventure – Heroes (2008)
Teen Choice Award – Choice TV Actress: Action Adventure – Heroes (2009)
Vail Film Festival Rising Star Award (2007)
Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress – Remember the Titans (2001)
Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Lead Actress – Heroes (2006)
[edit] Discography[edit] SinglesYear Title Chart position Album
U.S. Hot U.S. Pop
2008 "Wake Up Call" 125 97
[edit] Soundtracks and compilationsYear Song Featured
2004 "Someone Like You" (Feat. Watt White) The Dust Factory
2005 "My Hero Is You" Tiger Cruise
"I Fly" Ice Princess Soundtrack and Disney Girlz Rock
2006 "Your New Girlfriend" Girl Next Vol.1
2007 "Home" Shanghai Kiss
"I Still Believe" Cinderella III: A Twist in Time
"Try" Music from and Inspired By Bridge to Terabithia
and Disney Girlz Rock, Vol. 2
"Cruella de Vil" DisneyMania 5
"Go to Girl" Girl Next Vol.2
2011 "I Can Do It Alone" Hoodwinked Too! (Hood vs. Evil) [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
"Inseparable"
Source from Wikipedia.com

Jodie Foster

Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress, film director, producer as well as being a former child actress.

Foster began acting in commercials at three years of age, and her first significant role came in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as the preteen prostitute Iris for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also that year, she starred in the cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1989 for playing a rape survivor in The Accused. In 1991, she starred in The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling, a gifted FBI trainee, assisting in a hunt for a serial killer. This performance received international acclaim and her second Academy Award for Best Actress. She received her fourth Academy Award nomination for playing a hermit in Nell (1994). Other popular films include Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006), The Brave One (2007), and Nim's Island (2008).

Foster's films have spanned a wide variety of genres, from family films to horror. In addition to her two Academy Awards she has won two BAFTA Awards for three films, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a People's Choice Award, and has received two Emmy nominations.

Jodie Foster on Ellen - Part II


Early lifeFoster was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Evelyn "Brandy" Ella (née Almond) and Lucius Fisher Foster III. Her father, a decorated Air Force lieutenant-colonel turned real estate broker, came from a wealthy background and left his wife before Jodie was born.[2] Evelyn supported Jodie by working as a film producer.[3] After appearing as a child in several commercials, Foster made her first credited TV appearance on The Doris Day Show. Her first film role was in the 1970 television movie Menace on the Mountain, which was followed by several Disney productions.

Foster attended a French-language prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, and graduated in 1980 as the valedictorian.[4] She frequently stayed and worked in France as a teenager, and she still speaks the language fluently without accent.[5] She attended Yale University, and was a member of Calhoun College. She graduated magna cum laude,[6] earning a bachelor's degree in literature in 1985. She was scheduled to graduate in 1984 but the shooting of then-President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr., in which Hinckley's fascination with Foster created unwanted adverse publicity for her,[7] caused her to take a semester's leave of absence from Yale.[8][9] She later gave the Class Day speech at her alma mater in 1994 and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university in 1997.[6]

Fluent in French, Foster has dubbed herself in French-language versions of most of her films.[10][11] In 2004, she took a minor role in the French WW1 film, A Very Long Engagement. She also understands German[12][13] and can converse in Italian.[14]

Foster has English and Irish roots being the descendant of Mayflower passengers William Mullins and his wife Alice and of Priscilla and John Alden. Another English ancestor is Samuel Eddy born in 1608 in Kent, and one of her great-great-great grandmothers Eliza Platt was from Ireland.[15]

[edit] Career[edit] Child star
Foster in her role as the 12-year-old child prostitute Iris "Easy" Steensma in Taxi Driver when she was thirteen.Foster made nearly 50 film and television appearances before she attended college. She began her career at age three as a Coppertone Girl in a television commercial and debuted as a television actress in a 1968 episode of Mayberry R.F.D.[16] She was managed by her mother.[17] In 1969, she appeared in an episode of Gunsmoke, where she was credited as "Jody Foster". She is also credited as "Jodi Foster" for her 1970 Daniel Boone role and credited as "Jodie Foster" for her 1970 Adam-12 role. Although not a regular on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, she appeared from time to time as Eddie's friend Joey Kelly.[18] She made her film debut in the 1970 TV movie Menace on the Mountain and was featured as Tallulah in Bugsy Malone in 1976. As a child, Foster made a number of Disney movies, including Napoleon and Samantha (1972) and One Little Indian (1973), and she continued to star in Disney films into her early teens. On television, she appeared in an episode of The Partridge Family titled "The Eleven-Year Itch", co-starred with Christopher Connelly in the 1974 TV series Paper Moon and alongside Martin Sheen in the 1976 cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. As a teenager, Foster made several appearances on the French pop music circuit as a singer. Commenting on her years as a child actress, which she describes as an "actor's career", Foster has said that "it was very clear to me at a young age that I had to fight for my life and that if I didn't, my life would get gobbled up and taken away from me."[19] She hosted Saturday Night Live at age 14, making her the youngest person to host at that time until Drew Barrymore hosted at the age of seven.[citation needed] She also said,

"I think all of us when we look back on our childhood, we always think of it as somebody else. It's just a completely different place. But I was lucky to be around in the '70s and to really be making movies in the '70s with some great filmmakers – the most exciting time, for me, in American Cinema. I learned a lot from some very interesting artists — and I learned a lot about the business at a young age, because, for whatever reason, I was paying attention; so it was kind of invaluable in my career."[20]

Foster made her debut (and only official) musical recordings in France in 1977: two 7" singles, "Je T'attends Depuis la Nuit des Temps" b/w "La Vie C'est Chouette"[21] and "When I Looked at Your Face" backed with "La Vie C'est Chouette". The A-side of the former is sung in French, the A-side of the latter in English. The B-side of both is mostly spoken word and is performed in both French and English. These three recordings were included on the soundtrack to Foster's 1977 French film Moi, fleur bleue.

Foster starred in three films in 1976: Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, and Freaky Friday. She was nominated for the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Taxi Driver. She won two British Academy Film Awards in 1977: the BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performances in Bugsy Malone opposite Scott Baio and Taxi Driver opposite Robert De Niro. She received a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Freaky Friday. As a teenager, she also starred in the Disney adventure Candleshoe (1977) and the coming-of-age drama Foxes (1980).

[edit] Target of fan obsessionJohn Hinckley, Jr. became obsessed with Foster after watching Taxi Driver a number of times,[22][23] and stalked her while she attended Yale, sending her love letters to her campus mail box and even talking to her on the phone. On March 30, 1981, he attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan (shooting and wounding Reagan and three others) and claimed his motive was to impress Foster, then a Yale freshman. The media stormed the Yale campus in April "like a cavalry invasion", and followed Foster relentlessly.[24][25]

Another man, Edward Richardson, followed Foster around Yale and planned to shoot her, but decided against it because she "was too pretty".[26] This all caused intense discomfort to Foster and reporters have constantly been warned in advance not to bring up the subject in front of her, as she has been known to walk out of interviews if Hinckley's name is even mentioned.[26] In 1991, Foster canceled an interview with NBC's Today Show when she discovered Hinckley would be mentioned in the introduction.[26] Foster's only public reactions to this were a press conference afterwards and an article titled "Why Me?" that she wrote for Esquire in December 1982. In that article she wrote that returning to work on the film Svengali with Peter O'Toole "made me fall in love with acting again"[27] after the assassination attempt had shaken her confidence. In 1999, she discussed the experience with Charlie Rose of 60 Minutes II.[28]

[edit] Adult career
At the 61st Academy Awards Governor's Ball, March 29, 1989.Unlike other child stars such as Shirley Temple or Tatum O'Neal, Foster successfully made the transition to adult roles, but it was not without initial difficulty, as several of the films in her early adult career were financially unsuccessful. These included The Hotel New Hampshire,[29] Five Corners,[30] and Stealing Home.[31] She had to audition for her role in The Accused. She won the part and the first of her two Golden Globes and Academy Awards and a nomination for a BAFTA Award as Best Actress for her role as a rape survivor. She starred as FBI trainee Clarice Starling in the 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs, for which she won her second Academy Award and Golden Globe, and won her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress. This "sleeper" film marked a breakthrough in her career, grossing nearly $273 million in theaters[32] and becoming her first blockbuster.[33]

Foster made her directorial debut in 1991 with Little Man Tate, a critically acclaimed[34] drama about a child prodigy, in which she also co-starred as the child's mother. She also directed Home for the Holidays (1995), a black comedy starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr.[20] In 1992, Foster founded a production company called Egg Pictures in Los Angeles. It primarily produced independent films until it was closed in 2001. Foster said that she did not have the ambition to produce "big mainstream popcorn" movies, and as a child, independent films made her more interested in the movie business than mainstream ones.[20] She played Laurel Sommersby in Sommersby opposite Richard Gere, who would comment that "She's very much a close-up actress, because her thoughts are clear."[35]

Foster starred in two films in 1994, first in the hugely successful western spoof Maverick[36] and later in Nell, in which she starred as an isolated woman who speaks an invented language and must return to civilization. Her performance earned her nominations for her fourth Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and an MTV Movie Award, and won her a Screen Actors Guild Award and a People's Choice Award. In 1997, she starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the science-fiction movie Contact, based on the novel by scientist Carl Sagan. She portrayed a scientist searching for extraterrestrial life in the SETI project. She commented on the script that "I have to have some acute personal connection with the material. And that's pretty hard for me to find."[citation needed] Contact was her first sci-fi film, and her first experience with a bluescreen. She commented,

"Blue walls, blue roof. It was just blue, blue, blue. And I was rotated on a lazy Susan with the camera moving on a computerized arm. It was really tough."[37]

The film was another huge commercial success[38] and earned Foster nominations for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe. In 1998, an asteroid, 17744 Jodiefoster, was named in her honor.[39] In 1999, she starred in the non-musical remake of The King and I titled Anna and the King, which became an international commercial success.[40]


Foster at the 62nd Academy Awards ceremonies in 1990.In 2002, Foster took over the lead role in the thriller Panic Room after Nicole Kidman dropped out due to a previous injury.[41] The film costarred Dwight Yoakam, Forest Whitaker, Kristen Stewart and Jared Leto and was directed by David Fincher. It grossed over $30 million in its opening weekend in the United States, Foster's biggest box office opening success of her career so far.[20] She then performed in the French-language film Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) (2004), speaking French fluently throughout. She returned to English-language films with the 2005 thriller Flightplan, which opened once again in the top position at the U.S. box office and was a worldwide hit.[42] She portrayed a woman whose daughter disappears on an airplane that her character, an engineer, helped to design.[43]

In 2006, Foster starred in Inside Man, a thriller directed by Spike Lee and co-starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, which again opened at the top of the U.S. box office and became another international hit.[44] In 2007, she starred in The Brave One directed by Neil Jordan and co-starring Terrence Howard, another urban thriller that opened at #1 at the U.S. box office.[45] Her performance in the film earned her a sixth Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination and another People's Choice nomination, for Favorite Female Action Star. Commenting on her latest roles, she has said she enjoys appearing in mainstream genre films that have a "real heart to them".[46]

In 2008, Foster starred in Nim's Island alongside Gerard Butler and Abigail Breslin, portraying a reclusive writer who is contacted by a young girl after her father goes missing at sea. The film was the first comedy that Foster has starred in since Maverick in 1994, and was also a commercial success.[47]

[edit] Current projectsFoster was set to direct, as well as reunite with actor Robert De Niro, for the film Sugarland; however, the film was shelved indefinitely in 2007. Foster is developing a biopic of Leni Riefenstahl. She directs and stars opposite her Maverick co-star Mel Gibson in a black comedy titled The Beaver, out in April 2011.[48]

Foster provided her voice in a tetralogy episode of The Simpsons titled "Four Great Women and a Manicure".[49]

Foster recently stated that she would be involved with directing a sci-fi film. The film is still in the script stage, however, it is said to be a family-based film. [50]

[edit] Personal lifeFoster has two older sisters, Lucinda "Cindy" Foster (b. 1954), Constance "Connie" Foster (b. 1955), and an older brother, Lucius Fisher "Buddy" Foster[51] (b. 1957). During the filming of both Taxi Driver and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Connie was her stand-in. Buddy Foster had his own career for several years appearing in regular spots on television shows such as Hondo and Mayberry, R.F.D. Foster and her brother have been estranged for many years. In 1997, he wrote a book titled Foster Child in which he stated "I have always assumed Jodie was gay or bisexual."[51] In the book, he writes that she was conceived in her father's office three years after their parents divorced when their mother went to him for child support. He also claims that her name was changed from "Alicia" to "Jodie" because it was a code "Jo D" for their mother's partner, Josephina Dominguez. Jodie Foster called the book:

“ A cheap cry for attention and money filled with hazy recollections, fantasies and borrowed press releases. Buddy has done nothing but break our mother's heart his whole life.[52] ”

Foster is intensely private about certain aspects of her personal life, notably her sexual orientation, which has been the subject of speculation.[53]

Foster has two sons: Charles Foster (b. July 20, 1998) and Christopher "Kit" Foster (b. September 29, 2001).[54] Foster gave birth to both children, but has not revealed the identity of the children's father(s).[55]

In December 2007, Foster made headlines when, during an acceptance speech at Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment" event, she paid tribute to film producer Cydney Bernard,[56] referring to her as "my beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through the rotten and the bliss". Some media interpreted this as Foster coming out, as Bernard was believed to be her girlfriend since both met in 1992 during the filming of Sommersby.[56][57][58] Foster and Bernard never attended premieres or award ceremonies together, nor did they ever appear to be affectionate with each other. However, Bernard was seen in public with Foster's children on many occasions. On May 15, 2008, several news outlets reported that Foster and Bernard had "called it quits".[59][60]

Foster is an atheist[61] and does not follow any "traditional religion". She has discussed the god of the gaps.[62][63] Foster has "great respect for all religions" and spends "a lot of time studying divine texts, whether it's Eastern religion or Western religion".[35][64] She and her children celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah.[65] Some sources claim that Foster is a member of Mensa,[66][67] but Foster herself denied that she is a member in an interview on Italian TV network RAI.[68]

[edit] FilmographyList of acting credits in film and television Year Title Role Notes
1968 Mayberry, R.F.D. bit parts in 2 episodes TV series
1970 Menace on the Mountain Suellen McIver TV
1970 Daniel Boone Rachel TV series, season 6, episode 24: "Bringing Up Josh"
1970 Adam 12 Mary TV series, season 3, episode 6: "Log 55 Missing Girl"
1972 My Sister Hank Henrietta "Hank" Bennett TV
1972 Napoleon and Samantha Samantha
1972 Kansas City Bomber Rita
1972 Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, TheThe Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan Anne Chan (voice) TV series
1973 Rookie of the Year Sharon Lee TV
1973 Alexander, Alexander Sue TV
1973 Partridge Family Julie TV series
1973 Tom Sawyer Becky Thatcher
1973 Kung Fu Alethea Patricia Ingram TV series
1973 One Little Indian Martha McIver
1973 Addams Family, TheThe Addams Family Pugsley (voice) TV series
1974 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Audrey
1974 Smile, Jenny, You're Dead Liberty Cole TV
1974 Paper Moon Addie Loggins TV series
1975 Secret Life of T.K. Dearing, TheThe Secret Life of T.K. Dearing T.K. Dearing TV
1976 Taxi Driver Iris Steensma BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (also for Bugsy Malone)
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1976 Echoes of a Summer Deirdre Striden aka The Last Castle
1976 Bugsy Malone Tallulah BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (also for Taxi Driver)
1976 Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, TheThe Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Rynn Jacobs Saturn Award for Best Actress
1976 Freaky Friday Annabel Andrews Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1977 Moi, fleur bleue Isabelle Tristan (aka Fleur bleue) aka Stop Calling Me Baby!
1977 Casotto Teresina Fedeli aka Beach House
1977 Candleshoe Casey Brown
1980 Foxes Jeanie Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Major Motion Picture
1980 Carny Donna
1982 O'Hara's Wife Barbara O'Hara
1983 Svengali Zoe Alexander
1984 Hotel New Hampshire, TheThe Hotel New Hampshire Frannie Berry
1984 Blood of Others, TheThe Blood of Others Hélène Bertrand aka Le Sang des autres
1986 Mesmerized Victoria Thompson
1987 Five Corners Linda Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
1987 Siesta Nancy
1988 Stealing Home Katie Chandler
1988 Accused, TheThe Accused Sarah Tobias Academy Award for Best Actress
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (tied with Sigourney Weaver for Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey and Shirley MacLaine for Madame Sousatzka)
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1990 Catchfire Anne Benton aka Backtrack
1991 Silence of the Lambs, TheThe Silence of the Lambs Clarice Starling Academy Award for Best Actress
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
1991 Little Man Tate Dede Tate
1992 Shadows and Fog Prostitute
1993 Sommersby Laurel Sommersby
1994 Maverick Mrs. Annabelle Bransford
1994 Nell Nell Kellty David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1997 X-Files, TheThe X-Files Betty (voice) TV series, episode "Never Again"
1997 Contact Dr. Eleanor Arroway Saturn Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1998 Uttmost, TheThe Uttmost Herself Documentary
1998 Psycho Woman in background
1999 Anna and the King Anna Leonowens
2002 Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, TheThe Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Sister Assumpta
2002 Panic Room Meg Altman Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
2002 Tusker Minnie Animated voice over
2003 Abby Singer Herself
2004 Very Long Engagement, AA Very Long Engagement Elodie Gordes Un long dimanche de fiançailles
2005 Flightplan Kyle Pratt Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
2005 Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony Herself Guest appearance in episode 8
2006 Inside Man Madeline White
2007 Brave One, TheThe Brave One Erica Bain Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Irish Film Award for Best International Actress
Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
2008 Nim's Island Alexandra Rover
2009 Simpsons, TheThe Simpsons Maggie Simpson (voice) TV series, episode: "Four Great Women and a Manicure"
2011 Beaver, TheThe Beaver Meredith Black Also director
2011 Elysium
2012 God Of Carnage Penelope
Producer Year Title Notes
1986 Mesmerized co-producer
1994 Nell
1995 Home for the Holidays
1998 Baby Dance, TheThe Baby Dance (TV) executive producer
2000 Waking the Dead executive producer
2002 Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, TheThe Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
2007 Brave One, TheThe Brave One executive producer
Director Year Title Notes
1988 Tales from the Darkside (1 episode, "Do Not Open This Box")
1991 Little Man Tate
1995 Home for the Holidays
2011 Beaver, TheThe Beaver
References from Wikipedia.com

Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( /ˈtɒməs ˈkruːz ˈmeɪpɒθər/; born July 3, 1962), better known by his screen name of Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and won three Golden Globe Awards. His first leading role was in 1983 film Risky Business,[1] which has been described as "A Generation X classic, and a career-maker" for the actor.[2] After playing the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and financially successful 1986 film Top Gun, Cruise continued in this vein, playing a secret agent in a series of Mission: Impossible action films in the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to these heroic roles, he has starred in a variety of other successful films such as Days of Thunder (1990), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004) and War of the Worlds (2005).

Since 2005, Cruise and Paula Wagner have been in charge of the United Artists film studio,[3] with Cruise as producer and star and Wagner as the chief executive. Cruise is also known for his controversial support of and adherence to the Church of Scientology.

Tom Cruise Scientology Video - ( Original UNCUT )



Early lifeCruise was born in Syracuse, New York,[5] the son of Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III (died 1984),[6] an electrical engineer.[7] Cruise's surname originates from his great-grandfather, Thomas Cruise O'Mara, who was adopted by a Welsh immigrant and renamed "Thomas Cruise Mapother".[8][9][10] Cruise is of German, Irish, and English ancestry.[11] His oldest sister, Lee Anne, was born in his parents' native Louisville, Kentucky, while his older sister Marian was born in Syracuse, as were Tom and his younger sister, Cass.[12] Cruise grew up in near poverty in a Catholic family dominated by an abusive father he described as "a merchant of chaos". He was beaten by his father and has said that his father was a bully and coward.

“ He was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him.'[13] ”

Cruise attended Robert Hopkins Public School for grades three, four, and five. The Mapother family then moved to the suburb of Beacon Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, so Cruise's father could take a position as a defence consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces. There, Cruise completed grade six at Henry Munro Middle School, part of the Carleton Board of Education,[14] where he was active in athletics, playing floor hockey almost every night, showing himself to be a ruthless player, and eventually chipping his front tooth. In the game British bulldogs, he then lost his newly capped tooth and hurt his knee.[15] Henry Munro was also where Cruise became involved in drama, under the tutelage of George Steinburg.[16] The first play he participated in was called IT, in which Cruise won the co-lead with Michael de Waal, one playing "Evil", the other playing "Good". The play met much acclaim, and toured with five other classmates to various schools around the Ottawa area, even being filmed at the local Ottawa TV station.[17] Cruise was bullied regularly in the 15 different schools he attended in 12 years.[13] When Cruise was twelve, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sister Lee Anne with her.[13]

He briefly attended a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati (on a church scholarship) and aspired to become a Catholic priest. In his senior year, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker, but he was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game.[18]

CareerActing1981–94
Cruise in 1989Cruise first appeared in supporting roles the 1981 films Endless Love and Taps, the latter in which he played a crazed military school student. His first starring role was in the 1983 comedy Losin' It. That same year he appeared in All the Right Moves and Risky Business, which has been described as "A Generation-X classic, and a career-maker for Tom Cruise",[2] and which along with 1986's Top Gun, cemented his status as a star.

Cruise followed up Top Gun with The Color of Money, which came out the same year, and which paired him with Academy Award-winner Paul Newman. 1988 saw him star in Cocktail, which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise finished the decade by portraying real-life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in 1989's Born on the Fourth of July, in which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Cruise's first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.

In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire, a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in Daily Variety praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about him.[19]

2000sIn 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission Impossible films, releasing Mission: Impossible II. The film was directed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his Gun fu Style, and it continued the series' blockbuster success at the box office, taking in almost $547M in worldwide figures, like its predecessor, being the third highest grossing film of the year. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award as Best Male Performance for this film.[20] His next five films were major critical and commercial successes.[21][22] The following year Cruise starred in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction thriller, Minority Report which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick.

In 2003, he starred in the Edward Zwick's historical drama The Last Samurai, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as best actor.[20] In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in War of the Worlds, which became the fourth highest grossing movie of the year with US$591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star, and the MTV Generation Award.[20] Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once.[20] Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office.[23]


Cruise in 2006In 2006, he reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in the third installment of the Mission Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible III. The film was more positively received by critics than its predecessor, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office.[24] Cruise's 2007 film Lions for Lambs was a rare commercial disappointment. In 2008, Cruise appeared in the hit comedy Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. This performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise's latest starring role is in the historical thriller Valkyrie, released on December 25, 2008 to box office success.[25] As of 2009, Cruise's films have grossed over $6.5 billion worldwide.[26]

In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy Knight and Day, in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010.[27] On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he will star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol the fourth Mission:Impossible film, slated for release in December 2011.[28]

ProducingCruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993,[3] and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise's films,[29] the first being Mission: Impossible in 1996 which was also Cruise's first project as a producer.

Cruise is noted as having negotiated some of the most lucrative movie deals in Hollywood, and was described in 2005 by Hollywood economist Edward Jay Epstein as "one of the most powerful – and richest – forces in Hollywood". Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar movie franchise. Epstein also contends that the public obsession with Cruise's tabloid controversies obscures full appreciation of Cruise's exceptional commercial prowess.[30]

Cruise/Wagner Productions, Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's New York Times bestseller, The Devil in the White City about a real life serial killer, H. H. Holmes, at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition. Kathryn Bigelow is attached to the project to produce and helm. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.[31]

Breakup with ParamountOn August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. In the Wall Street Journal, chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behavior and views.[32][33] Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount's announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had successfully sought alternative financing from private equity firms.[34] Industry analysts such as Edward Jay Epstein commented that the real reason for the split was most likely Paramount's discontent over Cruise/Wagner's exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the Mission: Impossible franchise.[35][36]

Management of United ArtistsIn November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over United Artists film studio.[3] Cruise acts as a producer and star in films for United Artists, while Wagner serves as UA's chief executive. Production began in 2007 of Valkyrie, a thriller based on the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. The film was acquired in March 2007 by United Artists. On March 21, 2007 Cruise signed on to play Claus von Stauffenberg, the protagonist. This project marks the second production to be greenlighted since Cruise and Wagner took control of United Artists. The first was its inaugural film, Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise. Lambs was released on November 9, 2007,[37] opening to unimpressive box office revenue and critical reception. In August 2008, Wagner stepped down from her position at United Artists; she retains her stake in UA, which combined with Cruise's share amounts to 30 percent of the studio.[38]

Relationships and personal lifeCruise had a relationship with his Risky Business co-star Rebecca De Mornay; they cohabited in New York from 1983–85.[39][40][41][42]


With Katie Holmes in May 2009Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987; they divorced on February 4, 1990.[1] Rogers is generally believed to have introduced Cruise to Scientology.[43] He met his second wife, Nicole Kidman, on the set of their film Days of Thunder. The couple married on December 24, 1990. He and Kidman adopted two children, Isabella Jane (born December 1992) and Connor Antony (born January 1995).[1] They separated in February 2001 when Kidman was three months pregnant; she later miscarried.[44]

Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, the lead actress in his film Vanilla Sky a relationship that ended in 2004.[45] In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes. On April 27 that year, Cruise and Holmes, dubbed "TomKat" by the media, made their first public appearance together in Rome.[46] A month later, Cruise declared his love for Holmes on the Oprah Winfrey show, famously jumping up and down on Oprah's couch during the show.[47] On October 6, 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child,[48] and their daughter, Suri, was born in April 2006. On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy, in a Scientology ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars.[49] The actors' publicist said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony.[50] David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man.[51]

Popularity
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes interacting with fans in 2006In 1990, 1991 and 1997, People magazine rated him among the 50 most beautiful people in the world. In 1995, Empire magazine ranked him among the 100 sexiest stars in film history. Two years later, it ranked him among the top 5 movie stars of all time. In 2002 and 2003, he was rated by Premiere among the top 20 in its annual Power 100 list.[1]

In 2006, Premiere ranked Cruise as Hollywood's most powerful actor,[52] as Cruise came in at number 13 on the magazine's 2006 Power List, being the highest ranked actor.[53] The same year, Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity.[54]

In August 2006, "a USA Today/Gallup poll in which half of those surveyed registered an 'unfavorable' opinion of the actor" was cited as a reason in addition to "unacceptable behavior"[55] for Paramount's non-renewal of their production contract with Cruise. In addition, Marketing Evaluations reports that Cruise's Q score (which is a measure of the popularity of celebrities), had fallen 40 percent. It was also revealed that Cruise is the celebrity people would least like as their best friend. October 10, 2006 was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan; the Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because he has made more trips to Japan than any other Hollywood star.[56]

ControversyLitigationDuring Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman, the couple endured public speculation about their sex life and rumors that Cruise was gay. In 1998, he successfully sued the Daily Express, a British tabloid which alleged that his marriage to Kidman was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality.[57] In May 2001 he filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater. Slater had allegedly told the celebrity magazine Actustar that he had had an affair with Cruise. Both Slater and Cruise denied this, and in August 2001 Slater was ordered to pay $10 million to Cruise in damages after Slater declared he could not afford to defend himself against the suit and would therefore default.[58] Cruise also sued Michael Davis, publisher of Bold Magazine, who alleged but never confirmed that he had video that would prove Cruise was gay. The suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that the video was not of Cruise, and that Cruise was heterosexual.[59]

After The Beast's publication of their 50 Most Loathsome People of 2004, which included Cruise, Cruise's lawyer Bertram Fields threatened to sue. Seeing the opportunity for nationwide exposure, The Beast actively encouraged the lawsuit. No lawsuit was ever filed and Cruise was included more prominently in the 2005 list.[60] In 2006, Cruise sued cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to obtain control of the TomCruise.com domain name. When owned by Burgar, the domain redirected to information about Cruise on Celebrity1000.com. The decision to turn TomCruise.com over to Cruise was handed down by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on July 5, 2006.[61]

Oprah Winfrey Show incident
Cruise jumps on the couch during the taping of an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show.Cruise has made several expressions of his feelings for Holmes to the media, most notably the "couch incident" which took place on the popular The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005. Cruise "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend".[62] The phrase "jumping the couch", fashioned after "jumping the shark", is used to describe someone "going off the deep end" in public in a manner extreme enough to tarnish his or her reputation.[63] It enjoyed a short-lived popularity, being chosen by the editors of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang as the "slang term of the year" in 2005[64] and by the nonprofit group Global Language Monitor as one of its top phrases for the year.[65]

The "couch incident" was voted #1 of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E![66] and was the subject of numerous parodies, including the epilogue of Scary Movie 4, an episode of South Park, a short on Sesame Street,[67] and an episode of Family Guy. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Lesson learned: Tell, don't show".[68]

In early May 2008, Cruise reappeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to celebrate 25 years in the film business. The feature was a two hour special, the first hour was Oprah spending the day with Cruise at his house in Telluride, Colorado on May 2.

ScientologyCruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology; according to Andrew Morton's Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography (2008), Cruise is the church's "second in command in all but name".[69] He became involved with Scientology in 1990 through his first wife, Mimi Rogers.[70] He has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia.[71] In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be recognized as a religion in Europe. He lobbied politicians in France and Germany, where the legal systems regard Scientology as a cult and business, respectively. In 2005, the Paris city council revealed that Cruise had lobbied officials Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Claude Gaudin, described him as a spokesman and militant for Scientology, and barred any further dealings with him.[72][73] Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York 9/11 rescue workers detoxification therapy based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. This drew criticism from the medical profession,[74] as well as firefighters.[75] For these activities and others, David Miscavige awarded Cruise Scientology's Freedom Medal of Valor in late 2004.

A controversy erupted in 2005 after he openly criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the drug Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant to which Shields attributes her recovery from postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter in 2003. Cruise asserted that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance, and that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience. Shields replied that she would not take advice from anyone who believed in space aliens. This led to a heated argument with Matt Lauer on NBC's The Today Show on June 24, 2005.[76] Medical authorities view Cruise's comments as furthering the social stigma of mental illness.[77][78] Shields herself called Cruise's comments "a disservice to mothers everywhere".[79] In late August 2006, Cruise apologized in person to Shields for his comments. Scientology is well-known for its opposition to mainstream psychiatry.

On January 15, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him.[80][81] The Church of Scientology said the video had been "pirated and edited", and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology.[81][82] YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation.[83]

In May 2010, a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology, Mark Rathbun, said that Scientology leader David Miscavige had ordered that Cruise's Auditing sessions be secretly videotaped.[84][85] Rathbun had himself been responsible for performing auditing counseling with Cruise.[84] The Church of Scientology has stated that taping of confessional sessions is done openly, for monitoring and training purposes, and that the confidentiality of anything discussed in such sessions is "sacrosanct".[86]

Cruise's more open attitude to Scientology has been attributed to the departure of his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley, in March 2004. He replaced her with his sister, fellow Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, who served in that role until November 2005.[87] He then replaced her with Paul Bloch from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan.[88] Such restructuring is seen as a move to curtail publicity of his views on Scientology, as well as the hard-sell of his relationship with Katie Holmes backfiring with the public.