Simon on Tom Cruise

Scott Simon, Weekend Edition Host

We have an interview on our show this week with Tom Cruise, who stars in the film, "Valkyrie," about the attempt of several Nazi generals to assassinate Adolph Hitler. As soon as I saw that phrase on-screen, I realized that I'd make an error which might be worth noting, rather than correcting: actually, the interview was with both Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer, the director. But for most of the world-Mr. Singer must realize this, too-it's a Tom Cruise interview.)

There were lots of jokes made in advance about "jumping the couch," which Mr. Cruise had done three years ago, when declaring his love for Katie Holmes on the Oprah Winfrey show), the video on which the actor speaks with remarkable, even discomfiting intensity, about his belief in Scientology.

Of course, NPR is not like other media outlets. We won't ask tabloid questions. But if the subjects come up...

Well, they didn't. What I did find is that Mr. Cruise's intensity does not seem to take days off. He seemed intense, driven and as focused as a scalpel during our interview, talking about how the film makes history into a thriller, without sacrificing veracity. But he did not seem self-absorbed. In fact, he was a real gentleman. As we began, Tom Cruise noticed that our engineer, Josh Rogosin, was sitting on a chair with an arm that was getting stuck below a table. Mr. Cruise reached over and released Josh, and the chair, from where they were pinned. And when the interview was over, he shook each of our hands and trained on us the famous hazel eyes which have been trained on Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz -- and millions of moviegoers. He grasped our hands warmly and shook vigorously.

"It's a real, real honor to meet you," said Tom Cruise.

Back in the office, I called someone else who interviewed him this week, and was told that he said more or less the same thing to him. I do not think less of Tom Cruise because he had apparently said, "It's a real, real honor to meet you," to more or less everyone who interviewed him this week. If anything, I rather like him more. To turn that kind of focus and intensity on everyone he speaks with must be exhausting, and I have to respect a performer who puts that kind of personal energy into shaking hands with someone he may never see again, but someone he knows will tell everyone else what it was like to meet Tom Cruise.

Listen Saturday.