Judd Apatow Takes Jabs At Tom Cruise At The DGA Awards

Judd Apatow is very well known for directing some of the funniest films in Hollywood, including The 50-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad, and the Anchorman series. Recently, the comedian turned director hosted the Director’s Guild Awards for the fourth time. Apatow is, at heart, a comedian. He let loose his true nature against actor Tom Cruise who has recently received much praise for his new film Top Gun: Maverick. 

Why? Well, Cruise has been the center of controversy for his views and his support of Scientology. Tom Cruise is famous for many things, and not all of them are good. In his monologue, Apatow made sure everyone knew exactly why Cruise was disliked by many within the industry.

Apatow Takes Jabs At Cruise’s Height

While height standards are a topic of debate everywhere, Tom Cruise is one of the shorter actors in Hollywood. Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from getting famous roles. The actor is 5 foot 7 inches tall, and that wasn’t something Judd Apatow was going to miss out on. In his monologue, he said:

“visual effects in [Top Gun:] Maverick were so top-notch I couldn’t even see the stack of phone books Tom Cruise sat on to reach the flight controls.” He said, mocking Cruise. “That’s why he’s always jumping out of tall buildings because you can’t tell how short he is from a 100-story building. That’s why when he’s standing on a wing of an airplane he’s always alone, he doesn’t want anyone there next to him for scale.”

The actor is famously known for doing his stunts himself without any help from stunt professionals or even CGI as long as it is possible. He has scaled to the top of the Burj Khalifa, taken insane parkour lessons, and held his breath for a very long period of time just for his movies. Some even call his sheer commitment to the stunt work obsessive. Previously, actors like Jackie Chan have taken similar routes. 

It is certainly a more old-school approach that comes with its risks. Both Chan and Cruise have broken countless bones. That may be the only other thing in common about them apart from their controversial views and actions. 

Judd Apatow pointed out the actor’s bizarre behavior when he was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

“‘What a lunatic.’ Now he drives a motorcycle off a cliff and then BASE jumps, and we’re all like, ‘Tom’s fine.’” He said. “Tom is not fine, something is wrong right now. Someone needs to explain something to him called CGI — you don’t need to do the stunts, they look exactly the same when you do them on the green screen.” 

The director made a point out of letting Cruise know that in Thelma and Louise, they didn’t really drive off the cliff.

“You’re 60, calm down.” Mocked Apatow.

Cruise And Scientology

It was hinted by American Psycho co-writer and director Mary Harron that Cruise was Christian Bale’s actual inspiration for his portrayal of serial killer Patrick Bateman in the film. Cruise’s controversial behavior has never been out of the question. Apatow took hits at his infamous relationships with the Church of Scientology:

“Every time he does one of these new stunts, it does feel like an ad for Scientology, it really does. I mean, is that in Dianetics because there’s nothing about jumping off a cliff in the Torah? The only thing he seems to be afraid of is co-parenting and antidepressants.”

It seems like Cruise and controversy go hand in hand if you ask Judd Apatow. Either way, thankfully, no one was slapped or walked off the stage for any number of reasons at the Director’s Guild Awards 2023—a victory in recent times for sure.