Bacall slams Cruise

[Duleeshab]

Bacall slams Cruise

From correspondents in New York
August 02, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse


'Vulgar' display ... Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise / AP




SCREEN legend Lauren Bacall has taken a caustic swipe at Tom Cruise, chiding the Hollywood star for his "vulgar" behaviour and questioning his acting ability.

In an interview in the latest issue of Time magazine, Bacall, 81, who has never been shy in voicing her opinion of fellow actors, made clear her distaste for Cruise's recent displays of emotion over his engagement to actress Katie Holmes.

"His whole behaviour is so shocking," she said.

"It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it's kind of a sickness," she added.

Cruise's red-carpet smooches with Holmes and a series of exuberant and very public expressions of love for his new fiance, led to criticism that the once very private star was seeking cheap publicity for his blockbuster movie, War of the Worlds, which was released in June.

On one occasion, Cruise excitedly jumped up and down on talk show host Oprah Winfrey's couch as he revealed his adoration for Holmes, who was starring in her own summer blockbuster, Batman Begins.

Bacall also had some less than complimentary words for Cruise's acting skills as she bemoaned the liberal way labels like "great" and "legend" were sprinkled over Hollywood stars.


"I mean the word 'great' stands for something," Bacall said. "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise."

The screen siren and widow of Humphrey Bogart had made similar remarks last year about Cruise's ex-wife, Nicole Kidman, with whom she worked on the film, Birth.

At the time, Bacall took exception to one reporter's description of Oscar-winner Kidman as a legend. "She's not a legend," Bacall snapped. "She's a beginner. What is this 'legend'? She can't be a legend at whatever age she is. You have to be older."

news.com.au

[surferchica]

lol "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise."

that's funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[liberty33r1b]

i love when they criticize him, i have lost all my admiration for him too....

[iluvjeisa]

He is a really good actor, IMO. His current behaviour is unpleasant and I sincerely dislike his personal style but he IS a good actor. Colateral damage and Interview with a vampire speak for themselves. Sometimes he's not as great, Jerry McBoringGuire + Last Sentimental Samuraj, but in Interview with a vampire - oh he just knocks me out completely.

Let's keep personal preferences and social behaviour separate from artistic merit or all we will have in popular culture is an insipid popularity contest.

[tiffany]

Originally Posted by liberty33r1b

i love when they criticize him

same here, I've never liked him but now I dislike him intensely

[Acid]

i love that woman......she's like me: always opening her big mouth!

[Assembler]

Haha. I was against her comments towards Nicole Kidman... or not really against, but I didn't quite as much wholeheartedly agree with her as I do this time that's for sure. Comments like these are so much funnier when they're against people who you already don't like so much.

[beaverhausen]

I love this woman!

[iluvjeisa]

Originally Posted by Acid

i love that woman......she's like me: always opening her big mouth!

I wish I could see and hear her say this - she always delivers it so well - reminds me of my grandma who recently passed away

The only reason I don't like her comment is because it's so predictable that the press would take a hatchet to Tom after his scientologist mafioso antics and subsequent weirdness. On the other hand, this kind of media frenzy to cut down a big (male) star is something we haven't seen since....I don't know? Sounds a bit like those stories from Hollywood Babylon to me.

Btw, I found her comment on Nicole more to the point - she just hasn't earned it yet baby!

[Scott]

You got to love Bacall for always voicing her always on-spot opinions. I think she's right about Tom and definitely correct of what she said of Nicole. I don't think that was really a reflection on Nicole personally,but the media's constant lauding of her being some be all of great's. Which she is not,imo.

[ala]

What Bacall said may have been caustic, but it is true. Tom's acting abilities are limitied. He's very good at spazzing. That's about it. As for Kidman, she is too young to be a legend. We need some kind of historical distance and perspective before we can characterize anyone as a legend. Lauren Bacall is a legend. Nicole Kidman is not.

[DreamsAreMade]

Originally Posted by ala

Lauren Bacall is a legend. Nicole Kidman is not.

True. But I don't like the fact that she would refer to herself in that way. Or at least insinuate it.

[ala]

Originally Posted by DreamsAreMade

True. But I don't like the fact that she would refer to herself in that way. Or at least insinuate it.

She never referred to herself as a legend in the article, and I don't think she ever insinuated that she's a legend.

[DreamsAreMade]

^But I DO get that vibe from her through things that I've read in past comments/articles on her. And I get that vibe now. She can be funny though.

[bohemian rhapsody]

She's so right. Love the woman. Makes me proud to have her name.