As previewed earlier, Tom Cruise covers W Magazine June 2012 in character as Stacee Jaxx from Rock Of Ages, photographed by Lynn Hirschberg.
It’s kind of a shame Cruise stays in character the entire shoot. It begins to feel passe one or two photos in. We get it. He’s surrounded by (naked) groupies, in the more explicit photos from the shoot, and he’s ripped for someone who’s 50-year-old come July 3. But it also feels like he’s hiding behind the character. This is a comedy, but it’s not some The Dictator bit where he’s giving the interview in character too. It’s altogether disjointed. And, as a result, the photos are samey and the interview’s flat (especially compared to today’s Playboy Magazine profile).
On the character Stacee Jaxx: “I knew we had to push the sexuality because of the nature of the character and the songs.”
On why he chose a musical: “Kate loves musicals. She sings and dances, and we kind of went through the history of musicals together. And Suri loved Hairspray. With kids, you watch everything over and over; I watched Hairspray 15 times with Suri.”
On his love of music and dancing beginning years ago: “You know what? I did the scene from Risky Business around the house. I would sing… and I’d turn the music up. I learned how to dance watching Soul Train. I noticed that if a guy could dance, he’d get a lot of attention and girls would want to dance with him. I worked very hard at imitating those moves.” – via W Magazine.
