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Tom Cruise is best known for playing seemingly indestructible characters in franchises like Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher. It’s become commonplace to associate the actor with his characters, especially since he often performs his own stunts, and puts his life on the line to dazzle audiences.

That said, Tom Cruise is willing to show his emotional side during interviews. He jumped on Oprah Winfrey’s couch during an infamous 2005 interview and snapped at Matt Lauer during a contentious chat on Today. Cruise’s 2009 appearance on The View is less known than these aforementioned examples, but it showed a side of the actor that was mournful and extremely supportive of one of his superstar peers, John Travolta.

Tom Cruise Was Visibly Shaken By Jett Travolta’s Death During A 2009 Interview

Tom Cruise went on the talk show The View to promote his film Valkyrie in 2009, but the topic quickly changed when host Joy Behar mentioned the death of John Travolta’s son, Jett. Cruise has never worked with Travolta, but both men are members of the Church of Scientology, so it made sense that the talk show would want to get the actor’s perspective on the tragedy.

Cruise took a long pause before addressing the death of Jett Travolta, and it was clear that he was struggling to come up with the right word to express his thoughts. He eventually gathered himself and stated:

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Cruise continued to struggle throughout the interview, but he did his best to refute Joy Behar’s claims that Scientology members are told not to visit the hospital to deal with health problems. “That’s just not true… It’s actually the opposite.” He also went on to recall interacting with Jett Travolta when he was a child:

Cruise is known for his articulate interviews, and his ability to boil his feelings down into succinct phrases. The appearance on The View remains one of the few times in which the actor genuinely seemed unsure of what to say, and how to go about discussing such a tragic event in the life of another Oscar-nominated performer.

Tom Cruise And John Travolta Had A Controversial Relationship Before Jett Travolta’s Death

Fans were quick to point out that Tom Cruise’s interview was complicated by the fact that he and John Travolta have reportedly disliked each other for decades. Both men have been the most high-profile members of the Church of Scientology since the 1980s, yet they are rarely seen together, and have never appeared together in a film or television show.

Part of the tension stems from the favoritism that Cruise receives within the Church, according to former Scientology bodyguard Brendan Tighe. He told Daily Mail that the two actors do not enjoy each other’s company, despite promoting the same religious cause in the media:

Tighe also told the outlet that Travolta was the most revered member of the Church before Cruise joined, and that he felt slighted when the latter was given the prestigious Freedom Medal of Valor from Scientology leader David Miscavige in 2008. Tighe elaborated on the fallout:

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Despite Tighe’s inflammatory comments, neither Cruise nor Travolta have spoken in depth about their relationship. Cruise’s praise of Travolta and Travolta’s late wife, Kelly Preston, on The View, is one of the few times the actors have talked about each other.

Jett Travolta was born in 1992, and according to The Sun, he was on the autism spectrum. He dealt with consistent health problems, and his death in 2009 was attributed to a seizure he had while taking a bath. It was a devastating loss for John Travolta and his family, and one that the actor feared he wouldn’t be able to process.

The thing that helped Travolta work through his grief, according to Us Weekly, was the Church of Scientology:

Travolta turning to Scientology to help him through a devastating familial loss is something that Tom Cruise has vouched for on several occasions. Cruise, who joined the Church shortly after the death of his father, Thomas Mapother III, in 1984, told ITV that the religion has helped him through countless hardships in his life:

While Cruise and Travolta do not appear to be friends, they are cordial with each other in the public eye, and it appears as though the former was genuinely saddened by the death of the latter’s son.

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John Travolta posted a tribute to Jett Travolta on what would have been his 30th birthday in 2022. The Instagram post included a photo of the two and a caption that read: