Tom Cruise Says He Doesn't Fear Death in Rare GQ Interview: "I'm Not Afraid to Feel Afraid"

Tom Cruise rarely gives personal interviews, so when he does, people pay attention. In a new GQ interview published Tuesday, September 15, the 64-year-old actor opened up about fear, fame, and his outlook on life in a way we almost never hear from him.

The biggest moment? When asked about death, Cruise didn’t blink.“Do I fear death? No. I don’t,”he said. He also made it clear that feeling fear and being controlled by it are two different things:“I’m not afraid to feel afraid.”Coming from the guy who performs his own death-defying stunts, that mindset suddenly makes a lot of sense. He also said he doesn’t spend much energy worrying about public misconceptions of him, choosing instead to focus on the present and what’s next.

Rare interviews like this one give fans a peek behind the curtain of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and this one delivered on the philosophy front. Life as an adventure, fear as something you feel without obeying. Would you adopt that mindset in your own life, or does it only work when you’ve got a stunt team on standby? Sound off in the comments.