Tom Cruise's former manager recalls the actor refusing to speak to a waitress because he was 'still in character'

• Tom Cruise's first manager told the Daily Mail that the actor was a "perfectionist."
• She recalled that Cruise once refused to speak to a waitress because he was "still in character."

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Tom Cruise's first manager, Eileen Berlin, recalled a time when the actor refused to speak to a waitress when she recognized him because he was still in character.

Berlin said that Cruise, whom she referred to as "Tommy," signed with her shortly after his 18th birthday but that their professional relationship ended when he moved to Los Angeles from New York, where Berlin was, following the success of "Top Gun."

She said that while she was managing Cruise, and while he was shooting the 1981 movie "Taps" at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Pennsylvania, he refused to speak to a waitress at lunch, saying he was "still in character."

"The waitress asked him, 'Aren't you one of the actors?'" Berlin recalled, adding that Cruise was upset that she'd recognized him. "Tom said to us, 'Please tell her not to ask me any questions. I'm still in character.'"

Berlin said the "Top Gun" actor was a "perfectionist" when it came to his movie career.

"What I have never seen is a real display of happiness in Tommy," she said. "He was always very, very ambitious, very, very determined to be a star. And that made him a perfectionist. That's what drove him when I managed him and I'm sure that's what drives him now."

Berlin also said Cruise had a "terrible temper," evidenced by an incident in 2020 when The Sun published leaked audio of Cruise yelling at the crew of "Mission: Impossible 7" about breaking COVID-19 safety rules on set.

Representatives for Cruise did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.