It seems like Tom Cruise has been everywhere these days. The superstar—who is apparently in the middle of filming Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning 2—somehow found time this past month to also attend one Taylor Swift shows, Glastonbury Festival and Wimbledon. (His daughter’s graduation, not so much.) And on Friday, his schedule includes the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. But first, there’s a secret initiation ceremony into a centuries-old French order to attend.
The news broke an early morning tweet from Rachida DatiFrench Minister of Culture and former spokesman for the former French president Nicolas Sarkozywho was convicted of fraud after applying for another term in 2012. “Congratulations to @TomCruise, who was appointed Knight of Arts and Letters by the Republic!” the tweet in French read.
“His 2017 filming of ‘Mission Impossible’ in Paris was a beautiful showcase of our capital. His passionate defense of cinema is an inspiration to all big screen lovers.”
(Dati is probably referring to Mission Impossible: Fallout in her post, in which the writer-director Christopher McQuarrie Cruise and other members of the I The group walked along the winding streets of the city.
Based on DurationThe award was presented in a “rather secretive ceremony” on Friday, during which Cruise was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor. The award, established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, is widely regarded as France’s highest civilian honor. Previous U.S. honorees include the founder of Amazon. Jeff Bezoscivil rights leader Jesse Jacksonand disability awareness activist Helen Keller.
But while Tom Cruise’s joining Legion was kept secret from the public, just hours later, he was back. According to his Instagram story, James Wilkie Broderickactor’s son Sarah Jessica Parker And Matthew Broderickposted a photo of his parents at the Olympics opening ceremony. Next to them, on the banks of the Seine, was Cruise, arms outstretched, as if to say, “I once fished in this river, and caught a fish as big as this.”
