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RD: You were Catholic originally.Cruise: Well, we went from Episcopalian, to atheist, to Catholic ...
RD: What does Scientology offer that those religions didn't?
Cruise: First of all, there are Baptist Scientologists, other Christian Scientologists. Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. You learn tools that you can apply to your life. It gives me a greater understanding of myself, greater compassion, the ability to help others in a way that I've always wanted to. It's helped me raise my children, to understand what they're going through. I went from someone who was basically a functional illiterate to someone who flies airplanes.
RD: Even doing loop-the-loops?
Cruise: Doing loop-the-loops, running a company, producing movies, being able to be in a situation where I'm in the driver's seat of my life. Just by applying those tools, all the doors are wide open to whatever I want to learn.
RD: You were diagnosed dyslexic as a child, right?
Cruise: Yes, but I didn't buy it. [When I got older] I tried speed-reading. I hired tutors. And I was just hitting this wall. It never made sense to me. I was very, very frustrated. I had a reading problem, no question. I was, from their definition, dyslexic, and, in their definition, I probably had ADD. I would ask, "Why am I having this problem? How do I resolve this?" They can't tell you why. There's no resolution.
RD: Did they want to medicate you?
Cruise: Yes, but Mom wanted to kill them. She said, "No way. No way." The amount of pressure brought to bear today is significantly different. It's like involuntary drugging that's legal.
RD: When did things being to change?
Cruise: In my 20s, I went through the basic Scientology tools and realized instantly that I'd found the answer. I was able to read.
RD: That was an important lesson for you. What do you most want your children to learn about life?
Cruise: I've told them anything is possible. But unless they know it for themselves and you give them the tools, it doesn't mean anything. I started them when they were young, first swimming, then riding, hiking, climbing. It's giving them confidence to learn, to instill in them a sense of integrity, compassion and understanding.
RD: It sounds like you emphasize physical things to help learn.
Cruise: Well, physical is mental. You can't separate the two.
RD: What do you think your strength is as a parent?
Cruise: Everything! [Laughs] I'm a great parent! I want to be my kids. Are you kidding me? [Laughs] They're happy. Truly. Really, they get to do all the stuff that I wanted to do when I was growing up.
RD: You and Nicole [Kidman] share custody, right?
Cruise: I'm not going to discuss that. But yes, we are raising our children.
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