Tom Cruise's Oprah visit

Tom Cruise was on The Oprah Winfrey Show today, his first time back since the infamous couch-jumping debacle three years ago. During the hour-long interview taped at the actor's Telluride, Colo. home, Cruise seemed serious and thoughtful, a move Hollywood public representatives deemed smart.

"I think Tom learned his lesson. The lesson was that sometimes your personal beliefs can get in the way of the projects," said Howard Bragman, founder of Los Angeles PR firm Fifteen Minutes. "And you don't want people to be turned off to you so that they’re turned off to your projects."

When the talk show host asked Cruise if he felt like he came under attacks because of his beliefs in Scientology, he said he understood that people are interested in "a minority religion."

Michael Levine, a Hollywood media expert, said Cruise should "cool the Scientology stuff. That's grown very wearisome for a lot of Americans... There's certainly no problem with him stating his religious choice is different from the majority, but when he gets aggressive and starts pushing it, there is some blowback."

It seems like Cruise agreed, because he also told Oprah, "when I'm dealing with my humanitarian issues, I'll talk about my humanitarian issues, and when I'm promoting a film, I'm just going to promote the film. And that’s just the way it's going to be."

Cruise also said he regretted the remarks he made about antidepressants, when he criticized Brooke Shields for using the medication to treat postpartum depression, and that his views "came out wrong."

"I personally don't [believe in antidepressants]. ... But I think that people have the - it's their decision. When you look at something, it's an individual's right to make a decision on what they"re going to do with their life," he said.

Cruise also addressed his bizarre behavior during his last visit to the Oprah Winfrey Show, admitting that it set off a "confluence" of bad publicity for him. But he said he was not sure if he would take his antics back.

"That was a moment, and it was real, and I don't know if I would [do it differently]," Cruise said. "I really don't."

The interview was just the first in a two-part series commemorating the 25-year anniversary of Cruise's breakout film "Risky Business." The second part, a celebration of Cruise's movie career, was taped before an audience in Winfrey's Chicago studio and will air Monday.

Tom Cruise in talks for M:I4

Sources close to Tom Cruise have told Access Hollywood the actor is in talks with Paramount about making Mission: Impossible 4. Paramount produced all of the prior Mission: Impossible films.

Cruise played super agent Ethan Hunt in the first Mission: Impossible film in 1996, and it grossed $467 million worldwide in the box office. 2000's Mission: Impossible 2 yielded $545 million at the global box office, and 2006's "Mission: Impossible 3 had $395 million in ticket sales.

Although Cruise and Sumner Redstone, the CEO of Paramount, had a public dispute in 2006 when the studio ended its relationship with Cruise's production company following the actor's fall from grace, the two have reportedly been seen in Los Angeles restaurants together.

In other Cruise news, 61-year-old singer Cher revealed to Oprah that she had a relationship with the actor earlier in his career. In the taped interview, to be aired on The Oprah Winfrey Show next week, Cher said she dated Cruise when he was 23-years-old and an emerging star.

She said Cruise was finding life in the spotlight difficult and that it could have been a "great big romance because I was crazy for him."

"He was shy," she said in an excerpt of the interview published by Sky News. "He said he felt like such a boob in school and nobody talked to him. We went on a date once for dinner in a New York restaurant and the waitress was from his old school."

"He told me she never talked to him back in school, but now he was recognized he got all her attention," Cher said.

Her fling with the now 45-year-old actor is believed to have ended when he met first wife Mimi Rogers.

Tom Cruise's appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of his breakout film Risky Business have already been taped, a source close to production told the Associated Press Wednesday. The two-part interview includes a snowmobile ride, a frank discussion of his media image and candid talk about his personal life.

"In his 25 years in the business, Tom Cruise has become the epitome of a true Hollywood star," Warner Home Video senior vice president and general manager Jeff Baker said in a statement Wednesday. "We are very proud of this timeless classic and the film that became his breakthrough role."

Tom Cruise will return to Oprah

Remember this clip of when Tom Cruise was a guest on Oprah Winfrey's talk show to promote "War of the Worlds," his 2005 alien invasion film co-starring Dakota Fanning?



How could you forget?

Well the actor is returning to the show, his first appearance since June 23, 2005, when he made headlines for jumping on the couch and professing his love for Katie Holmes.

The show will probably air during May sweeps, perhaps to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cruise's hit debut in "Risky Business" this summer.

There are currently "special plans" being made for the anniversary, a rep for Warner Home Video confirmed. The details are not yet set in stone, but other celebrities have been contacted about appearing on the show to celebrate the movie milestone.

Publicists for Cruise and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" were both unavailable for comment.