Long before Tom Cruise became one of Hollywood’s biggest leading men, he was learning how to French kiss in an unexpected way.
During a 1990 appearance on the British talk show “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross,” Cruise shared a humorous childhood story about how his older sister’s teenage friends gave him his first kissing lessons when he was just 8 years old.
The actor said the unusual arrangement became something he eagerly looked forward to after school.
Tom Cruise Says His Sister’s Friends Practiced French Kissing With Him
While speaking with host Jonathan Ross, Cruise explained that it wasn’t his sister who taught him to kiss, but rather her friends.
“Yeah, my older sister’s friends… they wanted to practice their French kissing. Not my sister, their friends,” Cruise said with a laugh.
He joked that he couldn’t wait to get home whenever they were visiting.
“So, of course, when they were around, the bell rang and you’d sprint home.”
Ross laughed as Cruise continued describing the situation.
“The greatest gift the sister could give. ‘All of us sisters are going to come and give you French kissing.’ Yes, I know, I’m there.”
Cruise explained that the lessons usually took place in the bathroom.
According to the actor, one of his biggest mistakes during those early lessons was forgetting to breathe.
“I held my breath,” Cruise admitted, recalling that he nearly passed out during one of the first attempts.
The ‘Top Gun’ Star’s First Girlfriend Had a Different Memory of His Kissing Skills
Although Cruise joked that he received an early education in French kissing, his first serious girlfriend later described him as a shy and awkward teenager when they shared their first real kiss.
Laurie Hobbs, who dated Cruise in 1978 when both were 15 years old at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, told reporters that the future movie star wasn’t yet the confident leading man audiences would eventually know.
“He wasn’t at all what you’d call cool,” Hobbs recalled, via IMDB. “He struck me as being shy, sort of uneasy around girls.”
She also claimed Cruise worried about how girls viewed him because of his height.
“He had a secret fear that girls wouldn’t like him because he was so small,” she said.
According to Hobbs, she encouraged Cruise to ask her to a school dance before the pair eventually shared their first kiss at a friend’s apartment.
“We just lunged toward each other awkwardly and started kissing,” she remembered. “But we didn’t get our mouths in the right place at first. I kept thinking: ‘I hope I don’t start laughing.’ Then things got pretty hot and heavy. Hands shaking… knees knocking, you name it.”
Hobbs said the moment felt overwhelming.
“My head was spinning, and I could hardly breathe. I could hear my heart banging away in my eardrums. First kisses are like that—you think you’re going to faint. Once or twice, I opened my eyes to make sure his eyes were closed, and they were, so I knew he meant it.”
The relationship lasted only a few months before Cruise’s family relocated to New Jersey, but Hobbs said she has occasionally reflected on those early memories.
“These days, I often wonder what life would be like if Tom and I had gotten married,” she said. “And now and then, I flatter myself that I taught the world’s sexiest man to kiss.”
