Tom Cruise is best known for playing seemingly indestructible characters in franchises like Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher. It's become commonplace to associate the actor with his characters, especially since he often performs his own stunts, and puts his life on the line to dazzle audiences.
That said, Tom Cruise is willing to show his emotional side during interviews. He jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch during an infamous 2005 interview and snapped at Matt Lauer during a contentious chat on Today. Cruise's 2009 appearance on The View is less known than these aforementioned examples, but it showed a side of the actor that was mournful and extremely supportive of one of his superstar peers, John Travolta.
Tom Cruise went on the talk show The View to promote his film Valkyrie in 2009, but the topic quickly changed when host Joy Behar mentioned the death of John Travolta's son, Jett. Cruise has never worked with Travolta, but both men are members of the Church of Scientology, so it made sense that the talk show would want to get the actor's perspective on the tragedy.