Tom Cruise lost his temper on the "Today" show when he was asked pointed questions on topics ranging from his recent engagement to Katie Holmes to his being a follower of Scientology.

The conversation became heated after host Matt Lauer asked Cruise pointedly whether his engagement to Holmes was a publicity stunt for the upcoming Steven Spielberg directed "War of the Worlds", reports People.com.

Cruise replied: "There's always cynics, always has been, always will be. I have never worried, Matt, about what other people think and what other people say."

Lauer then asked Cruise if he could be with someone who wasn't a Scientologist. He replied: "It's something you don't understand. You can be a Christian and be a Scientologist. It is a religion in that it deals with the spirit, you as a spiritual being."

This was in reference to the fact that Katie Holmes has admittedly embraced the controversial faith.

Things finally got heated when Cruise also told Lauer he didn't understand the effects of prescribing the drug Ritalin when the host asked Cruise about Brooke Shields, whom Cruise previously slammed for promoting medication to deal with postpartum depression.

In response Cruise's tone grew fierce enough for Lauer (whom Cruise accused of being "glib") to say, "I'm not prescribing Ritalin, Tom, and I'm not asking anyone else to do it."

The tension further increased when Lauer mentioned how psychiatry helped Shields. "I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever," declared Cruise. "Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed, and when I became a Scientologist, I never agreed."