Stars Out for Tom

The stars were out in force at last night's premiere for Mission Impossible 2 and although Tom Cruise's wife Nicole was not in attendance, the turnout of leggy models and actresses more than made up for it. Of the cast, Tom and his co-stars Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton and John Polson were all there as was director John Woo. Woo was beseiged by fans outside the cinema in Leicester Square, all demanding the director sign their copies of Empire magazine. Two surprise guests for the evening were Angelina Jolie and Russell Crowe. Jolie, who is currently filming Tomb Raider in London, arrived alone (husband Billy Bob Thornton is afraid of flying and hasn't yet visited Jolie in London). Russell, who was without his recent companion Meg Ryan, came with Cruise - the pair had met for drinks at London's Soho House private club prior to the premiere. 'This doesn't happen every day,' Tom told a reporter, in comment on the thousands of screaming fans crammed outside the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square. 'This isn't my life normally.' Despite, or perhaps because of his A-list status, Cruise spent forty minutes outside the cinema signing autographs, even stopping to talk into one girl's mobile phone and say 'hi' to her mother. Once inside the Empire Cruise told the audience, 'It's great to be back in London - premieres here are always good fun.' He went on to praise Woo, saying, 'John was always someone I admire - it was a dream of mine to work for him. I had black market copies of his tapes even before he came to America to direct.'