Tom Cruise leaves Suri behind while he promotes MI3...

buttmunch · April 26th, 2006, 04:07 AM

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LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Cruise put off seeing his newborn daughter to attend the British premiere of his new action film, "Mission: Impossible III", on Tuesday.

The Hollywood actor had been due to return to the United States to see his bride-to-be Katie Holmes and baby Suri, but decided instead to stay in Europe for a publicity tour.

Wearing a black suit and shirt and dark glasses, he made one of his customary extended walkabouts in London's Leicester Square. He posed for pictures, chatted to fans and signed autographs for four hours.

"I talked with Katie and she said 'go'," he told Reuters Television. "I realised that there would be people who'd be disappointed if I wasn't going to come."

It is Cruise's third outing as the American agent Ethan Hunt in the spy thriller based on the 1960s television series. The film takes him from Shanghai to the Vatican City.

Part of the film was shot in Rome, the city where Cruise and Holmes, known in tabloid shorthand as "TomKat", first made their romance public.

At his last premiere in London, Cruise was squirted with a water pistol by a bogus TV reporter working for a comedy show.

The man used a fake microphone to spray the actor as he chatted to journalists before the UK premiere of "War of the Worlds". A flustered Cruise grabbed the man and repeatedly called him a "jerk".

On Tuesday, Cruise laughed off the incident, saying he had no fears of being doused again. "I love it here, it didn't change anything," he said.

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LONDON (AP) -- Tom Cruise spent more than two hours telling British fans about his delight at the birth of daughter Suri - and said he was backing England's bid to capture soccer's World Cup this summer.

Cruise, 43, told reporters Tuesday he had called fiancee Katie Holmes, 27, "about a billion times" to check on the couple's daughter, born last Tuesday in Los Angeles.

The actor, who was visiting London for the British premiere of his new film, "Mission: Impossible III," spent more than two hours on the red carpet outside a London theater, greeting well-wishers.

Asked if he was missing his new child, he said, "How can you not, she's beautiful," and explained why the couple had chosen the name Suri.

"We thought it was a really nice, sweet name. A lyrical name," Cruise told reporters.

"I'm excellent at changing nappies. I love it," he said, referring to diaper duties.

Cruise, who said England soccer captain David Beckham is a friend, said he will back the English national team when the soccer World Cup begins in June.

"I've got to support my buddy. I want to see them win. Wouldn't it just be great for them," he said.

Cruise said he had doubts about leaving his infant daughter to promote his new movie across Europe, but said Holmes had encouraged him to continue working.

"The pilots are on standby if I need to go back," he said.

The pilots are on standby so he can go back when Katie finally breaks out of the house with Suri tucked under her arm, making a mad dash for it.