Tom Cruise's much-anticipated sit-down with Matt Lauer on Monday morning proved to be less of a rematch and more of a rapturous reunion.

More than three years after his last Today Show interview – in which he accused Lauer of being "glib" and ignorant of "the history of psychiatry" – the actor and the talk show host seemed downright chummy, downplaying the furor that followed their last interview and insisting "there was no animosity there."

When addressing his past behaviour, Cruise stuck to the same talking points he hit during his recent visit to Toronto, repeating that he could have "handled that a lot better" and admitting that he "came across as arrogant."

"After looking at it, I really thought, you know, it's not what I had intended," Cruise told Lauer. "I didn't communicate it the way that I wanted to communicate it. And also, that's not who I am. That's not the person that I am."

The actor (who looked remarkably young and refreshed – is he swapping Botox tips with ex-wife Nicole Kidman?), went on to chat amicably about his new movie Valkyrie, his plans for more children ("I think that's the question for the women") and his wife Katie Holmes' role on Broadway.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Tom Cruise interview without a moment or two of insanity. A half-hour before his scheduled appearance, the actor popped up behind Lauer and Meredith Vieira as they were reading the morning news and proceeded to take over their lines from the teleprompter. Awkward!

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