Washington, October 22 Tom Cruise's representative has hit back at claims made by a former castmate that the actor is a "homophobic bore".

Actor Bronson Pinchot criticised his 'Risky Business' co-star in a recent interview, alleging Cruise passed a string of anti-gay remarks on the set of the 1983 film.

"He (Cruise) was the biggest bore on the face of the Earth," Contactmusic quoted Pinchot as saying.

"He made constant, constant unrelated homophobic comments... There was no basis for it. It was like, 'It's a nice day, I'm glad there are no gay people standing here.' Very, very strange.

"If someone's 20 years old and every third line out of their mouth is anti-something specific, then draw your own conclusion," he added.

But a publicist for the Hollywood heartthrob rushed to his defence, insisting Pinchot fell short of understanding a joke.

Rep Cheryl Maisel told TV Guide magazine: "Obviously this is so far removed from who Tom Cruise is as a person, this must have been said in jest." (ANI)