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Tom Cruise's friends are coming out in defense of the actor, vouching for him as a good father to six-year-old Suri Cruise.

In the lead story of this week's People magazine, screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote Cruise's Valkyrie, boasts about his friend's love for his daughter, telling the magazine, "I can tell you that I haven't had a meeting with Tom that was not interrupted by a phone call with his daughter."

Another friend recalls an emotional conversation with Cruise, 50, where he said, "I've got to see her. I miss her."

Katie Holmes, 33, filed for divorce from Cruise and sole custody of Suri on June 29. The actor is currently shooting the sci-fi film All You Need Is Kill, and has not been seen with his daughter, who started first grade this month in New York City, since August 5th at Walt Disney World.