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• 64 wins & 119 nominations total

Brat Pack Movies Beyond 'The Breakfast Club'

Photos 2008

• Nathan Algren

• Jerry Maguire
• Post-production
• Cage (rumored)
• In Development
• Pre-production

• Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

• Team Member

• Nick Morton

• Jack Reacher

• Stacee Jaxx

• Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg
• producer (produced by)

• producer (uncredited)

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• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• Tomu Kurûzu
• 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• July 3 , 1962
• Syracuse, New York, USA
• Spouses Katie Holmes November 18, 2006 - August 20, 2012 (divorced, 1 child)
• Children Isabella Jane Cruise
• Parents Thomas Mapother III
• Relatives William Mapother (Cousin)
• Other works Played Nathan Detroit in a high school production of "Guys and Dolls"
• 12 Print Biographies
• 9 Portrayals
• 32 Interviews
• 145 Articles
• 21 Pictorials
• 764 Magazine Cover Photos

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• Trivia His acting idol is Paul Newman . Much to the delight of Cruise, they became good friends during work on The Color of Money (1986) . Newman got him into racing, and Cruise ultimately raced on his team.
• Quotes The thing about filmmaking is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible.
• Trademarks Often plays romantic leading men with an edge
• Salaries Mission: Impossible 8 ( 2025 ) $13,000,000 + % of back end
• How old is Tom Cruise?
• When was Tom Cruise born?
• Where was Tom Cruise born?

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Tom Cruise facts: Top Gun actor's age, films, marriages, children, net worth and more revealed

4 May 2023, 13:45

Tom Cruise has been one of Hollywood's leading names for over nearly forty years.

Tom Cruise is an American actor who is the fifth-highest-grossing (as of 2023) film actor of all time as well as one of the highest-paid actors in cinema.

He has appeared in some of the biggest film franchises ever like Top Gun and its sequel Top Gun: Maverick (which is his highest-grossing film to date), the Mission Impossible film series, as well as other blockbusters such as Jerry Maguire , Minority Report , Interview With A Vampire , A Few Good Men , The Last Samurai , War Of The Worlds, Days Of Thunder, Cocktail and Jack Reacher .

• Tom Cruise fought for 'wingman' Val Kilmer to star in Top Gun sequel after his battle with cancer
• When Tom Cruise and Cher secretly dated in the 1980s: 'There was a connection'
• Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's daughter Isabella shares rare selfie and how dad 'saved' her

Cruise became a Hollywood lead during the 1980s with stand-out performances in films like Rain Man , The Color Of Money , and Born on the Fourth of July .

Although he is well-known for his roles in action movies, Tom Cruise has also been nominated for four Academy Awards throughout his career, though he hasn't won any.

Cruise has been a member of the controversial Church of Scientology since converting in the 2000s, and has advocated for the organisation as it helped him to overcome his dyslexia.

Risky Business Original Glasses Dance Scene (Mandela FX)

How old is Tom Cruise and when was he born?

Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York. In 2023, he will turn 61 years old.

His father Thomas Cruise Mapother III was an electrical engineer and his mother Mary Lee was a special education teacher. They both originated from Louisville, Kentucky so Cruise and his three sisters (Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass) were brought up as Catholic.

One of his cousins, William Mapother is also an actor and has appeared alongside Cruise in five of his films.

He once described his father as "a merchant of chaos" as he was a violent bully who would beat Tom Cruise and his siblings.

How did Tom Cruise get his start in acting?

Tom Cruise moved around frequently during his youth due to his father's work, and attended 15 different schools in 14 years.

After falling in love with acting during his youth, Cruise eventually moved to New York City to pursue a career in the profession, then onwards to Los Angeles.

He was cast in several small roles shortly after his move, but it wasn't until he was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's 'Generation X' cult classic The Outsiders (which featured young stars like Patrick Swayze , Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, and Emilio Estevez) that he began gaining notoriety.

His big break came when he was cast in the iconic comedy-drama Risky Business which subsequently became a cult phenomenon and surprise box office hit, which is still regarded as one of the defining films of the 1980s.

What are Tom Cruise’s biggest films?

Top Gun (1986) Official Trailer - Tom Cruise Movie

- Mission Impossible (series)

- A Few Good Men

- Risky Business

- The Last Samurai

- Jerry Maguire

- The Color Of Money

- Born on the Fourth of July

- Top Gun: Maverick

Is Tom Cruise married?

Tom Cruise is not currently married. He divorced his third wife Katie Holmes in 2012.

He was also married twice before, first to actress Mimi Rogers from 1987-1990, and then to actress Nicole Kidman from 1990-2001 who he appeared alongside films like Days Of Thunder and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut .

Does Tom Cruise have any children?

Tom Cruise has three children. He shares his only son Connor and eldest daughter Isabella with his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman who adopted the pair when they were married.

He also has a biological daughter, Suri, who he had with ex-wife Katie Holmes.

Cruise is notoriously private about his children and his relationship with them, although it's been repeatedly reported that he is estranged from his three kids.

What is Tom Cruise’s net worth?

JERRY MAGUIRE - Show Me the Money - MATHEMATICS in the MOVIES

Tom Cruise's reported net worth is $620 million.

Are there any other facts we should know about Tom Cruise?

Tom Cruise loses his mind on Oprah - Original Video - Hilarious!! - Celeburbia.com

The Hollywood action hero got his Hollywood teeth before he became a leading man, getting braces fitted before his career properly kicked off after being cast in Ridley Scott's fantasy film Legend .

Cruise was reportedly touted to play Neo in The Matrix film franchise before it went to Keanu Reeves , and similarly with the role of Iron Man before Robert Downey Jr was cast as the lead.

Executives at Disney wanted to likeness of Aladdin to resemble Tom Cruise as they said it'd make the character more likeable.

After his turn in Risky Business (and the iconic improvised dance scene) Cruise was credited with saving the sunglasses brand Ray-Ban from going under due to the renewed popularity the film gave the frames.

He participates in most of - if not all of - his stunts in movies, and has a gruelling regime to keep him prepared. When asked about how he keeps fit Cruise replied with: "Sea-kayaking, caving… fencing, treadmill, weights… rock-climbing, hiking… I jog… I do so many different activities."

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TOM CRUISE is a global cultural icon who has made an immeasurable impact on cinema by creating some of the most memorable characters of all time. Having achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer and philanthropist in a career spanning over three decades, Cruise is a three-time Oscar® nominee and three-time Golden Globe Award® winner whose films have earned over $10 billion in worldwide box office—an incomparable accomplishment. Eighteen of Cruise’s films have grossed over $100 million domestically, and a record 23 have made more than $200 million globally. His latest film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout has made over $775 million worldwide becoming Cruise’s most successful film to date.

Cruise has starred in numerous legendary films such as Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, Risky Business, Minority Report, Interview with the Vampire, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Rain Man, Collateral, The Last Samurai, Edge of Tomorrow, The Color of Money and the Mission: Impossible series, among many others. Combined, the Mission: Impossible franchise has brought in over $3.5 billion since Cruise conceived the idea for a film adaptation of the classic television series and produced the first in 1996. He is currently in production on the long-awaited sequel to Top Gun.

A consummate filmmaker involved in all aspects of production, Cruise has proven his versatility with the films and roles he chooses. He has made 43 films, contributing in a producing role on many of them, and collaborated with a remarkable list of celebrated film directors including Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Neil Jordan, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ed Zwick, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, J.J. Abrams, Robert Redford, Brad Bird, Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie.

Cruise received Academy Award® nominations for Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire. He was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for Magnolia and won Golden Globes (Best Actor) for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, in addition to a Best Supporting Actor prize for Magnolia. He also received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in Risky Business, A Few Good Men and The Last Samurai. Cruise has earned acting nominations and awards from BAFTA, the Screen Actors Guild, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review.

Cruise’s previous few films include the critically acclaimed American Made, The Mummy, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Oblivion and the suspense thriller Jack Reacher, which earned $218 million worldwide. Prior to that, he made a memorable appearance in Ben Stiller’s comedy smash Tropic Thunder, as the foul-mouthed Hollywood movie mogul Les Grossman. This performance, based on a character Cruise created, earned him praise from critics and audiences as well as his seventh Golden Globe nomination.

Cruise has been honored with tributes ranging from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award to the John Huston Award from the Artists Rights Foundation and the American Cinematheque Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film. In addition to his artistic contributions, Cruise has used his professional success as a vehicle for positive change, becoming an international advocate, activist and philanthropist in the fields of health, education and human rights. He has been honored by the Mentor LA organization for his work on behalf of the children of Los Angeles and around the world. In 2011 Cruise received the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Award and the following year he received the Entertainment Icon Award from the Friars Club for his outstanding accomplishments in the entertainment industry and in the humanities. He is the fourth person to receive this honor after Douglas Fairbanks, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. Empire magazine awarded Cruise its Legend of Our Lifetime Award in 2014. Most recently, Cruise was the first actor to receive The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year Award in 2018.

• Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
• Mission: Impossible Fallout (2018)
• American Made (2017)
• The Mummy (2017)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
• Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)
• Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
• Oblivion (2013)
• Jack Reacher (2012)
• Rock of Ages (2012)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Knight and Day (2010)
• Valkyrie (2008)
• Tropic Thunder (2008)
• Lions for Lambs (2007)
• Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Collateral (2004)
• The Last Samurai (2003)
• Minority Report (2002)
• Vanilla Sky (2002)
• Mission: Impossible 2 (2001)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Magnolia (1999)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Mission: Impossible (1996)
• Interview with the Vampire (1994)
• The Firm (1993)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Far and Away (1992)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Cocktail (1988)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Legend (1985)
• Risky Business (1983)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• The Outsiders (1983)
• Losin’ It (1983)
• Taps (1981)
• Endless Love (1981)

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Tom Cruise Height, Age, Wiki, Bio, Wife, Dating, Net Worth, Facts

Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who is known for his roles in Hollywood hits like Mission: Impossible film series, Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, and The Last Samurai, among others. One of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood history, Tom has won three Golden Globe Awards as well as been nominated for Academy Awards thrice throughout his career. His notable films include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

• 1 Tom Cruise Biography
• 3 Education
• 4 Tom Cruise Personal Life
• 5 Physical Statistics
• 6 Professional Statistics
• 7 Tom Cruise Net Worth
• 8 Favorite Things
• 9 Tom Cruise Facts

Tom Cruise Biography

Tom Cruise was born on the 3rd of July 1962, in Syracuse, New York, United States of America. He is currently 60 years old.

• Father – Thomas Cruise Mapother III (Electrical Engineer)
• Mother – Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer) (Special Education Teacher)
• Siblings – Lee Anne Mapother (Older Sister), Marian Mapother (Sister), Cass Mapother (Sister)
• Relatives – Patrick Russell Cruise (Paternal Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)

Tom attended Robert Hopkins Public School and Henry Munro Middle School in Ottawa, Canada. He was then moved to the US where he briefly went to a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a matter of fact, Tom went to 15 schools in 14 years.

Tom Cruise Personal Life

Mimi Rogers (1986 – 1990) – Tom Cruise and American actress Mimi Rogers began dating in early 1986 and got married in May 1987. But their marriage lasted only for three years and divorced on February 4, 1990.

Nicole Kidman (1989 – 2001) – Tom began dating Australian actress  Nicole Kidman in 1989. They married next year on December 24, 1990, and were in a relationship for more than 10 years. During their marriage, they adopted a daughter named “Isabella Cruise” and a son named “Connor Cruise”. The couple ended their relationship in 2001.

Katie Holmes (2005 -2012) – After his split with Nicole, Tom dates actress Katie Holmes in 2005 and became engaged in the same year. They entered into wedlock in November 2006 and they together welcomed their first daughter Suri Cruise on April 18, 2006. The couple ended their marriage terms in July 2012.

Yolanda Pecoraro (2012) – Tom was rumored to be dating actress Yolanda Pecoraro in 2012.

Cynthia Jorge (2012) – Tom had involved in a brief relationship with American businesswoman Cynthia Jorge in 2012.

Laura Prepon (2013) – In 2013, Tom had a fling with actress Laura Prepon.

Annabelle Walls (2016) – Tom and Annabelle worked together in the 2016 movie The Mummy and the rumor mills spilled beans about the couple being in a relationship. They both denied it.

Physical Statistics

Professional statistics.

Tom was first seen in the 1981 American film, Endless Love where he played the role of Billy.

Brand Endorsements

He has appeared in a Japanese Kure 5-56 commercial, Coca-Cola commercial, guitar hero advert, and many others.

Tom Cruise Net Worth

During his stint in the business, Tom Cruise has made immeasurable wealth that the majority of his fortune comes from movies and other business ventures. Tom has an estimated net worth of US$600 million as of 2024.

The charismatic filmmaker drives a Bugatti Veyron and a Porsche 911. Tom never takes commercial airlines for his air journey as he owns a couple of private jets – a US$35 million Gulfstream-IV SP aircraft and Aviat-Pitts S-2B (P-51 Mustang Fighter).

Tom Cruise bought a 10,000 sq-feet mansion in Beverly Hills, California for $35 million. This extravagant mansion sits on 1.3 acres of land and is equipped with several features including seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a tennis court, and a pool.

Cruise also owns a mansion in Telluride, Colorado which he purchased in 2006 for $30 million. This 13,000-square feet house features nine bedrooms, several bathrooms, a tennis court, and a pool. He also owns a $3 million condo apartment in New York.

Favorite Things

• Food – Italian, Strawberries, Lobster, and Flounder
• Color – Green
• Sport – Football
• Perfume – Clive Christian
• People – L. Ron Hubbard
• Singer – Joss Stone
• Song – Gold Digger by Kanye West
• Pets – Dogs, Cats
• Hobbies – Skydiving, Fencing, Scuba diving

Tom Cruise Facts

Tom Cruise would have never thought that his name would be written in the books of history as a charismatic phenomenal star of all time during his teens as he dreamed of becoming a Catholic Priest but his fate had other ideas.

Born to an abusive father, he grew up in near poverty where his father would often beat him.

Cruise had attended 15 schools in 14 years due to the nature of his father’s job. He had his education in the US as well as in Canada and when his father died in 1984, he moved to the United States with his mother and sisters.

While in high school Cruise was fascinated with acting and started acting in drama where his teachers lauded him for his natural acting talents.

Realizing that he was gifted with acting abilities, he moved to New York and landed a small role in the film ‘Endless Love’ in 1981.

He then later starred in the romantic comedy ‘Risky Business’ playing the role of Joel Goodson in 1983 and since then, he took Hollywood by storm.

Cruise has acted in several films, making him the only actor in Hollywood to give six consecutive movies that grossed more than US$100 million at the box office.

Tom Cruise is a highly bankable actor in the business and the most successful star in history making it to the Forbes Celebrity 100 list twice.

He is not only a successful actor but also a prominent producer in the industry making tons of wealth in both ways.

Tom has received several accolades including three Golden Globe awards in his career spanning more than three decades.

He is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology and its associated social programs.

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Actor Tom Cruise has starred in the box-office hits Risky Business , Top Gun , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

1962-present

Tom Cruise Now: Mission Impossible Star Performs Skydiving Stunt at Olympics Closing Ceremony

The 62-year-old then appeared in a previously filmed video clip that showed Cruise driving through the streets of Paris and boarding a plane headed to Los Angeles, symbolizing the passing of the torch from the Paris Games to the Los Angeles Olympics in summer 2028. Cruise put on skydiving gear and jumped out of the plane, soaring through Los Angeles and past the Hollywood sign, which he redesigned to feature the Olympic rings in place of the two Os at the end of Hollywood .

Cruise is famous for doing many of his own stunts in his movies, including the Mission: Impossible and Top Gun franchises. Ahead of the release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in July 2023, he told Entertainment Tonight that his most dangerous stunt took years of practice to perfect: “You have to be razor sharp when you do something like that.”

Quick Facts

Young tom cruise and parents, scientology, ex-wives: katie holmes, nicole kidman, and mimi rogers, who is tom cruise.

Actor Tom Cruise has been one of the most prominent movie stars in Hollywood dating back to the 1980s. After developing an interest in acting during high school, he rocketed to fame with his turns in Risky Business and Top Gun . Cruise has since become an action movie veteran, counting the Mission: Impossible franchise, Edge of Tomorrow , and Top Gun: Maverick among his many successes. The four-time Oscar nominee has also earned acclaim for his performance in Born on the Fourth of July , Jerry Maguire , and Magnolia. Off the silver screen, Cruise is one of the most high-profile members of the Church of Scientology and has been married to fellow actors Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes .

FULL NAME: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV BORN: July 3, 1962 BIRTHPLACE: Syracuse, New York SPOUSES: Mimi Rogers (1987-1990), Nicole Kidman (1990-2001), and Katie Holmes (2005-2012) CHILDREN: Isabella, Connor, and Suri ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York. The third of four children, Tom was the only son of Mary Lee South and Thomas Cruise Mapother III. Cruise’s mother was an amateur actor and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when young Tom was a child to accommodate his father’s career.

Tom’s parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.

At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school’s production of the musical Guys and Dolls . After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

Early Roles in Taps and The Outsiders

Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York City, where he struggled through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981’s Endless Love , starring Brooke Shields . Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn . His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise’s potential, and his performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers .

In 1983, Cruise appeared in Francis Ford Coppola ’s The Outsiders , which also starred Emilio Estevez , Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe —all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the “Brat Pack.” The movie wasn’t well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

Breakout Role in Risky Business

His next movie, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million and become one of the most profitable movies at the box office that year. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor—thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.

Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick

In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend , which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise’s A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun , which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, and Meg Ryan . The testosterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest-grossing movie of 1986.

Decades later, Cruise returned to his role as fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the action-packed sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022), which picks up more than 30 years after the original. Critics heaped praise on the movie, and in addition to becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year, it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

Cruise is set to star in a third movie, Top Gun 3 , which doesn’t yet have a release date.

The Color of Money , Rain Man , and Born on the Fourth of July

Cruise followed the tremendous success of the original Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. First up was The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , then Cruise worked with Dustin Hoffman on Rain Man (1988). Cruise’s next role, as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned him an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

A Few Good Men , The Firm , and Interview with a Vampire

In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men . The movie grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise another Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with the Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

Mission: Impossible Franchise

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with another huge action hit: the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996). In addition to starring in the movie, Cruise also served as a producer. The movie’s popularity spawned another action franchise for Cruise.

The long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 arrived in 2000 followed by the also popular Mission: Impossible 3 in 2006. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback that August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company’s chairman cited Cruise’s erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split, though industry experts noted that Paramount more likely ended the partnership over the actor’s high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Ultimately, Cruise and Paramount patched up their relationship and have continued adding films to the franchise. That includes Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible —Fallout (2018), and most recently, Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning (2023).

Jerry McGuire , Eyes Wide Shut , and Magnolia

The same year as the first Mission: Impossible movie, Cruise landed another hit with the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. The star secured a second Academy Award nomination and won his second Golden Globe for Best Actor.

Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that was director Stanley Kubrick ’s final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that same year, Cruise enjoyed greater success with the release of Magnolia . His performance as a self-confident sex guru in the ensemble film earned him another Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Vanilla Sky and The Last Samurai

In 2002, Cruise starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with director Cameron Crowe, as well as Steven Spielberg ’s Minority Report . The following year, Cruise traveled to Australia to shoot the $100 million war epic The Last Samurai, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination.

War of the Worlds

Cruise proved he remained a top draw by starring in the Steven Spielberg –directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

The third Mission: Impossible movie added to his list of credits in May 2006, but three months later, his partnership with Paramount Pictures, the franchise’s studio, ended. Cruise quickly rebounded with an announcement early that November: He had a new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Their first production as a team, the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007), proved a commercial disappointment despite a strong cast that included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford .

Tropic Thunder

Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his performance in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). Despite his relatively small role in a movie that featured Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller , Cruise stood out by obscuring his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.

Valkyrie and Rock of Ages

In December 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, Valkyrie , was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler . Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.

Breaking into new territory after another entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise in 2011 , Cruise starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages . Although Cruise received some positive reviews for his performance as a rock star, the movie failed to attract much of an audience.

Jack Reacher , Edge of Tomorrow , and The Mummy

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise anchored the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher , based on a book by Lee Child. He then headlined a pair of science-fiction adventures: Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Showing no signs of slowing down, the veteran actor in 2015 delivered his usual high-energy performance for the fifth installment of his blockbuster Mission: Impossible franchise .

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back . He then headlined a reboot of The Mummy (2017), which performed respectably at the box office but was savaged by critics, before earning better reviews later that year for the crime thriller American Made .

Cruise is one of the most prominent celebrity members of the Church of Scientology . He became a student of the religion, founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard, through his first wife, Mimi Rogers. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents.

In 2005, Cruise made headlines as an outspoken Scientologist. He openly criticized his former Endless Love co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise’s statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June 2005, for which Cruise later apologized.

Cruise has been married three times, all to fellow actors, and has three children.

He first wed Mimi Rogers in 1987 but their union ended three years later. Cruise wasn’t single for long.

Also in 1990, he connected with Nicole Kidman , his co-star in the racecar drama Days of Thunder . The movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, but the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

For much of the 1990s, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage. They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case, the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity. During the first half of their marriage, the couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor.

On February 5, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers and the amount of time spent apart while working.

Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz followed by a much-publicized relationship with actor Katie Holmes . A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for Holmes in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey’s sofa, shouting “Yes!”

In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. In October, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed their daughter, Suri. That November, they were married in an Italian castle, with celebrities Will Smith , Jada Pinkett Smith , Jennifer Lopez , and Victoria and David Beckham among those in attendance. However, the storybook romance didn’t last, and in June 2012, Holmes filed for divorce.

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The Real Reason Tom Cruise Hasn't Aged

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Did tom cruise get plastic surgery, tom cruise had his teeth fixed, how does tom cruise look so young for his age, tom cruise's style helps keep him looking young.

Tom Cruise is turning 62 in July (born July 3, 1962), yet he still looks like his 24-year-old self in his hit 1986 film, Top Gun . Some say it is all plastic surgery while others believe it is the actor's healthy lifestyle and commitment to doing his own stunts . In March 2021, Men's Health revealed the real reason the actor has stayed in great shape all these years.

Jacked Gorilla shared an inside look into Cruise's workout routine, which helps keep him in shape as well as feeling young. "Tom Cruise's workout routine consists of many different exercises. Cruise uses three days of weight training and cardio. It's his job to get active and utilize other forms of fitness on the other two days."

'Top Gun': The Cast Ranked From Richest To Poorest

Who are the richest Top Gun actors, from both the original movie and the sequel?

Updated May 2024: A photo of Tom Cruise and his children, Bella Cruise and Connor Cruise taken in December 2023 made its way to social media recently. It has been nearly 15 years since the trio was photographed together, despite the fact that Tom is very close with his older children. This photo was taken before Cruise and Elsina Khayrova ended their relationship in February. The photo shows that Tom continues to not age, even with him being almost 62 years old. Something that can be attributed to a strenuous workout routine and healthy diet.

While many have speculated Tom Cruise has had plastic surgery, Cruise denies it

Cruise has been accused of getting plastic surgery for several years. In 2016, fans noticed that he looked "inflated" and "puffy" during the BAFTAs for that year. Many assumed that he'd gotten Botox or fillers. Around the same time, Cuba Gooding Jr. — Cruise's co-star in Jerry Maguire — told Watch What Happens Live! that the actor "absolutely" had work done on his face .

"I don't know what he's had done, but I remember I surprised him at his house one day," Gooding Jr. shared. "And he had all of these dots all over his face and I was like, 'You all right?' and he goes, 'I didn’t know you were coming' and I was like, 'I can see why.'"

In 2012, when asked whether he has had plastic surgery, Cruise told Playboy : "I haven't, and I never would." Meanwhile, National Enquirer 's sources said that the Risky Business star was lying.

"Insiders say the gifted star remains desperate to maintain his boyish good looks and stay atop of the heap as he approaches his sixties — with the help of plastic surgery!"

Tom Cruise Has A Strict Rule Regarding His Look During Public Events

Tom Cruise has certain secrets when it comes to his hair.

Tom Cruise had teeth whitening and braces to give him his bright smile today

One cosmetic procedure the actor has never denied is getting his teeth fixed .

When Cruise was in his 20s, back in the early '80s, he had extremely unaligned and discolored teeth. He eventually had teeth whitening and alignment procedures to correct them.

In 2001, he also had invisible braces with ceramic brackets. By 2010, he had a massive improvement in his smile. Still, fans noticed that aside from his misaligned middle tooth, his left incisor also appeared bigger than the right one. It still does today, but we are sure the highest-paid actor per word is not bothered about it.

Tom Cruise's diet and exercise routine are directly related to his lack of aging

In a 2021 Men's Health feature, the magazine finally spilled Cruise's secrets to defying youth . For his diet, he is reportedly on a " Beckham-devised diet consisting of a just 1200 calories, grilled foods and a noticeable absence of carbohydrate."

Nutritional scientist Dr. Paul Clayton told the magazine that carbs generate insulin, which is an aging hormone. "They become glucose molecules in the body, damaging muscle and skin tissues which causes aging," said the Health Defense author.

The actor's mindset is apparently a big factor as well.

"I don't invalidate it when I can't do something...I say, 'that's interesting' and go with it. It's from there you get your energy," quoted the magazine.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Abigael San said that Cruise's resistance to failure helps in keeping him active.

"Never avoid looking at why something went wrong – list all the reasons why it did as soon as you can," said San. "Failure leads to inaction. Planning goals as soon as possible restores a feeling of power and control. If you didn't get a promotion, do all you can to find out why." No wonder the actor is such a beast who is so committed to every project he takes on. It is also what boosts his confidence, making him the sex symbol that he is.

"Being super-informed bestows subtle confidence," explained career consultant Sherridan Hughes. "Everyone else will feel at ease working with you and for you. You're more flexible and adaptable than your peers because whatever happens, you've covered it."

Then, of course, there is a whole workout routine for achieving and maintaining that action star physique. "Sea-kayaking, caving... fencing, treadmill, weights... rock-climbing, hiking... I jog... I do so many different activities," Cruise once said when asked how he stays youthful.

Sports scientist Anne Elliott said that "variety" is the secret to getting that body. "How we move conveys energy and youth – not how buff we are," she explained. "Regularly switching up cardio and strength work with something like fencing or climbing – like Cruise – maintains flexibility and balance: the first two things that give your age away."

How Old Is Tom Cruise During His Most Dangerous Stunts?

Tom Cruise's dangerous stunts make his action movies exciting for fans to watch, but his age during the stunts make them really impressive.

By dressing in stylish and form-fitting clothing, Tom Cruise looks younger than his age

Lastly, it's all about dressing well.

"The right fit conveys power and shows you've accepted who you are, physically," said the actor's stylist, Alan Au.

Au went on to say, "Cruise always wears a well-tailored coat (lapels not too big or small) whether smart casual and his ‘relaxed’ is only just loose enough (too loose looks hand-me-down). Avoid boxy cuts and styles and bring attention up to the face and chest with a lighter top. Make sure only a quarter-inch of sleeve hem is showing from jackets."

12 Things You Might Not Know About Tom Cruise

The actor once considered joining the priesthood.

Defining movie star is somewhat subjective. If it’s a combination of charisma, audience interest, and box office success, then one of the few performers that continue to meet the definition is Tom Cruise. The actor, who has been on screens for over 40 years, regularly makes movies that are considered appointment viewing in theaters even in the era of streaming. His Mission: Impossible series alone has brought in over $1.3 billion domestically.

Part of Cruise’s appeal is his enigmatic public persona. He rarely lets his guard down, preferring to let his work speak for him. Nonetheless, there’s still plenty to know about his life and career.

Tom Cruise started doing stunts early on.

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Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, Cruise seemed to be drawn to physical activity and danger from an early age. In 2022, the actor recalled that when he was around 4 years old, he thought it would be a good idea to jump off the roof of his childhood home while using a sheet as a parachute. "It’s that moment when you jump off the roof and you go, ‘This is not gonna work,’” he said. “’This is terrible. I’m gonna die.’ And I hit the ground so hard. Luckily, it was wet … And I saw stars in the daytime for the first time, and I remember looking up, going, ‘This is very interesting.’”

Cruise’s mother, Mary, separated from his father, Tom Senior, in 1976, when Cruise was 14. (The actor would later allege that Senior had been abusive toward him.) The family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and Cruise also spent some time in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he briefly considered becoming a Franciscan priest. Eventually, he rejoined his family and they settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where he joined the varsity high school wrestling team as a junior and senior. During the 1979-1980 year, the team went 14-4-1.

The wrestling may have indirectly played a role in his career choice. After a leg injury prevented him from continuing, he decided to investigate acting and signed up for a role in a school production of Guys and Dolls . “All of a sudden, I felt like I knew what I was doing,” he said in 1983. “And I got all this attention, and it just felt right. So I came to New York. I wanted to try [acting].”

In 1981, Cruise appeared in a small role in Endless Love and as a military cadet in Taps . Two years later, he appeared in the teen sex comedy Losin’ It and the football drama All the Right Moves . Cruise also scored a role as a street punk in The Outsiders . It was during filming of The Outsiders that Cruise auditioned for Risky Business , which cast him as a preppy kid who runs amok when his parents leave town. “I told them, ‘I can't afford to tamper with my Outsiders character because I have to work tonight,’” he said in 1983. “’I can't take a shower, even.’ I was all greasy, had a chipped tooth and a tattoo, and an Okie drawl. And they cast me for this clean-cut boy.”

Risky Business was considered Cruise's true breakout role. It also made Cruise synonymous with Ray-Ban sunglasses, which he later wore to great effect in 1986’s Top Gun .

The mid- to late-1980s was a period where Cruise was able to demonstrate his dramatic chops with prestige directors in films like 1985's Legend (Ridley Scott), 1986’s The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese), 1988’s Rain Man (Barry Levinson), and 1989’s Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone). In the middle of this impressive run came Cocktail (1988), a relatively lightweight drama about a bartender who relocates to Jamaica. It was “not a crowning jewel,” he told Rolling Stone in 1992. The film earned a Golden Raspberry Award, or “Razzie,” for Worst Picture, the same year that Rain Man won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Given his collaborative nature and intense interest in filmmaking, it’s somewhat surprising Cruise has yet to helm a feature film. But he has gotten behind the camera. In 1993, Cruise directed an episode of the Showtime series Fallen Angels , an anthology set largely in 1940s and 1950s Los Angeles. In the episode, titled “The Frightening Frammis,” a con man (Peter Gallagher) has the misfortune to cross paths with a femme fatale named Babe (Isabella Rosellini). The series was produced by Sydney Pollack, who had just directed Cruise in the 1993 film The Firm .

When Cruise was cast as the vampire Lestat in 1994’s Interview With the Vampire , the book’s author, Anne Rice, was a vocal critic, saying she preferred someone like Daniel Day-Lewis for the role. After seeing Cruise in the part, Rice changed her mind, calling him “wonderful.” Cruise had a similar experience in 2012’s Jack Reacher , where fans of the Lee Child book series found him smaller in stature compared to Child’s towering protagonist. The film did well, however, meriting  a 2016 sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back .

The list of movies Cruise has been offered (or at least had discussions about doing) is long, and the list of movies he’s turned down is likely even longer. Among them: Footloose , Edward Scissorhands , and The Shawshank Redemption . Director and writer Frank Darabont, who adapted the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption for the screen in 1994, said that producer Rob Reiner offered to acquire the script so he could direct and his A Few Good Men star Cruise could step into the role of Andy Dufresne. Darabont was tempted, but ultimately decided to make the movie himself. He cast Tim Robbins as Dufresne.

Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman agreed to star in director Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut , which examines the complicated marriage of a young couple tempted by forces outside their union. Kubrick ( 2001: A Space Odyssey ), a notorious perfectionist, shot the film for an astounding 15 months, far beyond the typical four- to six-month shoot of many films. Guinness World Records recognizes it as the longest continuous production in cinema history. (Interrupted shoots are a different story: Richard Linklater’s coming-of-age drama Boyhood shot for 39 days over a window spanning from 2002 to 2013.)

Eyes Wide Shut was met with a tepid reception, though it proved bountiful for Cruise. While on set, he met with director Paul Thomas Anderson, who cast him as a motivational speaker in 1999’s Magnolia . That part earned Cruise an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He had previously been nominated for Born on the Fourth of July and for Jerry Maguire (1996), though he has yet to win.

Cruise wasn’t the only member of his family to get into acting. His fraternal cousin, William Mapother, is also in the business and has shared several of Cruise’s film sets. Mapother was a production assistant before getting parts in Magnolia (1999) and in 2002’s Minority Report , playing a desk clerk who is threatened by Cruise’s distressed protagonist. Mapother might be best known as Ethan Rom, a character of dubious intentions on ABC’s drama Lost .

In 1996, Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman were aboard a yacht near Capri, Italy, when they came upon a family floating in a lifeboat whose own yacht had caught on fire. They climbed aboard Cruise’s vessel until the Coast Guard arrived.

A decade prior, it was Cruise himself who needed a hand. While filming Top Gun , he was dragged underwater by parachute lines. According to United Press International, Navy swim school instructors rushed to pull him out.

Shooting The Last Samurai with Cruise in 2003, director Ed Zwick was surprised to see several A-list directors dropping by the set to see Cruise. When the actor learned that David Fincher ( Fight Club ), Cameron Crowe (who directed Cruise in Jerry Maguire ), and others posed for a group photo with Zwick while he was busy, he asked that he be retroactively placed in the image.

To work with Tom Cruise is to risk being sent a cake every holiday for the rest of your life. (Or his.) Each year, the actor orders white chocolate coconut Bundt cakes from Doan’s Bakery in Los Angeles and has them sent to a list of recipients, including former co-stars. According to former talk show host James Corden, Cruise himself has never tried the cake. (Other stories, however, have him tasting it as part of a “cake-off” while Cruise’s then-wife Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton were making a film together in 2008. The cake was reportedly Keaton’s favorite.)

Read More Articles About Celebrities:

The Transformation Of Tom Cruise From 21 To 58 Years Old

There's a lot that can be said about Tom Cruise . The star is a Golden Globe-winning actor, producer, and dad of three . Cruise is known in Hollywood as one of the highest-paid stars, and he's held that status for decades.

Cruise is the only son of four children, who was raised by his mom, Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and dad, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, where he lived for 11 years, but Cruise moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his mother following his parents' divorce in 1973, per IMDb .

As a kid, Cruise struggled to fit in, and in school, he spent his years trying to hide his dyslexia, which he was diagnosed with at age 7. The actor once described his younger self as "functionally illiterate" (via Dyslexiahelp.umich.edu ), but fortunately, he excelled in sports. In fact, he once considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling, but he suffered a knee injury during high school that , per Biography . 

After a teacher encouraged Cruise to join the school's production of the musical "Guys and Dolls," he fell in love with acting, and well, the rest is history. Since then, Cruise has captivated audiences around the globe, and his transformation is nothing short of amazing.

Tom Cruise sets off to New York City with dreams of becoming a star

Tom Cruise had big plans to become a Hollywood star, and he set off to New York City with his dreams at the forefront. Though he struggled to get his career off the ground in the beginning, he persevered and kept auditioning before landing his debut gig in 1981's "Endless Love," starring icon Brooke Shields. That same year, he appeared alongside Sean Penn in "Taps."

By 1983, Cruise was establishing himself as an up-and-coming heavyweight, snagging roles in 1983's "Losin' It," "Risky Business," and "The Outsiders." He portrayed the character of Steve Randle, a member of the group of young actors dubbed the "Brat Pack," with Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe. Though "The Outsiders" didn't receive the praise it was hoping, the gig led to roles in 1985's "Legend," and ultimately, his iconic starring appearance in 1986's " Top Gun ."

"Top Gun," which became the highest-grossing film of that year (via Chicago Tribune ), confirmed Cruise's status as an A-list actor and catapulted the star into a life of fame and superstardom. According to Box Office Mojo , the action-romance flick, which follows the story of Cruise's character, Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, as he joins an elite naval flight school, has earned more than $176 million in the box office to this day.

Tom Cruise becomes one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors by the 1990s

With "Top Gun" on his résumé, Tom Cruise established himself as a Hollywood hotshot, and by that time, he was making the big bucks. In the late 1990s, Cruise snagged the title of one of showbiz's highest-paid actors in the world, according to Celebrity Net Worth .

The handsome heartthrob had already earned $9 million for 1990's "Days of Thunder" and another $15 million for his work on "Interview With the Vampire" in 1994, but his bank account skyrocketed when he landed the starring role in "Mission Impossible" in 1996. Entertainment Weekly reported he "pocketed $70 million" for the hit action film, and he also "negotiated a chunk of 'Mission's' overall $465 million gross."

Cruise's monetary gain is so impressive that a report from Casumo claims he pockets more than $7,000 per word. "When taking into account everything he's been in for almost 40 years, supposedly it's as much as $7,091 per word," CinemaBlend reported in April 2020.

But, while Cruise has more money than one could ever imagine, the producer knows he has earned every dollar in his $600 million fortune. "I get paid because I'm worth it and they should pay me that much. But I've never done work for money, ever," he shared with Vanity Fair in 2000 (via The Uncool ). "It is my life, it is what I do, it is what I love to do."

Tom Cruise falls in love with Nicole Kidman and starts a family

As he was cementing his place in the entertainment industry, Tom Cruise was also experiencing changes in his love life. The star walked down the aisle with his first wife, Mimi Rogers , in 1987, and they were together for three years. After they split in 1990, though, Cruise was not single for long, as he developed a deep bond with Nicole Kidman when they met on the set of "Days of Thunder."

Cruise wasn't the only one who was instantly smitten. "He swept me off my feet," Kidman recalled to Vanity Fair in December 2002. "I fell madly, passionately in love." Later that year, Cruise and Kidman said "I do," and by 1995, they were the parents of their adopted kids, daughter Isabella Jane Cruise and son Connor Cruise .

Over the next few years, Cruise and Kidman raised their kids while juggling their busy careers as Hollywood stars. In 1997 and 1998, they worked together on "Eyes Wide Shut," an erotic thriller directed by legend Stanley Kubrick. The actor landed other gigs, including 1999's "Magnolia" — which earned him a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor — followed by "Mission: Impossible II" in 2000 (via IMDb ).

Just one year later, though, Cruise experienced turmoil in his personal life as he and Kidman split in 2001. Per Entertainment Weekly , the "Vanilla Sky" lead filed for divorce , citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason.

Tom Cruise marries wife No. 3 Katie Holmes

Following his split from Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise fixated his focus on his acting career, and throughout the early 2000s, he balanced several roles in "Minority Report," "Austin Powers in Goldmember," and "Collateral." By April 2005, Cruise's personal life started making headlines once again when he publicly debuted his relationship with Katie Holmes .

While many speculated their romance was a publicity stunt, as Cruise was starring in "War of the Worlds" while Holmes was cast as the lead in "Batman Begins," they proved how serious they were when they got engaged less than two months later in June, per The Hollywood Reporter . Before they got the chance to walk down the aisle, though, Cruise expanded his family when Holmes gave birth to their daughter, Suri Cruise , in April 2006.

The duo wed seven months later in November, marking Cruise's third trip down the aisle. Marrying the Hollywood hunk was an unbelievable moment for Holmes, who told Seventeen magazine she "used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise" as a little girl (via The Hollywood Reporter). However, their romance eventually came to end in June 2012 when Holmes filed for divorce. At the time, Cruise's attorney called their split "a private matter," adding the actor's No. 1 priority was their "daughter's best interests" (via People ).  

Tom Cruise focuses on his career, Scientology, and love

Following his a string of unsuccessful marriages, Tom Cruise became much more guarded in terms of his personal life. By 2016, Cruise sold both his L.A. mansions and purchased a penthouse in Clearwater, Florida, to focus on his work as a Scientologist. According to People , the home happens to be just one block away from the Church of Scientology's international headquarters.

Cruise has been a committed member of the controversial church since 1990, per Insider , and his involvement has been debated for years, especially since a source told Us Weekly in July 2019 that he's "not allowed" to see Suri. Regardless of the claims, plus the fact that Cruise has not been seen in public with Suri since 2013 , the Church fought back, telling Us, "Everything about your inquiry misrepresents the Church of Scientology."

These days, Cruise is also heavily involved in Hollywood, as he's set to star in several upcoming films . Most impressively, he's cast in an untitled project that will be filmed in space, per The Space Shuttle Almanac (via The Independent ).

Cruise isn't just busy in his professional life, though. The actor is reportedly dating actress Hayley Atwell . The two met on the set of "Mission: Impossible 7" and "hit it off from day one," The Sun reported in December 2020. "They've become fairly inseparable. They get on brilliantly, and both seem very happy." It looks like Cruise's long and admirable journey has certainly paid off.

Den of Geek

Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star Who Gets Better with Age

Tom Cruise returns to the skies for Top Gun: Maverick, but his movie star persona has never touched the ground since 1986. In fact, it’s flying higher than ever.

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It’s not exactly subtle. Appearing in even the first teaser of Top Gun: Maverick —released an astonishing three years ago!— Tom Cruise ’s fighter pilot is getting an epic dressing down from the boss. His superior, Radam. Chester “the Hammer” Cain (Ed Harris), is sick and tired of Maverick’s hot shot ways and insubordination. And he’s here to put the younger man in his place. It’s a scene we’ve witnessed many times, including to iconic effect in the original Top Gun from 1986, and yet the Hammer’s critique of his fiftysomething naval officer is sharper here. More pointed. He is getting at something existential about the trajectory of a man’s life.

“You can’t get a promotion,” Harris’ rear admiral sneers, “you won’t retire, and despite your best efforts, you refuse to die. You should be at least a two-star admiral by now… or a senator. Yet here you are, captain . Why is that?” We then cut to Cruise’s slightly more weathered yet remarkably still boyish face, and he simply teases the outline of a familiar smirk.

The sequence, which comes early in the finished Top Gun: Maverick , is obviously meant to clue us into what its title character has been up to for the past 36 years. But it also works as an admission that Maverick and Cruise’s biographies are entwined. Despite the actor once being weary of doing a Top Gun sequel, and dismissing the idea out of hand in a 1990 Playboy interview, Cruise is back in one of his most beloved roles and doing what he’s always done best: fly really fast planes, drive really fast motorcycles, and look quite cool while doing both.

In many respects, this makes Maverick a rarity: a character study on the life of a movie star who for four decades has operated at the very height of American pop culture and entertainment, and who instead of choosing the path that so many other gifted stars of yesteryear—graduating to the rank of esteemed character actor and a cinematic statesman, becoming a Paul Newman or Robert Redford, who were no strangers to playing senators—he remained the guy in the cockpit, doing it better than anyone his junior. In fact, he’s doing it better than when he was in his junior years.

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In this way, it’s interesting that his superiors in Maverick include Harris. The older actor is only 12 years Cruise’s senior and once played globally renowned fighter pilot John Glenn in The Right Stuff (1983). As the years passed, Glenn became a real-life senator, and Harris is now playing an admiral. Similarly, in Cruise’s signature action movie franchise, Mission: Impossible , the star is often reprimanded by IMF Director Alan Hunley, a character played by Alec Baldwin. Also like Cruise, Baldwin came up in the 1980s and starred in his own classic spy thriller, The Hunt for Red October (1990).

Harris and Baldwin both were “promoted” to the role of the proverbial senator. But Cruise? He’s the last and perhaps only living proof that movie star charisma can endure. It can even get better with age.

Once a Different Type of Movie Star

Before Top Gun was released in 1986, the idea of Tom Cruise as the grinning action star did not exist. After Top Gun , Cruise still at least somewhat resisted being placed only in that box. To be sure, he’d already achieved a certain level celebrity before then by appearing in 1983’s surprise hit Risky Business . But while largely remembered today for the innocuous image of Cruise playing a teenager eager to dance to Bob Seger in his underwear, that picture actually remains a moody and surreal thriller about a young kid who is out of his depth when he’s seduced by a call girl into turning the family home into a brothel.

It brought Cruise attention, but it didn’t make him a household name, nor did the similar romantic teen dramas (and one bizarre Ridley Scott fantasy) he made immediately afterward. Top Gun was the inflection point; the picture where Cruise starred in the highest concept Jerry Bruckeheimer and Don Simpson’s hard-partying offices ever came up with in the ‘80s. This blend of fighter jets, postcard sunsets, and well-tanned male bodies went on to become the biggest movie of 1986 too, not to mention the greatest recruitment video the Navy ever had.

As a result, Cruise was a brand, and one as reliable as Coca-Cola. When it came to the biggest hits of his early career— Top Gun , Cocktail (1988), Days of Thunder (1990)—they all followed a pretty familiar formula as outlined by standup comic Rich Hall . Whether he was a fighter pilot or a yuppie mixologist, he was still the same hotshot who needed to be slightly humbled (but never defeated) by the love of a good woman.

Cruise and his agents obviously agreed to all these lucrative box office hits, but even in those heady Reagan years, there was an initial apprehension by Cruise and his team to let the biggest movie star in the world become only that. As a young man, he made a point to star in those guaranteed moneymakers, as well as passion projects by auteurs. He was Paul Newman’s protégé in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Color of Money (1986), and after Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War reverie, Platoon (1986), won Best Picture, Cruise fought to star in Stone’s next film about that nightmare, Born on the Fourth of July (1989). His unexpected casting as Vietnam vet Ron Kovic, who returned from Southeast Asia paralyzed and as an anti-war activist, still remains the best performance in Cruise’s career.

As Cruise’s star status reached its zenith in the 1990s, he continued to try to be both the brand—hence the first Mission: Impossible movie in 1996—and the leading actor who chased auteurs. Stanley Kubrick; Rob Reiner; Neil Jordan; Paul Thomas Anderson; Michael Mann; Cameron Crowe; Steven Spielberg. He worked with all of them in the most prolific period of his career, sometimes in movies that were intended to be blockbusters, such as the sci-fi one-two punch of Minority Report (2002) and War of the Worlds (2005) with Spielberg, or the seminal military courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992) with Reiner. But, generally speaking, he allowed his star status to get weirdly ambitious projects greenlit and marketed like blockbusters due to his participation.

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And, frankly, even the interesting failures in that category—like Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Kubrick’s arguably unfinished final film that was released after his sudden death and which starred Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the end of their marriage—are more captivating than a lot of the well-oiled star vehicles he was doing concurrently, such as the only bad Mission: Impossible movie, M:I-2 from 2000.

Yet all careers ebb and flow, and the natural order of thing for stars, no matter how bright, is to fade—infamously so in Cruise’s case after his personal life came under heavy scrutiny due to his outspoken (and presumptuous) views about psychotropic medication, his very public courtship of his third wife Katie Holmes (who was 16 years younger), and his general participation in the Church of Scientology.

One year after Cruise gained national derision for jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, Mission: Impossible III (2006) underperformed at the box office, and Paramount made no bones about blaming the actor’s off-screen perception. For a time, the studio even seemed ready to terminate Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character.

This was the point an aging movie star would be expected to recline from that status, accept things will never be as they once were, and take on more character roles like Lions for Lambs (2007), the Robert Redford movie in which Cruise played a senator in a supporting role.

The maverick actor, however, would go on to choose a different path.

A Star Is Reborn

There was a time when Paramount Pictures was entirely done with Cruise as the lead of the Mission: Impossible franchise. After the J.J. Abrams-directed M:I-3 earned substantially less than its predecessor from six years earlier, then-Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone told The Wall Street Journal (via Screen Crush ), “We don’t think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot.” Redstone had Paramount terminate their production deal with Cruise and shutter his office behind the studio’s famous gate. They quite literally pushed the biggest star in the world, who led numerous summer blockbusters for the studio, off the lot.

Typically an event such as this marks the tombstone in a Hollywood lead’s status. It’s the moment where they (and their agent) realize celebrity has waned and it is time for reinvention. But Cruise’s idea of reinvention was not to do a lot more movies like Lions for Lambs ; it ultimately became to do what he had done before… but far better than anyone ever imagined was possible.

Admittedly, the moment of grace and public rehabilitation came from a smaller supporting role, in-keeping with that time he might’ve played a narcissistic motivational speaker in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999), except in Tropic Thunder (2008), Cruise’s ability to completely over-commit to a seedy character role was dialed up to 11 in a mainstream comedy where he personified what has long been speculated to be a parody of then-Hollywood power player Scott Rudin (whom Cruise worked with on 1993’s The Firm ). Under pounds of prosthetics and makeup, Cruise looked unrecognizable as Les Grossman, a fictional late 2000s-studio mogul as repugnant as his pun-y name might suggest… and just as entertaining.

The public enthusiasm over Cruise’s Grossman dancing to hip-hop during Tropic Thunder ’s end credits may have been the last of two footholds Cruise had to salvage his stardust. The other was a continued friendship with Abrams, who despite helming the only Mission: Impossible movie to take a bath at the box office came out of the experience smelling like roses to the studio. He even became a golden boy when he reinvented Paramount’s Star Trek franchise in 2009 with the movie that turned it seemingly into a long-running action saga in the Star Wars mold.

It was the success of Tropic Thunder , and Abrams’ wingman-ing, that caused the studio to agree to let Cruise return for M:I-4 … if Cruise also agreed they could cast a new leading man who would be set up to take over the franchise in the following film(s).

If you go back and study the marketing material for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), it’s now amusing how hard Paramount pushed Jeremy Renner as franchise newcomer William Brandt. On the poster, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is intentionally made to look older and weathered for the first time, adorning a hoodie to hide Cruise’s famous black mane of hair. Meanwhile, over his shoulder, stands a crisp and bespoke Renner: a fresh face at the literal right hand. Similarly, almost every trailer concluded with the moment Cruise’s Ethan Hunt pulls a gun on Brandt, and Renner’s new protagonist is able to disarm him and hold Cruise at gunpoint instead. A supposed heir apparent has emerged, or so went the implication. And this one is an Avenger .

Yet something that Paramount’s top brass perhaps did not expect was also emerging in the fourth Mission: Impossible : a middle-aged and chastened Cruise deciding that, with his star status diminished, he’d re-commit to the type of big screen spectacle that made him a household name in the first place. He’d obviously been that guy ever since audiences first got a glimpse of Maverick zooming across a military runway on a motorcycle at sunset in Top Gun . But back then, the motorcycle might’ve been real, and the naval jets definitely were, but Cruise was (almost never) flying in them.

Yet alongside Incredibles director Brad Bird, the middle-aged star now engineered some of the most spectacular stunts ever put to screen in Ghost Protocol , and he did them all. When you see Ethan Hunt pull a proverbial Spider-Man and wallcrawl—and run, and skip—alongside the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, that’s really him doing it. Tobey Maguire used CGI, but Cruise is hanging from a rope as he dangles around a manmade colossus.

Similarly, as an actor previously publicized for doing his own stunts, Cruise used this pivot point in his career to better highlight that fact in long, wide, and dazzling shots that bucked the modern trend of relying on rapid editing. Bird let audiences savor that Cruise is the guy up there. And by the time the actor found his collaborative soulmates in stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood and director Christopher McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), the whole marketing likewise shifted toward that aspect. Entire posters for M:I-5 were nothing more than photographic evidence that Cruise was the one actor seemingly crazy enough to hang from the side of a plane that’s taking off. Meanwhile Renner’s Brandt was reduced to a true supporting role in that one before not appearing at all in 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout .

Top Gun: Maverick Review – Tom Cruise Sticks Landing

The First Mission: Impossible Still Has One of the Greatest Action Set Pieces

The last american movie star.

So, yes, Cruise was able to wrestle control back over the Mission: Impossible movies and genuinely make them better than ever, with each of the last three installments surpassing what came before. But more than that, when given the choice of “retirement” or “promotion,” Cruise like Maverick defied the odds and stayed in the cockpit, achieving feats never before seen in his field despite his advancing age.

The context of this in the larger industry is striking. With the infamous exception of 2017’s The Mummy reboot , the 2010s saw an older Cruise retain a commitment to what is obviously traditional blockbuster storytelling. But it is also incredibly well-crafted, intelligent storytelling executed at the peak of Hollywood resources.

Ever since reclaiming Mission: Impossible and his status, the actor has eschewed the auteur projects he coveted in his youth, but the blockbusters he’s doubled down on have improved: Jack Reacher (2012), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), American Made (2017), the three aforementioned M:I movies, and now Top Gun: Maverick are all exceedingly well-made spectacles in which filmmaking craft is at the highest bleeding edge. The emphasis on sharp writing, much of it done by Oscar-winner McQuarrie, is arguably even higher too, which is why McQuarrie became the first director to helm more than one Mission: Impossible movie, and seems poised to draw a curtain on the franchise with the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning two-parter that continues his novel innovation of actually developing Ethan Hunt into a character instead of an archetype.

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In a vacuum, this is impressive. But in contrast with the rest of the industry that is chasing interconnected shared universes in the Marvel Studios vein, and a style that values spectacle generated in a computer (and storytelling that appears to be going in an endless circle), it feels like a life raft. Sometimes the old ways are the best. And while it’s nice that movie stardom is more prolific than ever before with a greater diversity of voices and faces in front of the screen, the entire next generation of “stars” seem obligated to make a Faustian bargain where their success hangs on their likenesses being encased in the plastic uniform of a comic book character.

Conversely, and against all odds, Cruise has maintained his own name as the true brand. Mission: Impossible is technically based on an intellectual property, but you’d be crazier than Hunt if you think its fandom comes from adulation of a 1960s TV show. It’s Cruise’s insistence on maintaining the quality of the writing, the acting, and the stunts which has kept people coming back. Consider that despite the fact he’s pushing 60, Cruise is beloved more than any Hollywood leading man since the days of Douglas Fairbanks for his daredevil antics. It was even while mimicking one of Fairbanks’ between-rooftops leaps in Fallout that Cruise broke an ankle. Nonetheless, they kept filming (the take with his injury is in the finished film) and ultimately incorporated his limp into the movie’s finale.

That style of movie stardom feels like a revenant from the past in the 21st century. That style of stardom felt like a revenant in the late 20th century when Cruise was in his heyday and not actually flying any planes in Top Gun . And yet, as Jennifer Connelly recently attested to us, that’s really him piloting her in a single engine plane in Top Gun: Maverick .

In 2020, Cruise’s intensity came under scrutiny again during the filming of the first forthcoming Dead Reckoning movie. Shooting during the early days of the pandemic—and at a period before there was a vaccine—he apparently was enraged when he saw crew members not practicing social distancing or properly wearing their masks.

“We want the gold standard,” Cruise bellowed. “They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us! Because they believe in us and what we’re doing! I’m on the phone with every fucking studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they’re looking at us [as the example for how] to make their movies.”

Overly harsh? Maybe. Indicative of an inflated hero complex? Most probably. But proof of an ironclad dedication to the art and commerce of moviemaking in the old school Hollywood sense? Absolutely.

Once, in a different era, Cruise starred opposite another movie star who was at a transition point in his career, Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men . In that movie’s classic finale, which was penned by a young Aaron Sorkin, Cruise’s Lt. Daniel Kaffee attempts to get Nicholson’s Col. Nathan R. Jessep to confess culpability in a crime. It’s most famous now for Cruise finally shouting, “I want the truth,” and Nicolson screaming in response, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Yet there’s another gem of a line in this sequence where Nicholson, justifying his hardline tactics, explains, “We live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded… you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.”

For about 40 years, Cruise has stood on a wall of his own, and he may very well be the last man up there in 2022. One day, as Harris’ rear admiral suggests in Top Gun 2 , he will have to retire and come on down. Moviegoers will be the poorer for it. But not today. Today, the wall looks taller than ever.

David Crow | @DCrowsNest

David Crow is the movies editor at Den of Geek. He has long been proud of his geek credentials. Raised on cinema classics that ranged from…