facts tom cruise

38 Facts About Tom Cruise

Written by Dyanne Bertsch

Modified & Updated: 31 May 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

Tom Cruise is one of the most recognizable and influential actors in Hollywood. With a career spanning over three decades, Cruise has left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry through his charismatic performances, daring stunts, and relentless pursuit of excellence. From his breakout role in “Risky Business” to his iconic portrayal of Ethan Hunt in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, Cruise has proven time and again that he is a force to be reckoned with.

Aside from his successful acting career , Cruise is also known for his off-screen persona. From his highly publicized relationships to his involvement in the controversial Church of Scientology , Cruise’s personal life has often made headlines. However, there are many fascinating facts about Cruise that are less known to the general public. In this article, we will delve into 38 intriguing facts about Tom Cruise, shedding light on the man behind the superstar and uncovering some lesser-known aspects of his life and career.

Key Takeaways:

• Tom Cruise is a dedicated actor known for performing his own stunts and starring in blockbuster movies , earning him a strong fan following and numerous accolades.
• Tom Cruise is a multi-talented celebrity with a passion for flying, philanthropy, and environmental advocacy, showcasing his diverse interests and impactful contributions.

Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962.

Tom Cruise, whose full name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, was born in Syracuse, New York .

Tom Cruise made his film debut in 1981 in the movie “Endless Love.”

He had a small role in the film, but it marked the beginning of his successful acting career.

Tom Cruise’s breakthrough role came in the 1983 film “Risky Business.”

His portrayal of Joel Goodson, a high school student involved in a risky business venture, earned him widespread recognition.

Tom Cruise is known for performing his own stunts in movies.

His dedication and fearlessness have allowed him to execute incredible action sequences in films like the “Mission: Impossible ” series.

Tom Cruise is a dedicated Scientologist.

He has been a prominent member of the Church of Scientology for many years.

Tom Cruise has been married three times.

He was previously married to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes .

Tom Cruise has three children.

He has a daughter named Suri from his marriage to Katie Holmes, and two adopted children, Isabella and Connor Cruise .

Tom Cruise has received three Academy Award nominations.

Although he has yet to win an Oscar, his talent and versatility as an actor have been recognized by the Academy.

Tom Cruise has a pilot’s license.

He is a skilled pilot and owns several aircraft.

Tom Cruise is known for his intense workout routines.

He is dedicated to maintaining a fit physique and often performs his own stunts, which require a high level of physical fitness.

Tom Cruise is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.

His box office success and worldwide fame have allowed him to command hefty salaries for his film roles.

Tom Cruise has starred in several iconic films.

Some of his most notable movies include “Top Gun,” “Jerry Maguire,” “ Rain Man ,” and “A Few Good Men.

Tom Cruise has worked with renowned directors.

He has collaborated with directors like Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, and Christopher McQuarrie .

Tom Cruise has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He received this prestigious honor in 1986 for his contributions to the entertainment industry.

Tom Cruise has a production company called Cruise/Wagner Productions.

He co-founded the company with his former producing partner, Paula Wagner.

Tom Cruise is known for his philanthropic efforts.

He has donated to numerous charitable organizations and has been involved in humanitarian work.

Tom Cruise has had a successful career as a producer.

He has produced several films, including “Mission: Impossible” movies and “Edge of Tomorrow.”

Tom Cruise is a dedicated father.

Despite his busy schedule, he makes time for his children and is actively involved in their lives.

Tom Cruise has a passion for flying.

In addition to being a pilot, he enjoys flying helicopters and has even trained with the United States Navy for his role in “ Top Gun: Maverick .

Tom Cruise has been honored with numerous awards throughout his career.

He has received accolades from various organizations and film festivals for his outstanding performances.

Tom Cruise is known for his infectious smile.

His charming smile has captivated audiences worldwide and is often mentioned as one of his trademark features.

Tom Cruise is a dedicated advocate for the environment.

He has actively supported and promoted initiatives to protect the planet .

Tom Cruise has a black belt in Kenpo karate.

He trained in martial arts for many years and incorporates his skills into his action-packed movie roles.

Tom Cruise has a close friendship with fellow actor and director, Steven Spielberg.

The two have collaborated on multiple projects and share a mutual respect for each other’s work.

Tom Cruise has a strong work ethic.

He is known for his dedication to his craft and his commitment to delivering outstanding performances.

Tom Cruise is involved in various charitable causes.

He has supported organizations such as the Red Cross , the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and the Church of Scientology’s charitable initiatives.

Tom Cruise has been honored with a Golden Globe Award.

He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in the film “Jerry Maguire.”

Tom Cruise has a strong fan following.

His charismatic personality and impressive body of work have gained him millions of devoted fans around the world.

Tom Cruise is known for his dedication to his roles.

He goes to great lengths to immerse himself in the characters he portrays, often undergoing intense training and research.

Tom Cruise has been recognized with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.

This prestigious award is granted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry.

Tom Cruise has starred in numerous blockbuster movies.

His films have grossed billions of dollars at the box office, solidifying his status as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Tom Cruise is known for his humanitarian efforts.

He has been involved in various charity projects, including helping to fund schools, hospitals, and relief efforts in areas affected by natural disasters.

Tom Cruise is a skilled motorcyclist.

He has been seen riding motorcycles in several of his movies and is known for his love of adrenaline-fueled activities .

Tom Cruise has received the Harvard Lampoon’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award.

This award is presented annually to individuals who have made a lasting impact on the world of entertainment.

Tom Cruise is known for his meticulous attention to detail.

He is involved in every aspect of his film projects, from script development to editing.

Tom Cruise has a successful career as a film producer.

He has produced films such as “Valkyrie,” “Jack Reacher,” and “The Mummy.”

Tom Cruise has starred in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

He is famous for his role as Ethan Hunt , a skilled and daring IMF agent.

Tom Cruise continues to be a box office draw.

His popularity and talent ensure that his movies consistently perform well at the box office.

Tom Cruise is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most influential celebrities in Hollywood. With a career spanning decades , he has cemented his status as a versatile actor, producer, and director. From his iconic role in “Top Gun” to his mesmerizing performances in “Mission: Impossible” series, Cruise has consistently delivered captivating performances that have thrilled audiences worldwide.

Behind the scenes, Cruise is known for his dedication, work ethic, and commitment to his craft. He performs many of his own stunts, which has only added to his reputation as an action star and further endeared him to his fans.

As Tom Cruise continues to mesmerize audiences with his talent and charm, there’s no doubt that he will remain an enduring and beloved figure in the world of entertainment for years to come.

Q: How old is Tom Cruise?

A: As of 2021, Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, which makes him 59 years old.

Q: What is Tom Cruise’s net worth?

A: Tom Cruise has an estimated net worth of around $600 million, making him one of the wealthiest actors in Hollywood.

Q: How many times has Tom Cruise been married?

A: Tom Cruise has been married three times. He was previously married to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes.

Q: What are some of Tom Cruise’s most famous movies?

A: Some of Tom Cruise’s most famous movies include “Top Gun,” “Mission: Impossible” series, “Jerry Maguire,” “Rain Man,” and “ A Few Good Men ,” among others.

Q: Does Tom Cruise perform his own stunts?

A: Yes, Tom Cruise is known for performing many of his own stunts in his movies, which adds an extra level of authenticity and excitement to his action-packed roles.

Q: Has Tom Cruise won any awards?

A: Yes, Tom Cruise has won several awards throughout his career, including three Golden Globe Awards and three Academy Award nominations.

Cruise's captivating performances extend beyond his personal life. His iconic role in " Rain Man " showcased his versatility as an actor. " American Made " highlighted his ability to bring real-life stories to the big screen with finesse. Fans eagerly awaited his return as Maverick in the sequel to the beloved action film " Top Gun ." Cruise's dedication to his craft and his ability to choose compelling projects have solidified his status as a Hollywood legend.

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12 Things You Might Not Know About Tom Cruise

By jake rossen | may 28, 2024.

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.

He was a pretty good high school wrestler., cruise auditioned for risky business with a chipped tooth., he didn’t love cocktail ., cruise directed an episode of television., cruise took heat for two adaptations., cruise could have been in the shawshank redemption ., cruise was involved in one of the longest film shoots of all time., he has a cousin who is also an actor., cruise rescued multiple people from maritime disaster., he asked to be included in a photo with some famous directors., cruise gifts colleagues with hundreds of holiday cakes..

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:

Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including Risky Business , A Few Good Men , The Firm , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Who Is Tom Cruise?

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child to accommodate his father's career.

Cruise'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.

'Taps,' '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, struggling 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 film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

'Risky Business'

His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. 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.

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 film of 1986.

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

Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. He first starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , and then went on to work 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 film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

'Mission: Impossible,' 'Jerry McGuire'

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996), which the star also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'Eyes Wide Shut,' 'Magnolia'

Cruise and then-wife Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick 's final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that 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,' 'The Last Samurai'

Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, alongside Anthony Hopkins , Thandie Newton and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with 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 Spielberg-directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in 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 Cruise's high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Cruise quickly rebounded and on November 2, 2006, he announced his 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,' '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.

Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol . Breaking into new territory, he then 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'

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise starred in 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 franchise, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation .

Latest Movies and Familiar Franchises

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for 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 .

2018 brought a return to familiar territory for Cruise, who starred in Mission Impossible —Fallout that summer. Prior to its release, he tweeted a photo to mark day 1 of production on the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick , scheduled for a June 2020 release.

Scientology and Personal Life

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents. However, while his spiritual life flourished, his marriage to Rogers ended in 1990. That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder alongside Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

Divorce from Kidman

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. The couple has 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 actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!"

Marriage to Katie Holmes

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. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former 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.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That year, 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 wouldn't last, and in June 2012, the couple announced their separation.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1962
• Birth date: July 3, 1962
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Syracuse
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including 'Risky Business,' 'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm,' 'Jerry Maguire' and the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
• Astrological Sign: Cancer

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Tom Cruise Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tom-cruise
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 26, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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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 .

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• 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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• Born July 3 , 1962 · Syracuse, New York, USA
• Birth name Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
• Height 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born in 1962 in Syracuse, New York, was destined to become one of the highest paid and most sought after actors in screen history. Tom is the only son (among four children) of nomadic parents, Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and he has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with his mother and her new husband. While in high school, Tom wanted to become a priest but pretty soon he developed an interest in acting and abandoned his plans of becoming a priest, dropped out of school, and at age 18 headed for New York and a possible acting career. The next 15 years of his life are the stuff of legends. He made his film debut with a small part in Endless Love (1981) and from the outset exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences. With handsome movie star looks and a charismatic smile, within 5 years Tom Cruise was starring in some of the top-grossing films of the 1980s including Top Gun (1986) ; The Color of Money (1986) , Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) . By the 1990s he was one of the highest-paid actors in the world earning an average 15 million dollars a picture in such blockbuster hits as Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) , Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996) , for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for best actor. Tom Cruise's biggest franchise, Mission Impossible, has also earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise. In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. A kind and thoughtful man well known for his compassion and generosity, Tom Cruise is one of the best liked members of the movie community. He was married to actress Nicole Kidman until 2001. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV has indeed come a long way from the lonely wanderings of his youth to become one of the biggest movie stars ever. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom McDonough, Grant failor
• Spouses Katie Holmes (November 18, 2006 - August 20, 2012) (divorced, 1 child) Nicole Kidman (December 24, 1990 - August 8, 2001) (divorced, 2 children) Mimi Rogers (May 9, 1987 - February 4, 1990) (divorced)
• Children Isabella Jane Cruise Suri Cruise Connor Cruise
• Parents Thomas Mapother III Mary Lee Pfeiffer
• Relatives William Mapother (Cousin) Amy Mapother (Cousin) Katherine Mapother (Cousin) Lee Anne De Vette (Sibling)
• Often plays romantic leading men with an edge
• Often plays characters caught up in extraordinary circumstances
• Frequently plays intelligent yet laidback and likeable characters
• Beaming smile and intense eye contact
• Boundless off-stage energy
• 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.
• Stopped to help a hit and run victim and paid her hospital bills. The victim was aspiring Brazilian actress Heloisa Vinhas (1996).
• Insists on performing many of his own stunts in his films, including climbing the exterior of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during the filming of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) , and driving during the car chases in Jack Reacher (2012) .
• Cruise earned roughly $75 million for Mission: Impossible II (2000) . He did this by turning down any upfront salary, for instead taking a back-end deal that landed him 30% of the film's gross for both his producing and acting duties.
• He did not stay for the remainder of the 2002 Academy Awards after opening them because it was his turn to look after his and ex-wife Nicole Kidman 's children. He reportedly left the Kodak Theatre by a back door after opening proceedings and dashed home to watch the rest of the event on television with his kids Connor and Isabella.
• 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.
• [to Jay Leno regarding his topless Vanity Fair cover shoot] I don't drink but I had a beer that night and they only did one setup like that. I'm a cheap date. What can I say?
• [on Eyes Wide Shut (1999) ] We knew from the beginning the level of commitment needed. We felt honored to work with Stanley Kubrick . We were going to do what it took to do this picture, whatever time, because I felt - and Nic [ Nicole Kidman ] did, too - that this was going to be a really special time for us. We knew it would be difficult. But I would have absolutely kicked myself if I hadn't done this.
• I have cooked turkeys in my day but when Mom's around I let her do it.
• I was 18 when I saw Akira Kurosawa 's Seven Samurai (1954) . After about 30 seconds, I realized that this was not just a cultural thing, it was universal. Years later, I read Bushido. It talked about many things that I strive for in my own life: loyalty, compassion, responsibility, the idea of looking back on your life and taking responsibility for everything you've ever done. I'm fascinated by the samurai and the samurai code - it's one of the main reasons I wanted to make The Last Samurai (2003) .
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2025) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
• Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
• The Mummy (2017) - $13,000,000 + % of gross
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - $12,500,000 + % of back end

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Tom Cruise fun facts: 10 things you might not know about the ‘Maverick’ star

• Updated: Jun. 25, 2022, 3:01 p.m. |
• Published: Jun. 25, 2022, 3:00 p.m.

A look at Tom Cruise through the years. (AP)

• Mike Rose, cleveland.com

Considered by some to be Hollywood’s last action hero , Tom Cruise is currently flying high as his sequel to “Top Gun” is one of the biggest box-office hits of 2022. As he approaches his 60th birthday next weekend, we decided to take a look back at Cruise’s career and share some interesting facts about the actor.

Check out the slideshow below to learn more about his past, see photos of Tom Cruise over the years and much more.

10 things you might not know about Tom Cruise

The skyline is seen on Monday, Sept. 21, 2015, in Syracuse, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) AP

1. He was almost born on the 4th of July

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, NY on July 3, 1962

2. He spent several years living in Canada

Cruise’s family spent time living in Ottawa when his father took a job as a defense consultant. They moved back to the U.S. after his parents divorced.

3. He could have been Fr. Tom

Cruise spent some time studying at a seminary in Cincinnati before deciding to pursue an acting career.

Actor Tom Cruise poses with his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, Oct. 16, 1986. Cruise starred in 'Risky Business' and 'Top Gun,' and will be starring with Paul Newman in 'The Color of Money.' (AP Photo/Nick Ut) AP

4. Career highlights

Tom’s first film role came with ‘Endless Love’ in 1981. ‘Top Gun’ was his first major action blockbuster in 1986. He starred in the first of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ films in 1996.

U.S. actor William Mapother, cousin of actor Tom Cruise arrives at a restaurant for dinner with Cruise and his fiancee U.S. actress Katie Holmes in Rome, Thursday Nov. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) AP

4. His cousin is also an actor

Cruise has appeared in multiple films with his cousin William Mapother, including “Rain Man” and “Born on the Fourth of July”

Photos of Tom Cruise with Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. (AP)

5. His leading ladies

Tom has been married three times, first to Mimi Rogers in 1987 and followed by Nicole Kidman in 1990. He and Katie Holmes married in 2006 and divorced in 2012. He’s also dated actresses Penelope Cruz and Rebecca De Mornay.

Photos of Tom Cruise with his children, Connor and Isabella and with daughter Suri. (AP)

6. The next generation

Tom has one biological daughter, Suri, and two adopted children, Isabella and Connor

Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Keanu Reeves at Cannes. (AP)

7. Other roles

Cruise was reportedly considered for the leading role of Neo in ‘The Matrix’ and was Marvel’s first choice to play Tony Stark early in the planning for ‘Iron Man.’

The principals of this years' best film, from left, Mark Johnson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Barry Levinson are all smiles as they display their "Oscars" in Los Angeles, March 29, 1989 after "Rain Man" was named best film. This was the 61st Annual Academy Awards. (AP Photo) AP

8. Awards season

Tom has been nominated for Academy Awards 3 times: For ‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Magnolia’ and won a Golden Globe for each role.

The Ohio State University Marching Band performs at the 133rd Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker) AP

Following a Top Gun-themed halftime show, Cruise set up an exclusive screening for OSU’s band to see ‘Maverick’

Actor Tom Cruise waves to fans as co-actress Hayley Atwell smiles during a break in the shooting of the film Mission Impossible 7 a in Rome, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) AP

10. What’s next for Tom?

Cruise has two more ‘Mission: Impossible’ films on the schedule as well as the potential for a sequel to ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

Prior celebrity fun facts (Associated Press)

More celebrity fun facts

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Danielle Fishel and the ‘Boy Meets World’ cast

A look at prior movie and tv-related fun fact lists (Associated Press)

Movie and TV fun facts & more

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Oscars hosts since 1989

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Relive your childhood with these 120 Hanna-Barbera cartoons

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61 Random Tom Cruise Facts to Celebrate His 61st Birthday

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

The post 61 Random Tom Cruise Facts to Celebrate His 61st Birthday appeared first on Consequence .

This article was originally published in 2022 with 60 facts, to celebrate Tom Cruise’s 60th birthday. It has been updated to include 61 facts, in celebration of his 61st. 

The life, career, and legacy of Tom Cruise is epic, dramatic, sometimes complicated, but impossible to ignore. One of our last remaining old-school movie stars, who’s proven capable of great range over the years, Cruise has wielded his power in Hollywood to create unforgettable film moments and behind-the-scenes innovations, constantly pushing himself to new extremes with each passing day.

To appreciate his complexity and talent on the occasion of this, his 61st birthday, we’ve compiled 61 facts that only hint at why Tom Cruise remains one of the most famous men on the planet. He’s been grinning that signature grin and running his damn heart out for over 40 years on screen, and he shows very little sign of stopping anytime soon.

1. Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

2. Tom Cruise’s cousin William Mapother is also an actor, most notably known for playing the role of Ethan in Lost .

3. Here is an incomplete list of the directors that Tom Cruise has worked with over the years: Barry Levinson, Ben Stiller, Brad Bird, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Christopher McQuarrie, Curtis Hanson, Doug Liman, Edward Zwick, Francis Ford Coppola, Franco Zeffirelli, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Rob Reiner, John Woo, Michael Mann, and Steven Spielberg.

4. At the beginning of his career, the actor starred in six films over the span of only two years: Endless Love (1981), Taps (1981), The Outsiders (1983), Losin’ It (1983), Risky Business (1983), and All The Right Moves (1983).

5. Tom Cruise was 19 in his first film, playing Billy in Endless Love .

6. Top Gun: Maverick is Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film , surpassing $1 billion at the box office. The film is Paramount’s second domestic highest-grossing film, following Titanic .

7. Attended the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio in New School University, New York, where he studied drama.

8. Tom Cruise has been nominated for an Oscar three times, twice as lead actor for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire , and then as supporting actor in Magnolia .

9. Although he has been nominated three times, Cruise has yet to win an Oscar.

10. Tom Cruise has not been nominated for an Oscar since the year 2000.

11. Cruise did win three Golden Globe awards for Born on the Fourth of July , Jerry Maguire , and Magnolia .

12. In May 2021, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globe Awards to protest the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of racial diversity and alleged moral misconduct.

13. At age seven, Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia .

14. Tom Cruise was introduced to Scientology in the 1980s by his first wife, Mimi Rogers.

15. Tom Cruise claims that his dyslexia was cured by Scientology .

16. An infamous Tom Cruise promotional video about Scientology, leaked online in January 2008 , was parodied in the spoof film Superhero Movie , with actor Miles Fisher playing the Tom Cruise role.

17. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has nominated him four times for a less than auspicious award: Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest. He won in 2019 for Mission: Impossible – Fallout , alongside co-star Rebecca Ferguson.

18. Tom Cruise has exactly one television credit — for directing. He helmed the episode “The Frightening Frammis” for the 1993 Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels .

19. He has yet to act in an actual TV show, outside of talk show and award show appearances.

20. On October 16, 1986, Cruise earned his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

21. Tom Cruise performs a majority of his own stunts, including climbing the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol .

22. Tom Cruise did all of his own stunts in the film Edge of Tomorrow .

23. Tom Cruise helped rebuild the film studio United Artists with Paula Wagner in the 2000s, though the effort was ultimately unsuccessful .

24. Disney used Tom Cruise’s “persona” as a model for the title character of Aladdin .

25. Tom Cruise has refused for his likeness to be made into action figures .

26. Growing up, the actor went to 15 different schools in the span of only 14 years.

27. As a young boy he helped support his mom by doing odd jobs like cutting grass and selling Christmas and Easter cards.

28. Tom Cruise took up acting after a knee injury put a halt on his wrestling career in high school.

29. As a teenager, Cruise starred in Glen Ridge High School’s production of Guys And Dolls , playing Nathan Detroit .

30. In terms of cars, Tom Cruise’s “coming of age ride” was a used Dodge Colt .

31. In 1994, Cruise received his pilot license. He owns a Gulfstream G450 .

32. In addition to flying, Cruise also skydives and scuba dives in his free time.

33. David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, was Cruise’s best man for two of his weddings — first in 1990 to Nicole Kidman and then in 2006 to Katie Holmes.

34. He married Katie Holmes after proposing to her on the top of the Eiffel Tower . Before they even knew each other, Holmes had a longtime crush on Cruise, beginning when she was a young girl.

35. Tom Cruise’s 2005 appearance on Oprah , where he famously jumped the couch, was one of the first viral videos on YouTube. It also spawned several parodies, from Family Guy to Scary Movie 4 .

36. Cruise was the recipient of MTV’s first Generation Award in 2005, an award given to a professional with a variety of roles, personal flair, and great talent.

37. Cruise worked with his on-screen idol, Paul Newman, on the film The Color of Money , and the two bonded over their love of racing .

38. After his own struggle with dyslexia, Cruise founded the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, where he serves as a board member.

39. In 1996, Tom Cruise stopped to help a woman named Heloisa Vinhas after she was in a hit and run accident , and he later paid her hospital bills.

40. In 1998, he also helped chase down robbers who stole nearly $160,000 worth of jewelry during a mugging in London .

Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)

41. Tom Cruise has three siblings, Cass, Marian, and Lee Anne Mathpother. Lee Anne served as his publicist for a short time.

42. The infamous dance from Risky Business was improvised by Cruise .

43. In 2014, Japan declared October 10th to be Tom Cruise Day . At the time, Cruise had made more trips to the country than any other Hollywood star.

44. One of Tom Cruise’s first big purchases after Risky Business was a car for his younger sister , who he had promised he would pay back for helping him with his paper route.

45. He also paid for his sister’s college tuition.

46. His first celebrity crush was Ingrid Bergman in Notorious .

47. Cruise purchased one of his first motorcycles at the age of 10 . He hid it from his mother and ended up crashing it not long after purchasing it.

48. While on set for The Last Samurai , Tom Cruise was almost majorly injured due to a stunt malfunction causing his co-star to swing his blade at the wrong time. The other actor stopped himself moments before injuring Cruise.

49. Initially, Cruise was the first choice for the lead in Marvel’s Iron Man , but he turned down the role.

50. Cruise was also reportedly considered for the role of Neo in The Matrix .

51. In the same year — 1988 — Cruise starred in the Oscar winner for Best Picture ( Rain Man ) and the Razzie winner for worst film ( Cocktail ).

52. Initially, Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire , was displeased with the casting of Cruise for the movie adaptation. However, after the movie was released, she retracted her position and praised Cruise for his work on the film.

53. Tom Cruise was the first actor to star in five consecutive films that hit $100 million in the box office: A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996), and Jerry Maguire (1996).

54. Famous for his wild stunts, Cruise actually performed the “Knife in the Eye” scene from Mission Impossible II with a real knife. The knife was mere millimeters from his eye.

55. In 2018, Rotten Tomatoes calculated that, on average, films where Cruise runs more distance on screen tend to do better critically and commercially.

56. Cruise set up a private screening of Top Gun: Maverick for The Ohio State Marching Band after the band performed a Top Gun- themed half-time show.

57. Reportedly, sales of Ray-Ban Wayfarers skyrocketed following Cruise wearing them in Risky Business . The sunglasses company was considering discontinuing the now-iconic glasses prior to the spike in popularity.

58. Cruise held his breath for over six minutes while shooting an underwater sequence for Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation . (Kate Winslet did manage to break his record during the filming of Avatar 2 .)

59. Cruise has said he only eats 1,200 calories a day , most of which is veggies and protein.

60. While there have been questions over the years as to how many movies Tom Cruise has actually seen , we have since confirmed one movie he definitely saw: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet , in July 2020 . (He wore a mask.)

61. In February 2023, Steven Spielberg told Tom Cruise that “you saved Hollywood’s ass ,” thanks to the record-setting box office of Top Gun: Maverick .

Happy birthday, Tom Cruise.

61 Random Tom Cruise Facts to Celebrate His 61st Birthday Consequence Staff

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61 Random Tom Cruise Facts to Celebrate His 61st Birthday

This guy will never stop running

This article was originally published in 2022 with 60 facts, to celebrate Tom Cruise’s 60th birthday. It has been updated to include 61 facts, in celebration of his 61st. 

The life, career, and legacy of Tom Cruise is epic, dramatic, sometimes complicated, but impossible to ignore. One of our last remaining old-school movie stars, who’s proven capable of great range over the years, Cruise has wielded his power in Hollywood to create unforgettable film moments and behind-the-scenes innovations, constantly pushing himself to new extremes with each passing day.

To appreciate his complexity and talent on the occasion of this, his 61st birthday, we’ve compiled 61 facts that only hint at why Tom Cruise remains one of the most famous men on the planet. He’s been grinning that signature grin and running his damn heart out for over 40 years on screen, and he shows very little sign of stopping anytime soon.

1. Tom Cruise’s real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

2. Tom Cruise’s cousin William Mapother is also an actor, most notably known for playing the role of Ethan in Lost .

3. Here is an incomplete list of the directors that Tom Cruise has worked with over the years: Barry Levinson, Ben Stiller, Brad Bird, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Christopher McQuarrie, Curtis Hanson, Doug Liman, Edward Zwick, Francis Ford Coppola, Franco Zeffirelli, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Rob Reiner, John Woo, Michael Mann, and Steven Spielberg.

4. At the beginning of his career, the actor starred in six films over the span of only two years: Endless Love (1981), Taps (1981), The Outsiders (1983), Losin’ It (1983), Risky Business (1983), and All The Right Moves (1983).

5. Tom Cruise was 19 in his first film, playing Billy in Endless Love .

6. Top Gun: Maverick is Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film , surpassing $1 billion at the box office. The film is Paramount’s second domestic highest-grossing film, following Titanic .

7. Attended the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio in New School University, New York, where he studied drama.

8. Tom Cruise has been nominated for an Oscar three times, twice as lead actor for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire , and then as supporting actor in Magnolia .

9. Although he has been nominated three times, Cruise has yet to win an Oscar.

10. Tom Cruise has not been nominated for an Oscar since the year 2000.

11. Cruise did win three Golden Globe awards for Born on the Fourth of July , Jerry Maguire , and Magnolia .

12. In May 2021, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globe Awards to protest the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of racial diversity and alleged moral misconduct.

13. At age seven, Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia .

14. Tom Cruise was introduced to Scientology in the 1980s by his first wife, Mimi Rogers.

15. Tom Cruise claims that his dyslexia was cured by Scientology .

16. An infamous Tom Cruise promotional video about Scientology, leaked online in January 2008 , was parodied in the spoof film Superhero Movie , with actor Miles Fisher playing the Tom Cruise role.

17. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has nominated him four times for a less than auspicious award: Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest. He won in 2019 for Mission: Impossible – Fallout , alongside co-star Rebecca Ferguson.

18. Tom Cruise has exactly one television credit — for directing. He helmed the episode “The Frightening Frammis” for the 1993 Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels .

19. He has yet to act in an actual TV show, outside of talk show and award show appearances.

20. On October 16, 1986, Cruise earned his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Everything you need to know about Tom Cruise: Net worth, love life and more

Get to know the mission impossible star here.

There's no doubt that Tom Cruise is one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood.

The 61-year-old star has appeared in over 50 movies since he first rose to fame in the eighties and the actor shows no signs of slowing down. He recently wrapped up filming for both the 7th Mission Impossible instalment and the hotly-anticipated Top Gun  sequel .

But what do you know about Tom's life away from the cameras? From his net worth to his love life, keep reading for everything you need to know about the star...

What is Tom Cruise's net worth?

Thanks to his decades of work both in front of and behind the camera, Tom has amassed quite the personal fortune. He landed his breakout role in the coming-of-age comedy Risky Business in 1983 and worked non-stop throughout the eighties and nineties before turning his hand to producing. 

These days, he's known for both starring in and producing the blockbuster Mission Impossible  franchise.

His current net worth is estimated to be $600 million , making him one of the richest actors in the world. It is believed that he makes around $50 million a year.

How tall is Tom Cruise?

Tom is 1.7m tall – or 5" 7 in feet and inches. I n 2011, the actor revealed that he is "very sensitive" about his height  after it was announced he would be bringing the character of Jack Reacher from page to screen. 

At the time, fans pointed out that he was a whole ten inches shorter than the towering hero of Lee Child's thriller series and caused him to speak out about his insecurities.

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Is tom cruise married.

The actor has been married and divorced three times. He first tied the knot in 1987 when he was just 24 years old to actress Mimi Rogers. 

It is believed that Mimi, who starred in the likes of The X-Files  and Ginger Snaps , introduced Tom to Scientology. In 1990, after three years together, the pair went their separate ways.

The same year, Tom began a romance with his Days of Thunder  co-star Nicole Kidman and after just a few months of dating the two married in a Christmas Eve ceremony. Tom and Nicole were together for over a decade but called it quits in 2001.

The star found love again four years later with Dawson's Creek star Katie Holmes . As with Tom's other marriages, they enjoyed a relatively short period of dating before he popped the question.

Their nuptials, which were held in Italy in 2006, were attended by many Hollywood stars and covered exclusively by HELLO!  Sadly for Tom, it wasn't meant to be and they split in 2012.

Does Tom Cruise have children?

Tom Cruise is a proud father of three. With his second wife, Nicole, Tom is the adoptive father of Bella, 30, and Connor, 28. Like their father, they are both members of the Church of Scientology.

MORE: Nicole Kidman's son Connor Cruise welcomes new 'family member'

Tom also welcomed a daughter Suri, 17, during his six-year marriage to Katie Holmes.

Has Tom Cruise ever won an Oscar?

Despite being in so many iconic and memorable films, Tom has never won himself an Academy Award. During his 40-year screen career, he has earned himself two Best Actor nominations - the first being for Born on the Fourth of July  in 1990  and the second for  Jerry Maguire in 1997. 

He also received a Supporting Actor nod for his part in Magnolia .

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26 Untold Tom Cruise Facts that No One Knows

Little fact lovers, let me introduce you to Thomas Cruise Mapother IV or Tom Cruise.

He is an American actor and producer😲!! 

Famous as one of the world’s highest-paid actors, Cruise has received many accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards and an Honorary Palme d’Or. 

He has even got four Academy Awards nominations.

So, let us discuss some interesting facts regarding the life and works of this amazing actor!

Table of Contents

Interesting Tom Cruise Facts

Tom cruise was born in syracuse, n. y..

Hey there, little fact-lovers, did you know that Tom Cruise was born in Syracuse, N. Y., on July 3, 1962?

His dad, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, was an electrical engineer, and his mom was Mary Lee Pfeiffer👩‍👦. Both of his parents were from Louisville, Ky. 

Another interesting thing is that both Tom’s grandfather and great-grandfather were Thomas Cruise Mapother, as well.

Tom has two older sisters, Lee Anne and Marrian, and one younger sister called Catherine or Cass.

In 1975, Tom’s parents divorced

In 1974, When Tom’s family was residing in Ottawa, his mother packed up and took the children back to Louisville!

Later in August 1975, Mary officially divorced Tom’s father! Six weeks later, Tom’s father remarried Joan Lebendiger, a widow with four kids!

Later, one of those kids told biographer Andrew Morton that they never saw Tom, their stepbrother, again after the wedding.

In 1994, Cruise recalled to Vanity Fair , saying, “As a kid, I had a lot of hidden anger about that. I’d get hit, and I didn’t understand it.”

Cruise wanted to act from a very young age

I am really surprised to learn this interesting fact about Tom Cruise!! What about you, my friends??

This top actor wanted to act from around the time he was just 4! 🧒! Amazing, right?

Hence, he started making impressions of everyone, including Donald Duck, Humphrey Bogart, and even Elvis Presley!!

Tom’s mother got remarried to Jack South

In the year 1978, when Tom was 16, his mother got remarried to Jack South. Hence, the entire family moved to New Jersey!

He said to Rolling Stone, “In the beginning, I felt threatened by my stepfather.” 

He also added, “There’s a part of you that’s in love with your mother. But he is such a wise, smart man. He loved my mother so much that he took us all in, four young people.”

Cruise was raised Catholic

Tom Cruise was raised Catholic⛪. He spent his freshman year of high school at St. Francis Seminary, Cincinnati. 

It happened after a priest named Ric Schneider gave a talk at his school in Louisville!

In 2013, Schneider told the New York Daily News, “He was a typical teenager, trying to find his way in life.”

He further added, “We would give them an IQ test, and he just about made the cut.”

According to him, Tom scored exactly 110 when the cutoff was also 110!!

There was a time when Tom even wanted to become a priest!

Tom got kicked off the football team in high school

Have you heard this interesting secret about this famous heartthrob of Hollywood??

Tom got kicked off the football⚽ team during his senior year of high school!!

It happened after he was caught drinking!

However, according to Morton, that left Tom enough time to audition for the school musical Guys and Dolls!

Tom portrayed the role of Nathan Detroit, and a commercial director happened to see his performance!

The director told him to pursue acting professionally!

Hence, later Tom started going to New York on weekends to audition for musicals. He even missed his graduation ceremony👨‍🎓 while performing!

Tom Cruise suffered from dyslexia

This world-famous actor could not read until he was an adult! 

On several occasions, Cruise revealed that he could not read due to a debilitating case of dyslexia.

He even said that “All through school and well into my career, I felt like I had a secret.”

 He also said that “When I’d go to a new school, I wouldn’t want the other kids to know about my learning disability.” 

He even called himself “a functional illiterate” in school, though he liked learning.

Cruise was always a daredevil

If you are a fan of Cruise, like me, then you will definitely enjoy this interesting fact about this handsome actor!

Tom was always a daredevil! He loved riding his bike really fast, and sometimes even broke his bones! 

In high school, he joined the glee club, and dd plays! 

Also, Tom was an athlete. Over the years, he played baseball, soccer⚽, basketball🏀, and ice hockey! He even wrestled!

Acting and sports were the two fields where he really stood out!

Cruise and his acting debut

Tom Cruise made his acting debut in films in the 1981 drama Taps! He had done a role that was bigger than the one he was initially cast in.

According to the former Paramount head Sherry Lansing, it happened because “you could see right away that he had a giant talent.: 

Lansing even said in Stephen Galloway’s 2017 biography Leading Lady that “He was always extremely focused and exceptionally polite.”

Cruise dated his co-star Rebecca De Mornay

Cruise dated his co-star in Risky Business, Rebecca De Mornay. According to Rebecca, Tom was a ‘pure person.’

In 1986, She even told Rolling Stone , “There’s something earnest and virtuous about his that’s quite rare.”

In the summer of 1983, Tom and Rebecca started dating💞 and maintained a long-distance relationship while, in London, he shot Ridley Scott’s Legend!

However, these two broke up when Tom returned to the United States to start making Top Gun.

Tom married Mimi Rogers in 1987

Little friends, did you know this surprising fact about Cruise? No?? Let me tell you.

Although in 1986, Cruise told Rolling Stone that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to get married in his present “state of mind,” he did marry Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987. 

It happened just two years after he met her at a dinner party! At the wedding💒, Emilio Estevez was Tom’s best man!

Tom Cruise was the one and only Maverick

Producers of Top Gun, Don Simpson, and Jerry Bruckheimer envisioned no one other than Tom portraying the role of Maverick✈️!

This happened after they saw a magazine story about the elite flying school at San Diego’s Miramar Naval Air Station.

Bruckheimer told Rolling Stone, “From the first time we went down to Miramar-even before the script was written-we said,” “These guys are Tom Cruises.”

Tom Cruise loves speed

In 1987’s movie The Color of Money, Cruise’s co-star Paul Newman turned Cruise on to race car driving and after that, Cruise has ben feeling the need for speed both in the air and on land. 

Years later, in 2010, Cruise even taught Zac Efron about motorcycles 🚴‍♂️. When Details asked why Cruise did that, Efron answered, “I don’t know.” 

He even added, “I don’t even want to know. It’s just so cool that he gave a s—t, the fact that he cared at all.”

Cruise and the Church of Scientology

Mimi Rogers and her first husband were both members of the Church of Scientology. 

Later, Mimi introduced Cruise to the organization. She even gave Tom L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics and other literature.

Tom’s immersion in Scientology coincide with the release of Top Gun; hence, the actor became one of the biggest stars in the world. 

Still to this day, Tom Cruise remains the most famous member of the church!

Tom Cruise, the Sexiest Man Alive

Did you know this amazing fact about Cruise, my friends? No? Let me explain.

In the year 1990, People named Tom Cruise its “Sexiest Man Alive.” 😲

At that time, he and Rogers divorced!

In 1994, when Vanity Fair asked Cruise about his first marriage, he replied, “It was a long time ago. I really don’t think about it.”

Director Oliver Stone wanted to paralyze Tom

As per Morton’s biography of Tom Cruise in 2008, director Oliver Stone wanted to inject Tom with a chemical! 

That would have rendered Tom temporarily paralyzed so that he (Tom) could better identify with the role of Ron Kovic!

Kovic was a real-life Vietnam War veteran and activist, Born on the Fourth of July in 1989.

However, the idea was actually shut down by the insurance company!

Still, the movie won two Oscars for best director and best editing. So, all things worked out perfectly!

Cruise married Nicole Kidman

During the days of casting for the racing movie Days of Thunder! Later, they tied the knot on December 24, 1990.

They adopted two kids, Isabella and Connor.

Cruise and Kidman starred in two more films together Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut.

Cruise married Kidman to protect his reputation

I am really surprised to learn this unique fact about Cruise!!

According to several reports, Cruise married Kidman to protect his reputation at the time. Because that time, several tabloids claimed that Cruise was gay😲!

Actually, these rumors started when gay porn star Chad Slater stated that he and Cruise had a relationship!

However, later, it was proven that these rumors were false😲!

In 2001, Tom filed for divorce from Kidman

Tom Cruise filed for divorce from Nicole Kidman in February 2001. 

At that time, Kidman was unknowingly pregnant 🤰; however, unfortunately, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage!

Later the year, Cruise cryptically told Vanity Fair, “She knows why, and I know why.” He even added, “She’s the mother of my children, and I wish her well.”

Tom Cruise saved Ray-Ban

Love Ray Ban sunglasses!!? Then you will surely love this fact!

In 1981, the company Ray-Ban was in the grip of financial turmoil, as it could only sell 18,000 units of its now popular wayfarers!

Tom Cruise donned these sunglasses in a few of his most famous movies 🎬 like ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Risky Business,’ and ‘Rain Man.’ 

Also, some of his smart product placements were funded by Ray-Ban; thus, Tom Cruise was solely responsible for saving the company!

Later, in the year 1986, Ray-Ban saw a 40% increase in sales when Top Gun was released!

The shooting of Eyes Wide Shut lasted for 18 months

Initially, the shoot 🎬 of Eyes Wide Shut was scheduled to last for just four months!

However, it ended up keeping Cruise and Kidman in London for around 18 months.

During their time in England, they attended Princess Diana’s funeral in September 1997. 

Also, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks attended the funeral as well!

Tom Cruise and His Mission Impossible

If you are a fan of the movie Mission Impossible, then you will surely love this wonderful secret about Cruise!

Tom wanted Brian de Palma to direct Mission: Impossible .

In that case, it would mark his debut as a producer with his partner Paula Wagner!

Cruise even deferred his salary of 20 million dollars so that they could raise the budget for the film. 

Later, Mission Impossible made about 500 million dollars worldwide and even spawned a franchise!

Tom Cruise was supposed to play Iron Man

Little friends, have you heard this surprising fact about Cruise??

The character of Tony Shark, or our favorite Iron Man, was reportedly first offered to Tom Cruise prior to Robert Downy Jr. was being cast!! Really interesting, isn’t it??

However, Tom declined the offer!!

The YouTube video scandal

In 2008, the Church of Scientology produced a video that featured an interview with Tom! It was posted on YouTube by the Anonymous Group. 

However, the video was taken down on claims of being edited and prated.

Later, the video was reinstated as investigations revealed that it didn’t breach the copyright law!

As of June 2020, the video got more than 15 million views, and YouTube didn’t want to remove it again due to its incredible popularity!

Cruise and Katie Holmes and their daughter

In April 2005, Tom and Katie started dating!

On May 23, 2005, Cruise jumped up on Oprah Winfrey’s couch on a talk show and talked about his love for Katie Holmes!

At that time, media coverage implied that Oprah was actually taken aback by Tom’s outburst!

Later, Tom and Katie had a daughter, Suri, on April 2006, and they even got married! 

However, On July 9, Katie filed for divorce from Tom! 

Another interesting fact is that all three of Cruises’ ex-wives were 33 years of age at the time of divorce!! Interesting, isn’t it?

Cruise has never got an Oscar

I am really sad to learn this fact about Cruise!!

Surprisingly this amazingly talented and handsome actor has never won an Oscar, even after being nominated three times!

He got nominations for movies like ‘Magnolia;’, ‘Jerry Maguire,’ and ‘Born on the Fourth of July.’

So, little fact explorers, how are you feeling after knowing so many surprising facts about Tom Cruise?

We have tried to collect as much information about him as possible😲…and we are sure you are quite happy.

Looking forward to getting your answer! 😊!

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101 Facts About Tom Cruise: The Actor Who Does His Own Stunts

Facts About Tom Cruise

Tom cruise's career, tom cruise's accomplishments, tom cruise's family.

Tom Cruise is a legendary American actor and producer who works in the Hollywood movie industry.

Since making his film debut back in 1981 in 'Endless Love', Tom Cruise has remained one of the leading men in Hollywood. Tom Cruise's films have grossed over a billion dollars in the box office.

A report released in 2012 stated that Tom Cruise was the highest-paid actor in America in that year. His personal fortune is worth around 550 million dollars.

From poverty to absolute superstardom, Tom Cruise is a true example of rags to riches story. He has been an inspiration to millions the world over. His life teaches us that even with disabilities and disadvantages, it is possible to succeed in life and carve out a unique niche for oneself.

So grab a copy of your favourite Tom Cruise movie right now and get entertained!

Tom Cruise has been stealing the show for almost 40 years now. He is well-known for going against the advice of his team and doing the action stunts of his movies himself.

In several instances, he has been injured while attempting life-threatening stunts. Interestingly, even in his late 50s, the veteran actor has remained quite fit and can run reasonably faster than most people of his age!

• When he is not jumping from rooftops to rooftops, Tom Cruise pilots his Pitts Special S-2B stunt plane.
• His other hobbies include scuba diving and skydiving.
• While filming for the movie 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' (2011), Cruise shot a scene that was too dangerous even by his standards. It involved the climbing of a portion of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
• He surpassed his limits during the shoot of 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' when he shot a scene where he is seen trying to hold on to the edge of a plane while it is accelerating!
• Cruise has always had a penchant for fast machines. To shoot for his 1992 film, ' Days of Thunder ', he had to learn how to drive racing cars.
• His top speed while test driving a Hendricks Motorsports R&D car at Daytona International Speedway is an incredible 205 mph (330 km/hr).
• In an incident dating back to 1996, Cruise stopped his car to help a hit-and-run victim lying on the road. He went on to pay for the entire cost of treatment for the woman named Heloisa Vinhas, who was working towards becoming an actress.
• Cruise has the unlikely distinction of being the first actor ever to have won featured in the best and worst picture of a single year. This happened in 1988, when the movie Rain Man won the Best Picture award at the Oscars, while another of his films, 'Cocktail', got the Worst Picture award at the Razzies.
• Cruise identifies the late Paul Newman as his on-screen idol. He considers himself really fortunate and lucky to have been able to work with Newman in the film 'The Color of Money'.
• Tom Cruise tried his hand in wrestling as a student and still enjoys professional wrestling.
• Despite being approached by video game companies, Cruise has made it clear that he would never permit them to use his image in a video game.
• Tom Cruise is an immensely dedicated film actor. He learned Japanese to get ready for his role in 'The Last Samurai'.

Tom Cruise was in high school when he thought about becoming an actor. Cruise's teachers told him that he had natural acting capabilities.

• Cruise had become involved in the theatre scene of his high school and was encouraged by his school teachers to chase his dream of becoming a Hollywood star.
• Tom Cruise left his school at the age of 18 and went to New York to try and find auditions for film roles.
• At the young age of 19, he got his play his first acting part in a film named 'Endless Love'.
• From 1981 to 1983, Cruise starred in a total of six films- 'Endless Love' (1981), 'Taps' (1981), 'The Outsiders' (1983), 'Losin' It' (1983), 'Risky Business' (1983), and 'All The Right Moves' (1983).
• He found a small role in Godfather-fame legendary director Francis Ford Coppola's ' The Outsiders ', which had other upcoming actors such as Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane.
• Cruise found fame after starring Joel Goodson in the film 'Risky Business'. This film catapulted Cruise from a minor actor portraying supporting roles to a major star.
• 'Risky Business' gave Tom Cruise's acting career the first real boost.
• Cruise earned his the first Golden Globe nomination of his career for 'Risky Business'.
• It was the movie 'Top Gun' that cemented Cruise's star status and turned him overnight into a Hollywood superstar.
• 'Top Gun' was actually the biggest movie of 1986 based on revenue collection and broke box office records in the U.S. after its release.
• It is worth noting that after the film's mind-blowing success, Cruise was asked whether he would reprise the role of Lt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell in a possible sequel in the future. Tom Cruise had reportedly said yes to the idea, and as we stand today in 2022, 'Top Gun 2' is scheduled for a release later this year.
• Following Top Gun's release, Tom Cruise's star status continued to head sky-high with him playing a variety of interesting roles in films such as 'The Color of Money' (1986), 'Cocktail' (1988), 'Rain Man' (1988).
• By the end of the 1980s, Cruise had already worked with some of the best directors and actors in Hollywood.
• In 'The Color of Money', Cruise was directed by one of the best directors of all time, Martin Scorsese.
• He shared the screen with legendary actor Paul Newman in the same film.
• The film 'Rain Man' had Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman play the role of estranged brothers. This film had garnered heaps of praise for both the leading actors.
• Dustin Hoffman went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading role for putting a memorable performance as Cruise's elder autistic brother.
• Cruise proved in films like 'Rain Man' and 'A Few Good Men' that he could hold his own ground while sharing the screen with iconic actors.
• In 'A Few Good Men' (1992), Cruise had a lot of screen time to share with Jack Nicholson and was superb in his role.
• In 'Far and Away' (1992), Cruise had to face a lot of flak for his failed Irish accent.
• Cruise worked with director Sydney Pollack in the film 'The Firm' (1993), an adaptation of John Grisham's book of the same name.
• A year later, Cruise joined an ensemble cast including the likes of Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst, and Christian Slater in a Gothic drama titled, 'Interview with the Vampire'.
• The early years of the '90s did not bring much success to Cruise. It was, however, with the release of 'Mission: Impossible' in 1996, that Tom Cruise became a global phenomenon.
• The 'Mission: Impossible' films have set the bar very high for all action movies.
• So far, six MI films have been released under the banner of Paramount Pictures.
• Paramount Pictures is a film production house in Los Angeles, California. The company has collaborated with Tom Cruise's own production house, named Cruise-Wagner Productions, in producing the 'Mission: Impossible' films.
• The seventh 'Mission: Impossible' film is about to be released in theaters.
• The filming of the eighth installment of 'Mission: Impossible' is already underway.
• Following the incredible success of the first 'Mission: Impossible' back in 1996, Cruise decided to take advantage of his newfound status as an action superstar to sign for many more action and science-fiction films throughout the late 1990s and 2000s.
• Some of the standout action performances of this time would include 'Mission: Impossible II' (2000), 'Minority Report' (2001), directed by Jurassic Park fame Steven Spielberg, 'Collateral' (2004), 'War of the Wolds' (2004).
• Although known primarily as an action star, Cruise has never stopped making movies in the drama or comedy genres.
• In 2003, he acted in the historical drama 'The Last Samurai', for which he got another Best Actor Golden Globe nomination.
• Cruise played his most bizarre character ever in the 2008 film 'Tropic Thunder'. In the Ben Stiller-directed comedy, Cruise appeared as a foul mouth movie producer.
• To play the part of the character named Les Grossman in 'Tropic Thunder', Cruise had to put prosthetic makeup on.
• He continued experimenting with the choice of his roles after signing for 'Rock of Ages'.
• 'Rock of Ages', a 2012 period drama, saw Cruise portraying the part of an aging rock star named Stacee Jaxx. It went a long way in proving Cruise's versatility as an actor.
• Cruise returned to play action roles in the Jack Reacher franchise in 2012.
• This was followed by the box office mega-hit 'Edge of Tomorrow' in 2014. The latter was one of the biggest movies of 2014 and reminded the audience that Tom Cruise still had what it takes to be an action hero.

Tom Cruise is still going strong at the age of 59. In a career spanning over five decades, Tom Cruise has already starred in over 60 movies. He has received countless awards and nominations for his acting roles over the years. Let us take a look at the major accomplishments of this Hollywood legend.

• Tom Cruise joined a host of luminaries in 1986 when he was presented with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is located at 6912 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.
• Tom Cruise has won three acting Golden Globe Awards in his career.
• He was nominated three times in acting categories for the Academy Awards as well.
• His role as a Vietnam War veteran in Oliver Stone directed 'Born on The Fourth of July' (1989) got him his first Golden Globe award and Oscar/Academy Award nomination in 1990.
• For the movie ' Jerry Maguire ' (1996), Tom Cruise won his second Golden Globe award for an actor in a leading role.
• This performance also got him his second Oscar nomination.
• In the 1999 movie 'Magnolia', Cruise gave, what most believe, the best performance of his film career.
• Cruise's character in 'Magnolia', that of a maniacal motivational speaker, received widespread acclaim from both film lovers and critics alike.
• For the film 'Magnolia', Cruise accepted his third Golden Globe award. This time, however, he won the award in the supporting actor category.
• Cruise received his third and last Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for 'Magnolia'. He lost out to another screen legend, Michael Caine.
• Tom Cruise has also won two MTV Movie Awards in his career. He won the award the first time for Best Male Performance in a film in 1997 for 'Jerry Maguire'.
• Cruise got his hands on another MTV Movie Award in 2001 in the same category for 'Mission: Impossible II'.
• For the film 'Rain Man' (1988), Tom Cruise won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award. He won this in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category.
• Cruise grew up facing learning impairments and was later found to be dyslexic. So, to help people like him, Cruise founded and became a board member of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project. This organization actively supports children and adults who face troubles in learning how to read and write.
• Tom Cruise has been active in philanthropic projects for most of his life. Cruise has been a donor to charitable foundations such as Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, H.E.L.P., Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Friars Foundation.
• When one of his acting colleagues, Jackie Chan, founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, Cruise stepped forward and donated wholeheartedly.
• Tom Cruise was awarded the Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2003 by the National Mentoring Partnership after years of collaborative work with the organization.
• In 2005, Cruise was honored with the Special David award at the David Di Donatello award show.
• Recognizing his tireless engagement with charitable works, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance presented Tom Cruise with their Humanitarian Award in the year 2011.

Tom Cruise saw the light of the day on July 3, 1962, when he was born, in the city of Syracuse, New York State. His childhood days were spent in a number of different towns and cities.

• The name on his birth certificate is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.
• Tom Cruise's father's name was Thomas Cruise Mapother III, who was an electrical engineer by profession.
• Tom Cruise's mother, Mary Lee Pfeiffer, was a special education instructor.
• Both Tom Cruise's parents hailed from Louisville, Kentucky State.
• Tom Cruise comes from a family of mixed heritage. He has Irish, German, and English roots.
• Tom Cruise has a fascinating Irish heritage. His Irish ancestry can be traced back to over 840 years when Cruise's ancestors held titles like barons and knights.
• Modern research has unearthed the family crest of the Mapothers of Ireland.
• Tom Cruise grew up along with three siblings, all sisters. They are Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass.
• Since the Cruise family was always moving from place to place in the U.S. and Canada, young Tom Cruise and his sisters had to change schools in quick intervals. So much so that he had been admitted to 15 schools by the age of 14!
• Tom Cruise was raised in a family that was deeply religious.
• His Catholic upbringing influenced him to join a Franciscan Seminary as a teenager.
• Tom Cruise received a scholarship from the Church he and his family members attended.
• With the scholarship, young Tom Cruise went to pursue religious studies for a short while in a Franciscan Seminary in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio State.
• However, he relinquished his interest in becoming a priest sometime in his late teens and took the call to try his hand at an acting career instead.
• Tom Cruise had a troubled relationship with his father while growing up.
• Thomas Cruise Mapother III was violent by nature and would often physically abuse a young Tom Cruise.
• Tom Cruise's parents did not earn much, and they spent their days in relative poverty.
• Due to his small physique, young Tom Cruise was routinely bullied in his school days. During these tough early years, Tom Cruise's mother stood by him like a rock.
• Tom Cruise battled learning difficulties throughout his childhood and teenage years. He was later diagnosed with dyslexia.
• Tom Cruise was still in his early teens when his father got a job offer from the Canadian Armed Forces. When his Cruise's father accepted the job offer, the whole family had to move to Canada.
• Soon after the Cruise family moved to Canada, Tom Cruise's parents ended their marriage. It was then that Tom Cruise, his mother, and his three sisters moved back to America.
• After making up his mind that he really wanted to pursue acting, Tom Cruise dropped out of his high school after he turned 18 and headed to New York City to try his luck in the movie business.
• Tom Cruise has been wed three times in his life.
• His first wife was Mimi Rogers, who was also an actress. Cruise and Rogers married in secret in 1987 and separated in 1990.
• After working together in the film 'Days of Thunder' (1990), Tom Cruise and his co-star Nicole Kidman began a romantic relationship that culminated in marriage. They married in December 1990 and remained so until 2001.
• Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had been paired opposite each other during their time together. 'Days of Thunder' (1990), 'Far and Away' (1992), and 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999) are the films they have paired together.
• Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are parents to two adopted children. They first adopted a boy named Connor Cruise and then a girl, Isabella Jane Cruise.
• Since separating from his wife of over 10 years, Nicole Kidman, Cruise got into relationships with other actresses, most notably Spanish star Penelope Cruz. The duo reportedly was a couple from 2002 to 2004.
• Cruise's third and last marriage took place in the year 2006 to American actress Katie Holmes.
• Katie Holmes is the mother of Cruise's sole biological child, a daughter named Suri Cruise.
• Unfortunately, this marriage, too, did not last for more than six years. In June 2012, Katie Holmes filed for a divorce, and the marriage was concluded soon.
• Since 2012, Tom Cruise has remained unmarried. But he has, however, been with a host of beautiful women. An example would be British Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi.

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An aspiring media professional, Srija is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mass Communication at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, after completing her degree in journalism. With experience in PR and social media, she has also honed her leadership skills through her participation in a youth parliament. Srija's interests include devouring books, watching movies, and exploring new places through travel.

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Tom Cruise Has Been an A-Lister for Decades. Here's How He Got Started

M aybe you love Tom Cruise's movies. Maybe you find him creepy because of his involvement with the Church of Scientology. But you definitely know Tom Cruise. 

The movie star has been around since the 1980s, playing iconic roles such as Ethan Hunt in the "Mission Impossible" saga and Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in "Top Gun." After around four decades as a Hollywood A-lister, Cruise has accrued quite a bit of wealth.

Read on to find out how much Tom Cruise is worth — and how exactly he got there.

A Rough Start

Given his success and wealth, many assume that Cruise had a pampered childhood. In reality, the future star faced a rough upbringing. 

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born on July 3, 1962, to a Catholic family that faced poverty. Though native to Syracuse, New York, he lived for years in Canada. He and his siblings were the victims of his abusive father who would bully and hit them during frequent bursts of anger. He moved back to the U.S. when he was in sixth grade after his mother finally left his father. 

As a youth, Cruise was kicked out of both seminary school (yes, he briefly thought about being a priest) and the football team. The cause of expelling on both occasions was underage drinking.

The Beginning of Tom Cruise's Hollywood Career

By age 18, however, it seems like Cruise had figured out what he wanted. He had taken part in school plays and enjoyed acting, so he decided to pursue that as a career. 

At this time, his net worth was close to zero. He worked as a busboy in a New York City restaurant. Once he saved enough money, he left for Los Angeles in 1980 looking for a big break. 

Probably because of his good looks and outgoing personality, it took Cruise less than a year to appear on the big screen. His first small part was in a 1981 movie called "Endless Love." In the same year, he had a significant supporting role in "Taps."

As 1983 rolled around, he was living off of acting and had no need to continue working at restaurants. This was the year that he was part of the cast of "The Outsiders" and "All the Right Moves." He would also come across a role that would prove to be the turning point of his career. 

For more on Tom Cruise's journey to success, visit Work + Money.

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Tom Cruise facts for kids

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise , is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon , he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards , in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards . His films have grossed over $4 billion in North America and over $11.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing box-office stars of all time. He is consistently one of the world's highest-paid actors.

Cruise began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in the comedy film Risky Business (1983) and action film Top Gun (1986). Critical acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). For his portrayal of Ron Kovic in the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor . As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s, he starred in commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the romance Jerry Maguire (1996). For the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received a second Academy Award nomination. Cruise's performance as a motivational speaker in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor .

Since then, Cruise has largely starred in science fiction and action films, establishing himself as an action star, often performing his own risky stunts. He has played Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series since 1996. His other notable roles in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), The Mummy (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with Maverick being his highest-grossing film.

Cruise has been married to actresses Mimi Rogers , Nicole Kidman , and Katie Holmes . He adopted two children during his marriage to Kidman, and a biological daughter conceived with Holmes. Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology , which he credits with helping him overcome dyslexia . Cruise has been a close friend of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige since the 1980s.

Early life and education

Break with paramount, management of united artists, return to paramount, marriages and relationships, scientology advocacy, filmography, awards and legacy.

Cruise was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York , to electrical engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III (1934–1984) and special education teacher Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer; 1936–2017). His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky , and had English, German, and Irish ancestry. Cruise has three sisters named Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. One of his cousins, William Mapother , is also an actor who has appeared alongside Cruise in five films. Cruise grew up in near poverty and had a Catholic upbringing. He later described his father as "a merchant of chaos", a "bully", and a "coward" who beat his children. He elaborated, "[My father] was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him.'"

In total, Cruise attended 15 schools in 14 years. Cruise spent part of his childhood in Canada; when his father took a job as a defense consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces , his family moved in late 1971 to Beacon Hill, Ottawa. He attended the new Robert Hopkins Public School for his fourth and fifth grade education. He first became involved in drama in fourth grade, under drama teacher George Steinburg. He and six other boys put on an improvised play to music called IT at the Carleton Elementary School drama festival. Drama organizer Val Wright was in the audience and later said that "the movement and improvisation were excellent ... a classic ensemble piece." In sixth grade, Cruise went to Henry Munro Middle School in Ottawa. That year, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sisters back to the United States. In 1978, she married Jack South. Cruise's biological father died of cancer in 1984. Cruise briefly took a Catholic Church scholarship and attended the St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati , Ohio; he aspired to become a Franciscan priest before being expelled from the seminary. This led to his becoming interested in acting. In his senior year of high school, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker , but was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game. He went on to star in the school's production of Guys and Dolls . In 1980, he graduated from Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey .

Acting career

At age 18, with the blessing of his mother and stepfather, Cruise moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. After working as a busboy in New York, he went to Los Angeles to try out for television roles. He signed with CAA and began acting in films. He first appeared in a bit part in the 1981 film Endless Love , followed by a major supporting role as a crazed military academy student in Taps later that year. In 1983, Cruise was part of the ensemble cast of The Outsiders . That same year he appeared in All the Right Moves and Risky Business , which has been described as "A Generation X classic, and a career maker for Tom Cruise." He also played the male lead in the Ridley Scott film Legend , released in 1985. By 1986's Top Gun , his status as a superstar had been cemented.

Cruise followed up Top Gun with Martin Scorsese 's The Color of Money (1986), which came out the same year, and which paired him with Paul Newman . Their chemistry won praise among critics. In 1988, Cruise starred in Cocktail , a film that was a box office success but failed with critics. His performance earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Dustin Hoffman in Barry Levinson 's Rain Man , which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1989, Cruise portrayed real-life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone 's war epic Born on the Fourth of July . Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Nothing Cruise has done will prepare you for what he does in Born on the Fourth of July  ... His performance is so good that the movie lives through it. Stone is able to make his statement with Cruise's face and voice and doesn't need to put everything into the dialogue." The performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and Cruise's first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.

Cruise's next films were Days of Thunder (1990) and Far and Away (1992), both of which co-starred then-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest, followed by the legal thriller The Firm , which was a critical and commercial success. In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt , Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan 's Interview with the Vampire , a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well-received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film, however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in Daily Variety praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about him.

In 1996, Cruise appeared as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of Mission: Impossible , which he produced. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and was a box office success, although it received criticism regarding the Jim Phelps character being a villain despite being a protagonist of the original television series. In the same year, Cruise took on the title role in Cameron Crowe's sports drama Jerry Maguire playing a sports agent in search of love. He stars opposite Renee Zellweger , and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film was a massive financial success with Cruise earning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and his second nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor .

In 1999, Cruise costarred with Kidman in Stanley Kubrick 's psychological drama film Eyes Wide Shut . Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised both Cruise and Kidman on their performances writing, "Cruise in particular lays himself open in that fiercely committed way that he tries everything as an actor". That same year he took a rare supporting role , as a motivational speaker, Frank T.J. Mackey, in Paul Thomas Anderson 's Magnolia (1999). Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers heaped praise on Cruise writing, "Cruise is a revelation, fully deserving of the shower of superlatives coming his way ... Cruise seethes with the chaotic energy of a wounded animal – he’s devastating." For his performance he received another Golden Globe and nomination for an Academy Award .

In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission Impossible films, Mission: Impossible 2 . The film was helmed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his gun fu style; it continued the series' success at the box office, taking in $547 million worldwide. Like its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year and had a mixed critical reception. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for the film.

His next five films were major critical and commercial successes. The following year, Cruise starred in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz . In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction action film Minority Report , which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick .

In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick 's period action drama The Last Samurai , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. In 2004, Cruise received critical acclaim for his performance as Vincent in Collateral . The critical consensus states that "Driven by director Michael Mann 's trademark visuals and a lean, villainous performance from Tom Cruise, Collateral is a stylish and compelling noir thriller." In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in War of the Worlds , a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel of the same name , which became the fourth highest-grossing film of the year with US$591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he was a nominee for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star and the winner of the MTV Generation Award. Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once. Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office.

In 2006, he returned to his role as Ethan Hunt in the third installment of the Mission Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible III . The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. In 2007, Cruise took a rare supporting role for the second time in Lions for Lambs , which was a commercial disappointment. This was followed by an unrecognizable appearance as "Les Grossman" in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller , Jack Black , and Robert Downey Jr. This performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise played the central role in the historical thriller Valkyrie released on December 25, 2008, to box office success.

In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy Knight and Day , in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010. On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he would star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible series. The film was released in December 2011 to high critical acclaim and box office success. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to that date.

On May 6, 2011, Cruise was awarded a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist. In mid-2011, Cruise started shooting the movie Rock of Ages (2012), in which he played the fictional character Stacee Jaxx. The film was released in June 2012 and was a rare box-office misstep for Cruise. Cruise however received positive reviews for his performance with Variety ' s film critic Justin Chang writing, "Channeling the likes of Axl Rose and Keith Richards with his tattoos, heavy furs and even heavier eyeshadow, Cruise clearly relishes the opportunity to play against type even as he sends up his world’s-biggest-movie-star identity, displaying a cock-of-the-rock strut that viewers haven’t seen since his turn in Magnolia ."

Cruise starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot. The film was released on December 21, 2012. It met with positive reviews from critics and was a box office success grossing $217 million worldwide. In 2013, he starred in the science fiction film Oblivion based on director Joseph Kosinski's graphic novel of the same name. The film met with mixed reviews and grossed $286 million worldwide. It also starred Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko . In 2014, Cruise starred in the science fiction-action film Edge of Tomorrow , which received positive reviews and grossed over $370 million.

In 2015, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation , which he also produced. Returning cast members included Simon Pegg as Benji and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt, with Christopher McQuarrie as director. The film earned high critical acclaim and was a commercial success. Cruise starred in the 2017 reboot of Boris Karloff 's 1932 horror movie The Mummy . The new film, also titled The Mummy received negative reviews and flopped at the box office. In 2018, Cruise again reprised Ethan Hunt, in the sixth film in his franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout . The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series, and grossed over $791 million at the box office. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to date.

In May 2020, it was reported that Cruise would be starring in and producing a movie shot in outer space . Doug Liman would be directing, writing, and co-producing. Both will fly to the International Space Station as part of a future Axiom Space mission in a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft. In May 2021, Cruise protested against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) by returning all three of his Golden Globe Awards in light of controversy surrounding the HFPA, particularly its lack of diversity, specifically no black members, and ethical questions related to financial benefits to some of its members.

In 2022, Cruise reprised his role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick , a film which he also produced. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where Cruise earned an Honorary Palme d'Or . The film was released to widespread critical praise, with many reviewers deeming it superior to its predecessor. The film broke several box office records upon its release; earning over $1 billion, becoming the highest-grossing film of his career. Cruise earned $100 million for the film, when combining ticket sales, his salary, and his cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenues.

Cruise reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One which was released in theaters on July 12, 2023. The film received critical acclaim, and while being a financial success, was a box office disappointment due to the then box-office and cultural phenomenon dubbed as Barbenheimer, which was the same-day release of Christopher Nolan 's historical epic film Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig 's fantasy comedy Barbie . Peter Debruge of Variety praised Dead Reckoning for its performances, action sequences and a satisfying ending, writing, "This outing may be one-half of a two-part finale, but it gives audiences enough closure to stand on its own".

Cruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993, and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise's films, the first being Mission: Impossible in 1996 which was also Cruise's first project as a producer.

Cruise is noted as having negotiated some of the most lucrative film deals in Hollywood and was described in 2005 by Hollywood economist Edward Jay Epstein as "one of the most powerful – and richest – forces in Hollywood." Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas , Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer ) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar film franchise.

Cruise has produced many films in which he appeared, including Mission: Impossible , Without Limits , Mission: Impossible 2 , The Others and Vanilla Sky .

On August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. In The Wall Street Journal , chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behavior and views. Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount's announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had successfully sought alternative financing from private equity firms.

Industry analysts such as Edward Jay Epstein commented that the real reason for the split was most likely Paramount's discontent over Cruise/Wagner's exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

In November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over the film studio United Artists . Cruise acts as a producer and star in films for United Artists, while Wagner serves as UA's chief executive.

Production began in 2007 of Valkyrie , a thriller based on the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler . The film was acquired in March 2007 by United Artists. On March 21, 2007, Cruise signed to play Claus von Stauffenberg , the protagonist . This project marked the second production to be greenlighted since Cruise and Wagner took control of United Artists. The first was its inaugural film, Lions for Lambs , directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise. Lambs was released on November 9, 2007, opening to unimpressive box office revenue and critical reception.

In August 2008, Wagner stepped down from her position at United Artists; she retained her stake in UA, which combined with Cruise's share amounted to 30 percent of the studio.

Cruise began working with Paramount again as a producer and star with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , without Wagner, which was a critical and commercial success. He and Wagner would collaborate again on the modestly successful Jack Reacher series, also for Paramount.

Personal life

Cruise splits his time between homes in Beverly Hills, California ; Clearwater, Florida ; and the South of England, where Cruise has lived in various places such as Central London , Dulwich , East Grinstead , and Biggin Hill .

In the early-to-mid-1980s, Cruise had relationships with Melissa Gilbert , Rebecca De Mornay , Patti Scialfa, and Cher .

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987. They divorced on February 4, 1990. Rogers had grown up in Scientology and was one of its 'auditors'; they met when Cruise became one of her clients. In a 1993 interview, Rogers discussed her split from Cruise. She received a $4 million divorce settlement.

Cruise met his second wife, actress Nicole Kidman , on the set of their film Days of Thunder (1990). The couple married on December 24, 1990. They adopted two children: Isabella Jane (born 1992) and Connor Antony (born 1995). In February 2001, Cruise filed for divorce from Kidman while she was unknowingly pregnant. The pregnancy seemingly ended in a miscarriage, but in 2007 Kidman clarified the rumors by explaining that she had actually had an ectopic pregnancy.

Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz , his co-star in Vanilla Sky (2001). Their three-year relationship ended in 2004. An article in the October 2012 issue of Vanity Fair stated that several sources have said that after the breakup with Cruz, Scientologist leaders launched a secret project to find Cruise a new girlfriend. According to those sources, a series of "auditions" of Scientologist actresses resulted in a short-lived relationship with Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi , who subsequently left Scientology. Scientology and Cruise's lawyers issued strongly worded denials and threatened to sue, accusing Vanity Fair of "shoddy journalism" and "religious bigotry". Journalist Roger Friedman later reported that he received an email from director and ex-Scientologist Paul Haggis confirming the story.

In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes . On April 27 that year, Cruise and Holmes—dubbed TomKat by the media—made their first public appearance together in Rome . A month later, Cruise publicly declared his love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show ; he jumped on Winfrey's yellow couch and stood there to make the announcement. Media coverage at the time implied that Oprah was somewhat taken aback by Cruise's outburst, which distracted from the intended promotion of Cruise's current film, War of the Worlds . On October 6, 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child. In April 2006, their daughter Suri was born. On November 18, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, in a Scientologist ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars. Their publicists said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony. There has been widespread speculation that their marriage was arranged by the Church of Scientology. David Miscavige , the head of Scientology, served as Cruise's best man. On June 29, 2012, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise. On July 9, the couple signed a divorce settlement worked out by their lawyers. New York law requires all divorce documents remain sealed, so the exact terms of the settlement are not publicly available. Cruise stated that ex-wife Katie Holmes divorced him in part to protect the couple's daughter Suri from Scientology and that Suri is no longer a practicing member of the organization.

Cruise was converted to Scientology by his first wife Mimi Rogers in 1986, becoming an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology in the 2000s. His involvement in the organization was leaked by the tabloid Star in 1990, and he publicly admitted to following Scientology in a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters . According to the book Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion by Janet Reitman, seven years after Cruise started studying Scientology, the organization's leaders promised to share Scientology secrets, such as the prophet Xenu . According to Reitman's book, Cruise "freaked out" and took a step back. He removed himself from the Church and worked on the film Eyes Wide Shut until 1999 when David Miscavige sent Marty Rathbun to successfully "retrieve" Cruise and convince him to continue training. Cruise had become a zealot after a couple of years. Cruise is friends with the Scientology organization's chairman David Miscavige. Cruise struggled with dyslexia at an early age and has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia.

In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be afforded the status of a religion in Europe. In 2005, the Council of Paris revealed that Cruise had lobbied French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Senate President Jean-Claude Gaudin. They described him as a militant spokesman for Scientology, and barred any further dealings with him. He lobbied British Prime Minister Tony Blair to recognize the Scientology organization as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom. In the United States, he convinced Bush administration officials Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby to oppose the non-recognition of Scientology in Germany in 2003. In 2004, he met Secretary of Education Rod Paige about endorsing Scientologist education methods as part of No Child Left Behind .

Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City 9/11 rescue workers detoxification therapy based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. This drew criticism from medical professionals and firefighters. For such activities, Scientology leader David Miscavige created the Scientology Freedom Medal of Valor and awarded it to Cruise in late 2004. Former Scientologist Paul Haggis also claimed that Cruise attempted to convert celebrities such as James Packer , Victoria and David Beckham , Jada Pinkett and Will Smith , and Steven Spielberg to Scientology.

Since 2008, Tom Cruise has restricted interviewers from asking him about Scientology.

In 2006, Premiere ranked Cruise as Hollywood's most powerful actor, as Cruise came in at number 13 on the magazine's 2006 Power List, being the highest ranked actor. The same year, Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity. The founder of CinemaScore in 2016 cited Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio as the "two stars, it doesn't matter how bad the film is, they can pull [the box office] up."

October 10, 2006, was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan; the Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because of "his love for and close association with Japan."

While reviewing Days of Thunder , film critic Roger Ebert noted the similarities between several of Cruise's 1980s films and nicknamed the formula the Tom Cruise Picture. Ebert listed nine key ingredients that make up the Tom Cruise Picture: the Cruise character, the mentor, the superior woman, the craft he must hone, the arena it takes place in, the arcana or knowledge he must learn, the trail or journey, the proto enemy, and the eventual enemy of the character. Some of Cruise's later films like A Few Good Men and The Last Samurai can also be considered to be part of this formula.

Widescreenings compares two of these Cruise characters in an article on the film A Few Good Men ,

[screenwriter] Aaron Sorkin interestingly takes the opposite approach of Top Gun , where Cruise also starred as the protagonist. In Top Gun , Cruise plays Mitchell who is a 'hot shot' military underachiever who makes mistakes because he is trying to outperform his late father. Where Maverick Mitchell needs to rein in the discipline, Daniel Kaffee needs to let it go, finally see what he can do.

Cruise is an aerobatic pilot, and was inducted as part of the Living Legends of Aviation in 2010, receiving the Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award from the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy. In addition to other aircraft, Cruise owns a P-51 Mustang .

• Miles Fisher, American actor and notable Cruise impersonator
• Supercouple
• Tom Cruise: Unauthorized (1998)
• Tom Cruise: All the World's a Stage (2006)
• Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography (2008)
• Tom Cruise Purple
• This page was last modified on 8 June 2024, at 20:25. Suggest an edit .

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Tom Cruise’s Best Movies Ranked

Tom Cruise is lauded as a movie star, but often overlooked as an actor. Here are 15 performances to change that perception.

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Tom Cruise may be the last person standing when it comes to old-fashioned Hollywood movie stardom. While others have fallen by the wayside, Cruise still has the ability to deliver crowd-pleasing, spectacular movies that appeal to the all-important “four-quadrant” demographic when it comes to paying customers at the box office—at least as long as the words “Top Gun” or “Mission: Impossible” appear somewhere in the title, anyway.

Whether Cruise can score with movies outside those two intellectual properties is a subject for a different article, but it’s clear that he’s done so plenty of times in the past. More importantly, what has often gotten overlooked in Cruise’s long string of successes is that not only is he a movie star, but he’s also a damn good and frequently underrated actor, with a range that has taken him beyond the “Tom Cruise” brand a number of times.

Below is our unscientific ranking of Tom Cruise’s best performances. This doesn’t mean every film was wall-to-wall great, but most of them are, and all benefit from a stellar Cruise appearance. You may have your own choices as well, but here are the ones we found not just iconic but also indicative of an actor working at the peak of his craft.

15. Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia may be one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s more divisive films. Coming after the relatively accessible and often fun Boogie Nights , it was a difficult piece for audiences to wrap their minds around, but it certainly pushed PTA’s trademark glittering ensemble cast into new frontiers as actors. Chief among those was Tom Cruise, who felt his portrayal of the disagreeable sex-seminar guru Frank Mackey was so outside his usual brand that he kept a low profile during the film’s advance promotional efforts.

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That made sense in a way, because Cruise’s star power would have overshadowed the shock value (we mean that in a good way) of seeing his performance for the first time. Cruise is so unpleasant, so shady, and yet so larger-than-life that it’s almost a palate cleanser after the frigid nature of his previous performance in Eyes Wide Shut from the same year. And his climactic scene in Magnolia , at the deathbed of his father (Jason Robards), packs a weighty emotional punch. It remains one of Cruise’s boldest strokes as an actor.

14. Risky Business

Tom Cruise’s fifth feature film role is considered his breakout performance, and it’s easy to see why. Still very young (he was just 20 when he made the film), Cruise nevertheless began to establish the “Tom Cruise” persona with this movie that would be the template for many of his roles: a flawed, smart, often cocksure young man who thinks he knows more than he does, gets his ass handed to him as a result, but comes out of it as a better person and (in his early films, anyway) a true adult.

In addition to his iconic dance in briefs and button-down shirt (an image which arguably helped and hindered his career), Cruise gives a well-rounded and fully-developed performance as Joel, the college-bound rich kid who learns a thing or two about business from a hooker and her pimp. Aside from being funny and cynical, the movie is hot; Cruise and a sizzling Rebecca De Mornay share a sexual chemistry that Cruise has rarely found since (one of his career blind spots).

13. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

You’ll notice that the original Top Gun is nowhere on this list: that’s because a) it’s not a very good movie at all (nostalgia goggles be damned), and b) the young Cruise was still figuring out how to modulate his then charismatic but largely superficial performances. Last year’s sequel , however, was an entirely different story. While the movie was formulaic to a large degree, its infectious energy, dazzling air sequences, and high cinematic value almost hid the fact that Cruise was also acting at the top of his game.

His Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is aging, careworn, and seasoned by both the experiences and disappointments of his life while haunted by regret and also burdened with the decisions he took on for others. Yet he is still a leader in every way, and a courageous fighter on his own, making this version of Mitchell far more complex and empathetic than that cocky young pilot we met nearly 40 years ago. It’s Cruise acting his age, and the movie is all the better for it.

12. Rain Man (1988)

The amazing thing about watching Rain Man today is that while Dustin Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the autistic savant Raymond Babbitt, it’s actually Cruise who delivers the more complex, nuanced performance as Raymond’s younger brother Charlie, a fast-talking hustler of collectible items who initially sees Raymond as an impediment both financially and personally, but ultimately grows to love and protect the sibling he only has a vague childhood memory of.

Cruise’s initially callow Charlie has the real character arc of the movie, and Cruise’s beautifully modulated work anchors the film, even as the already confident young star concedes the spotlight to Hoffman’s more showy performance. The film itself is modest, formulaic to a degree, and yet warm and funny. This and the less effective The Color of Money from two years earlier represent a turning point for Cruise’s maturity as an actor.

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11. Jack Reacher (2012)

Yes, we know: Jack Reacher in Lee Child’s books is a monster of a man—six-foot-five!—while Tom Cruise is nearly a foot shorter (he’s five-seven). We realize that Alan Ritchson, who currently plays Reacher on the Prime Video series, is a much more physically accurate version of the character. But, admittedly never having read the books, we still find much to like in Cruise’s tough, no-nonsense, dark performance as the mysterious drifter who helps people solve their problems.

Cruise is front and center and does his part justice, and even if the script is fairly routine , the action is terrific. We mean, who doesn’t like a movie where Werner Herzog is cast as a terrifying Russian villain? We respect Reacher fans (and ultimately Child himself) not caring for Cruise’s work here, but we dig it. On the other hand, the sequel ( Jack Reacher: Never Go Back ) just plain sucks.

10. Minority Report (2002)

Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg only collaborated twice, but both projects were science fiction and both proved to be among the darkest films of each man’s career (the other is 2005’s War of the Worlds ). Minority Report is based on a Philip K. Dick short story and stars Cruise as John Anderton, the grief-stricken, drug-addicted head of a specialized police department known as Precrime. The experimental operation prevents crime by arresting the perpetrator before the crime ever happens thanks to three psychics who can foresee the future. Naturally, Anderton himself is soon fingered by the psychics, called Precogs, and goes on the run as he tries to prove he’s innocent of a murder he’s yet to commit.

This one is a winner all around , from Spielberg’s breathless direction to Cruise’s complex performance (and a striking supporting turn by then-newcomer Colin Farrell). Even the world-building of the film, which envisions a society where surveillance of all kinds (including advertising) is omniscient and ever-present, appeared to predict much of our modern world today. It’s an immersive, kinetic thriller, marred only by one of Spielberg’s famously tacked-on “happy” endings, making for the only flaw in an otherwise top-notch collaboration.

9. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

We’re old enough to remember when late author Anne Rice objected to the casting of Tom Cruise as her signature creation, the vampire Lestat, only to turn around and admit she was wrong after actually seeing Cruise perform the role in the film. And we remember how we felt seeing Cruise in his 18th century vampire garb as well: tickled and entranced by his larger-than-life, decadent, campy performance, almost utterly unlike anything else he had done up to that point. Eyes glittering, blonde wig flowing, and teeth stained with blood, Cruise is decadent and deliciously evil in the role.

Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Rice’s horror classic is atmospheric and seductive as well, finding the right atmospheric balance between romance, homoeroticism, and depraved Gothic chills to support Rice’s rather thin narrative. We’ve always been mixed on Brad Pitt’s mopey turn as Louis, Lestat’s long-suffering vampire companion, but Cruise is a delight when he’s onscreen and nearly matched by Kirsten Dunst’s debut as the child bloodsucker Claudia.

8. The Firm (1993)

Based on John Grisham’s 1991 pile of unreadable crap massively best-selling novel, The Firm is one of those big Hollywood movies that actually sort of transcends its source material and provides an entertaining good time on its own merits. A large part of that is the cast, a glittering ensemble confidently led by Cruise and including some of the most reliable character actors in the business, including Gene Hackman , Wilford Brimley, Hal Holbrook, Ed Harris, and Paul Sorvino (not to mention Holly Hunter in a movie-stealing, Oscar-nominated turn as a sexy-smart secretary).

Directed by Sydney Pollack, The Firm is the epitome of a legal thriller, and Cruise effectively portrays Mitch McDeere’s transformation from wide-eyed, ambitious young lawyer to cynical yet principled dealmaker as he navigates both his crooked law firm and the crime family it represents. It’s a fine performance in a crowdpleaser of a movie.

7. Jerry Maguire (1996)

“Show me the money.” Audiences did indeed show Jerry Maguire the money, turning out in droves for Cameron Crowe’s effective, sharply written mix of romantic comedy and biting sports agency satire . Cruise is brilliant as the title character, a sports agent whose sudden crisis of conscience (a no-no in his business) results in him losing his job, his fiancée, and almost all his clients. His sole remaining one, Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), needs to reappraise his life as well. Meanwhile Jerry also unexpectedly finds love with his new company’s sole staff member, Dorothy (Renee Zellweger).

Jerry Maguire finds both writer-director Crowe and star Cruise at the top of their powers, with Cruise giving Crowe’s incisive character study everything he’s got emotionally. The movie is a rare rom-com for the actor, an avenue he had potential to explore more if he didn’t pursue the sci-fi and action route so aggressively. Cruise received his second Best Actor nomination for the film; we’ll get to his first in a bit.

6. Tropic Thunder (2008)

It’s tempting to call Les Grossman—the vulgar, megalomaniacal, preening movie producer in Ben Stiller’s side-splitting skewering of Hollywood—Tom Cruise’s finest hour onscreen. To begin with, he’s unrecognizable . It’s only a few minutes in, once you get past the bald pate, the beard, the extra padding, and the glasses, that you realize whose voice and eyes those are. And then your mouth drops open as it washes over you that we’ve never, ever seen Cruise like this before.

“Take a big step back… and literally fuck your own face!” Grossman screams down the phone at someone, just one of the unending river of profanities that emerge shockingly (and hilariously) from Cruise’s mouth. We don’t know (and may not want to legally say) who Cruise based his performance on, but Grossman is the distillation of every monstrous, boorish, money-and-power-driven movie producer you’ve ever heard horror stories about, and he remains the most out-there thing Cruise has ever done.

5. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

It’s a strange fact of film history that Tom Cruise has starred in some of the best science fiction movies of the modern era, including Minority Report , War of the Worlds , the underrated Oblivion , and this, which also counts as one of his finest films in general of the past decade. Cruise appears this time as the rather timorous William Cage, a public relations officer for the military who is involuntarily thrust into the frontlines against an incredibly relentless, hostile alien force. When he is splattered with alien blood, however, Cage soon learns that he has acquired the beings’ ability to reset time. He then finds himself looping through the same day and frantically trying to find a way to change the outcome of the war so he’ll stop dying.

Cage is a classic Cruise character in a way, a smooth-talking hustler with little under the surface who’s then forced to grow into a better human being. It’s a great performance in a powerful story (with the usual gaps here and there in time-loop tales), aided by excellent work from Emily Blunt as a soldier who joins Cruise on his quest every time he loops around. Largely neglected by audiences upon release, it continues to grow into a well-deserved genre classic status.

4. A Few Good Men (1992)

Rob Reiner directs this adaptation of Aaron Sorkin’s hit play (adapted by Sorkin himself, with an assist from William Goldman), in which two Marines go on trial for the death of a fellow Marine and have only a shallow young Navy lawyer (Cruise) to defend them. But as Cruise’s Lt. Daniel Kaffee builds his case, with the help of the righteous Lt. Cdr. Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore), he begins to uncover a web of deceit and corruption under the command of the sadistic Col. Nathan Jessep (Jack Nicholson).

The courtroom drama may be conventional in structure, but the movie rockets along on the strength of its performances, especially those of Cruise, Moore, Kevin Bacon, and of course the explosive Nicholson. Kaffee’s evolution is slow and effective, and it’s arguably here, while going toe to toe with the formidable firepower of “Jack,” that Cruise firmly proved once and for all that he could hold his own alongside the screen’s biggest legends. He’s marvelous, as is the entire gripping movie.

3. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

If Rain Man marked the first stage of Tom Cruise’s growth as an actor, then this Oliver Stone epic the following year solidified the young star’s standing as a genuine screen talent capable of range and depth. Based on the real-life story of Vietnam-veteran-turned-antiwar-activist Ron Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July was also the second of Stone’s unofficial trilogy about that most pointless of wars, nestled between Platoon and Heaven and Earth . And it’s certainly as strong as the former.

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In a role originally conceived for Al Pacino back in the late 1970s, Cruise is simply electrifying, smoothly moving through the different phases of Kovic’s life, from the war through his drug-addled aftermath in a series of increasingly decrepit hospitals, and finally to his fawakening as a paralyzed but fired-up protester. The performance earned the actor his first Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, and he probably should have won: his Kovic is impassioned and mesmerizing, and still a high point of Cruise’s long career.

2. Collateral (2004)

Michael Mann’s hot streak as a director, which began in 1986 with Manhunter (and included efforts like Heat , Ali , and The Insider ), largely came to an end with this intense crime thriller, but at least he managed to do something that was very rare in Hollywood: get Tom Cruise to play an out-and-out villain. And man, did Cruise take to the assignment. His hair colored a premature gray, Cruise is malevolently magnetic as Vincent, an assassin on a hit spree who recruits a terrified cabbie (Jamie Foxx, also spectacular) as his unwilling driver.

Nihilistic and racking up perhaps the single biggest onscreen killing spree of Cruise’s career, Vincent is an empathy-free killing machine. Cruise once again subverts our expectations of his abilities with his portrayal of this monster, who never redeems himself as so many of the actor’s other characters have done. But then again, Cruise has never played, either before or since, someone as sociopathic as Vincent, making this one of his finest and most distinctive films.

1. Mission: Impossible (1996-2024)

As we say in our review of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One , Tom Cruise has been constructing his magnum opus over the past 27 years with this always intelligent, thrilling, and keenly visceral action franchise. After a first movie that upended the conventions of the elderly TV show it was based on, and a couple of initial sequels that struggled to find the right tone, the film series became not just a true ensemble effort but a showcase for Cruise’s overall skill as an actor and his devotion to doing everything humanly possible to please his audience.

Cruise’s IMF leader, Ethan Hunt, has transformed from a young spy into a furiously independent leader and global protector, with the character evolving along with the actor himself. Ethan may not be Cruise’s greatest or most in-depth creation, but he’s been the most consistent, especially in a world where we regularly change Batmen and James Bonds decade or so. And the series itself has only gotten bigger and better over its seven installments to date, an impossible mission that only Tom Cruise could pull off. Perhaps we’re all the better then that he chose to accept it.

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

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61 Fascinating Facts About Tom Cruise

1. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV  was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, N.Y., to  Thomas Cruise Mapother III , an electrical engineer, and Mary Lee Pfeiffer , both of Louisville, Ky. (His grandfather and great-grandfather were both Thomas Cruise Mapother, as well.)

2. He has two older sisters, Lee Anne and Marian , and one younger sister, Catherine , nicknamed Cass. 

3. Cruise wanted to act from around the time he was 4 and started doing impressions of everyone from Donald Duck to Humphrey Bogart and Elvis Presley .

4. In 1974, when the family was living in Ottawa, Mary Lee packed up and took the kids back to Louisville. She officially divorced Tom III in August 1975 and, six weeks later, he remarried, briefly. Joan Lebendiger , recently widowed, had four kids, one of whom later told biographer Andrew Morton that they never saw their stepbrother Tom again after the wedding.

"As a kid, I had a lot of hidden anger about that. I'd get hit, and I didn't understand it," Cruise  recalled to  Vanity Fair  in 1994.

"He was the kind of guy who really got picked on a lot at school himself when he was growing up," he said of his father. "He had also been small, though he ended up being six foot two. People had been quite brutal to him. Inside, I believe he was a really sensitive individual." Tom III could also "actually be quite loving." 

But in 2006 he told Parade  that his dad was "a bully and a coward—the person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life, how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang!"

Cruise visited his father in the hospital before he died of cancer in 1984 and Tom III said he'd get better and they would "'talk about the whole thing,'" the actor told  VF , but that never came to pass.

5. Tom was very close to his mother, whom he described to James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio   as "a very warm, charismatic woman, very kind, very generous." She worked four jobs at any given time to take care of them, and Tom had a paper route to pitch in. "Every night I'd come home, bathe my feet and sit in the family room, and Tom would massage my feet for a half-hour," Mary Lee recalled to Rolling Stone . (She died at 80 in 2017.)

6. He was also protective of his sisters and, as the man of the house, took on the role of scrutinizing their boyfriends when they'd come by to meet the family.

7. Cruise was raised Catholic and he spent his freshman year of high school at St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati, after a priest named Father Ric Schneider gave a talk at his (also Catholic) school in Louisville. "He was a typical teenager, trying to find his way in life," Schneider told the New York Daily News in 2013. "We would give them an IQ test, and he just about made the cut. The cutoff is 110, and he scored exactly 110."

It's been rumored that Cruise considered entering the priesthood, but he doesn't it remember it that way. "We didn't have the money back then, and I went for the education for a year, and it was free," Cruise has explained.

8. Mary Lee got remarried to Jack South in 1978 and the whole family moved to New Jersey when Tom was 16.

"In the beginning, I felt threatened by my stepfather," Cruise told Rolling Stone . "There's a part of you that's in love with your mother. But he is such a wise, smart man. He loved my mother so much that he took us all in, four young people. We'd bet on football games, and he was a terrible bettor, so I'd make lots of money."

As for his dad, Tom III, who had recently passed away, "I think that he felt remorse for a lot that had happened. He was a person who did not have a huge influence on me in my teens; the values and motivation really came from my stepfather. But he was important. Really important. It's all sort of complex. There wasn't one thing I felt."

9. He was always a daredevil, jumping off things, riding his bike too fast, sometimes into walls and, here and there, breaking bones. In high school he joined the glee club and did plays. He was also an athlete, over the years dabbling in soccer, baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey, and he wrestled. Sports and acting were where he really stood out and, shocker, the ladies have loved him since grammar school.

"I was a wild kid," Cruise admitted. "I'd cut school. Everything had to do with my wanting always to push the envelope to see: where do I stand with myself? How far can I go?"

10. Cruise has been open about his battle with dyslexia, calling himself "a functional illiterate" in school, though he "loved learning. I wanted to learn, but I knew I had failed in the system."

"My energy was always all over the place. Reading was not at the top of my list, because it took me so long," he told Cameron Crowe for Interview in 1986. "When I wrote a paper, my mother would help me with it. I would take a test and get very nervous. I would skip questions and skip lines. I've gotten better. I've learned to control my eyes. I used to have to use my finger all the time. I just wasn't relaxed about it."

11. Senior year of high school he got kicked off the football team after he was caught drinking, according to Morton, but that left him time to audition for the school musical, Guys and Dolls . He played Nathan Detroit, and a commercial director who happened to catch a performance told him he should pursue acting professionally. So, he started going to New York on weekends to audition for musicals—and he missed his graduation ceremony while performing in an amateur production of Godspell .

12. Cruise made his movie debut in the 1981 drama Taps , in a role that was bigger than the one he was originally cast in "because you could see right away that he had a giant talent," former Paramount head Sherry Lansing said in Stephen Galloway 's 2017 biography Leading Lady . "He was always extremely focused and exceptionally polite."

13. On the set of Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , featuring a veritable who's-who of '80s-era heartthrobs , prankster Cruise scrawled "Helter Skelter" on co-star Diane Lane 's mirror and put honey on her toilet seat.

14. The only direction Cruise received for his iconic Risky Business dance to "Old Time Rock and Roll" was one line in the script: "Joel dances in underwear through the house." He ad-libbed the rest, grabbing the candlestick, "using it as a guitar, jumping on the table. I waxed half the floor and kept the other half dirty, so I could slide in on my socks. As we went along, I threw more stuff in," he shared with Crowe in 1986.

15. Cruise dated his Risky Business co-star Rebecca De Mornay , who called him a "pure person." She told Rolling Stone in 1986, "There's something earnest and virtuous about him that's quite rare." According to Taps co-star Sean Penn , they were out at a club in New York one night and after realizing that a girl he was talking to was trying to pick him up, Cruise "screamed at her, 'I have a girlfriend I'm in love with!'" (Perhaps at the time readers thought Penn might be exaggerating.) He and De Mornay started dating in the summer of 1983 and maintained a long-distance relationship while he shot Ridley Scott 's Legend in London, but broke up when he returned to the U.S. to start making Top Gun .

16. Top Gun producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson envisioned no one other than Cruise playing Maverick after they saw a magazine story about the elite flying school at San Diego's Miramar Naval Air Station and went down to see the hot shots in person. "From the first time we went down to Miramar—even before the script was written—we said, 'These guys are Tom Cruises,'" Bruckheimer told Rolling Stone .

17. Although Cruise also told Rolling Stone in 1986 that he wasn't sure he would be able to get married in his "present state of mind," he tied the knot with  Mimi Rogers on May 9, 1987, two years after meeting her at a dinner party. Emilio Estevez  was Cruise's best man.

18. Paul Newman , his co-star in 1987's The Color of Money , turned him on to race car driving and Cruise has been feeling the need for speed on land and in the air (and sometimes on the water) ever since. Years later the student became the teacher when, in 2010, Cruise taught Zac Efron  about motorcycles. "I don't know," Efron told Details when asked why Cruise offered to do that. "I don't even want to know. It's just so cool that he gave a s--t, the fact that he cared at all."

19. Mimi and her first husband, Jim Rogers , were both members of the Church of Scientology (Jim was a high-level auditor) and she's said to have introduced Cruise to the organization, giving him L. Ron Hubbard 's Dianetics and other literature. His immersion in Scientology coincided with the release of Top Gun and the actor becoming one of the biggest stars in the world, and to this day Cruise remains the most famous member of the church.

20. Despite being critically panned, 1988's Cocktail , starring Cruise as a playboy bartender, gave Disney its biggest opening weekend ever at the time: $11.8 million.

21. According to Morton's 2008 biography  Tom Cruise , director Oliver Stone wanted Tom to be injected with a chemical that would have rendered him temporarily paralyzed so he could better identify with the role of real-life Vietnam War veteran and activist Ron Kovic in 1989's  Born on the Fourth of July . The insurance company understandably shut that idea down. The film still won two Oscars, best editing and best director for Stone, so it worked out.

22. People named Cruise its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1990. Soon after, he and Rogers divorced. When Vanity Fair  asked about his first marriage in 1994, Cruise replied tersely , "It was a long time ago. I really don't think about it."

23. Cruise met Nicole Kidman  during casting for the racing drama Days of Thunder and they tied the knot on Dec. 24, 1990. They adopted two children, Isabella and Connor , and starred in two more movies together, Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut .

After Isabella arrived, Cruise told Vanity Fair in 1994 , "We talked about children from time to time, but there was always the work. But then we went, When is it ever going to be the right time? That's how the conversation started. You're lying in bed at night and you're trying to sleep, so you roll over and you go, What would happen if we had this in our life?

"One of the things that Nic and I talk about is that now suddenly we're a family. We're at that point where we're trying to define where we are. Can we still party? Are we really boring? Oh, my God . . . we're old!"

24. Disney had Cruise in mind when they created the look of the title character in 1992's Aladdin . "There's a confidence with all of his attitudes and his poses," lead animator Glen Keane said in a DVD extras feature.

25. An old tabloid go-to back in the 1980s and '90s was to claim that this or that star was gay, and Cruise was aware that the rumor was out there.

"First of all, I don't think it's an indictment," Cruise told Vanity Fair in 1994. "But I hadn't heard those rumors till about three months ago myself… I don't know why they say it. I've heard everything from I've cheated on my wife to my wife was there on the set of  The Firm  because she was pissed off about my love scene on the beach. It's not true, but people are going to say what they want to say."

26. Cruise wanted Brian De Palma to direct Mission: Impossible , which would mark his debut as a producer with his agent turned partner Paula Wagner , even though De Palma was in movie jail following several flops. Cruise even deferred his $20 million salary (not including his back-end deal) so they could raise the movie's budget. Mission accomplished: M:I made almost $500 million worldwide and spawned a franchise . De Palma, however, didn't attend the film's premiere in May 1996, reportedly because he and Cruise didn't always see eye to eye during production.

27. Shooting M:I , Cruise insisted they use a fan big enough to create the 120 mile-per-hour wind he'd be facing if he was really clinging to a bullet train while a helicopter exploded behind him. A crew member told Galloway, "He said, 'I want the wind blowing in my face and I want my jaws to be blowing.' That's Tom. He's a guy's guy."

28. The intense Eyes Wide Shut shoot was scheduled to last four months but ended up keeping Tom and Nicole in London for 18 months. Also during their time in England, as fate would have it, they attended Princess Diana 's funeral in September 1997, as did with Tom Hanks  and Steven Spielberg , who were in town making Saving Private Ryan .

29. "All I can say is that I hope we are together when we are 80," Nicole Kidman told  Talk  in 2000. "I can't say we will be, but I will be so devastated if we are not." Alas, they announced their separation on Feb. 5, 2001. "She knows why, and I know why," Cruise cryptically told Vanity Fair later that year. "She's the mother of my children, and I wish her well. And I think that you just move on. And I don't say that lightly. I don't say that with anything."

30. Penélope Cruz  successfully sued an Australian tabloid in June 2003, winning damages and a retraction over a story claiming she and then-boyfriend Cruise had postponed their impending marriage because she had cheated on him. They broke up in January 2004 after more than two years of dating, a source telling People the relationship "just ran its course."

31. The Church of Scientology denied a 2012 Vanity Fair report that Homeland actress Nazanin Boniadi , then a church member, had basically been recruited to date Cruise for a few months, starting in October 2004 with a group outing that included renting the skating rink at Rockefeller Center and dinner at Nobu. "I'd rather not talk about that," Boniadi told the New York Post in 2013.

32. Cruise specifically held out for J.J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible III —Abrams' feature film debut—after watching some episodes of Alias . Paramount was freaking out, wanting M:I3 for a summer 2005 tentpole release, which wasn't going to happen if Cruise and Abrams—busy at the moment with a show called Lost —got their way, but it turned out Cruise had an ace up his sleeve. Spielberg was ready to roll with War of the Worlds in time to give Paramount the summer blockbuster it needed while they waited for Abrams to become available.

33. On May 23, 2005, a giddy Cruise raised his arms in victory, got down on one knee and did a couple of fist pumps, and then jumped up on Oprah Winfrey 's couch (also twice), fueled by love for his new girlfriend, Katie Holmes . "You're gone," the talk show host observed.

"I've got so much energy, I can't help it," Cruise said.

They were both laughing hysterically and the studio audience was cheering, but… maybe you had to be there?

Lest anyone forget, Holmes was at the taping and Winfrey led a chant for her to come out. "She's gonna run!" Cruise exclaimed. "She is freaking out ." Then he took off for backstage to go get her, the camera trailing him, and once they had emerged Cruise enveloped the Dawson's Creek star in a hug.

That moment unwittingly set the tone for Cruise and Holmes' entire relationship, romantic to many but to everyone… just a lot .

34. A month later, Cruise accused Matt Lauer  of being "glib" when the Today host questioned his take on mental health care—specifically, his dismissal of psychiatry and his criticism of Brooke Shields ' "irresponsible" use of medication to treat postpartum depression.

35. Cruise and Holmes' daughter, Suri Cruise , was born on April 18, 2006.

36. Mission: Impossible III came out on May 5, 2006, and did… fine. It was (and remains) the lowest-grossing installment of the franchise, making $134 million domestically, but more memorably it marked the moment where folks started wondering if Cruise had lost his movie-star mojo, if his unadulterated zeal had turned off audiences for good. Not making it better: Paramount severed its 14-year relationship with Cruise's production company that August, and then-Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone actually told the Wall Street Journal , "We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount."

37. Suri was introduced to the world on the September 2006 cover of Vanity Fair , zipped up in her father's leather jacket akin to how Paul McCartney   snuggled daughter Mary on the cover of his 1970 solo album McCartney . The first glimpse at the cover was a huge get for Katie Couric 's first night as lead anchor of the CBS Evening News .

38. Cruise and Holmes' wedding at the 15th-century Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Rome on Nov. 18, 2016, reportedly cost upward of $3 million . Guest Giorgio Armani designed the bride's ceremony and reception dresses and attendees included Will Smith  and Jada Pinkett Smith , John Travolta  and Kelly Preston , David  and Victoria Beckham , Jim Carrey  and Jenny McCarthy , Leah Remini  and Angelo Pagan , and Jennifer Lopez  and Marc Anthony . Andrea Bocelli performed.

39. Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige was Cruise's best man. According to Remini, who left the church in 2013, a traditional Scientology wedding ceremony includes the vow "to never close their eyes in sleep on a disagreement or an upset."

40. Shields and husband Chris Henchy were also in attendance, Cruise having apologized for publicly disparaging his Endless Love co-star's use of medication to treat postpartum depression. "If you get invited to that wedding, you go," Shields recalled on The Jenny McCarthy Show in 2016. The actress even provided the bride's "something old": an antique enamel compact.

41. 2010's Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz  was widely treated as some sort of "comeback" movie for Cruise, a test to see if he could still have a monster action movie hit after Mission: Impossible III underwhelmed.

"I don't understand why people think that," he marveled to the U.K.'s Telegraph . "I've been working the whole time."

42. His roles in the interim had included his unrecognizable—and hilarious—surprise turn as crass, bullying, bald and fat studio exec Les Grossman in Ben Stiller 's Tropic Thunder , for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination.

"I had about a dozen people making the silicone prosthetics for his head, neck, chest, and hands," makeup designer Barney Burman recalled to Grantland . "We made him special gloves. I did the sculpting, someone else did the molds, someone else was casting them. I had six different people punching hairs into the scalp piece, so his entire head was one-at-a-time, hand-punched hairs; his arms were hand-punched one at a time; his chest was hand-punched."

Added Aida Caefer , "I made the fat suits for Tom Cruise. He was all for  the more ridiculous, the better . The suit went from his neck all the way down to his ankles…The character moved around a lot and he was so soaked in sweat that we had rotating suits for him—one in the morning and one after lunch."

"Tom choreographed all his own moves," Stiller said. "I remember watching him do this stuff and thinking this is so frigging funny."

43. The rumor that Cruise turned down the role of Iron Man, which would have changed the whole vibe of the Marvel Universe, is not true, he says. "Not close," he told ComicBook.com in 2018 when asked if he was really almost Tony Stark. "Not close, and I love Robert Downey Jr. I can't imagine anyone else in that role, and I think it's perfect for him."

44. For 2011's Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol , Cruise hung off the edge of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai—the world's tallest building—without a double (though with the appropriate wires). And while he'd been doing as much of his own physical laboring as possible for decades, this reinvigorated Cruise's reputation as the guy who does all the death-defying stunts the insurance companies will allow. The film's $695 million worldwide box office also signaled that Cruise's reputation had preceded him—in a good way.

45. Holmes filed for divorce in June 2012. Her father, attorney Martin Holmes , had helped draft their prenuptial agreement and all was remarkably settled within weeks. And neither of them have ever talked about what happened . They've acknowledged that they were once married to each other, but why it ended has remained anyone's guess. And, oh, how the people have guessed.

46. Eyebrows were raised when the 5-foot-7 Cruise was tapped to play 6-foot-5 vigilante Jack Reacher from Lee Childs ' best-selling novel series.

"Size in my books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force," Childs explained. "Cruise portrays that in his own way."

47. Not as initially OK with the creative license was Interview With the Vampire   author Ann Rice , who according to Vanity Fair was livid in the early '90s when Cruise was cast to play Lestat, having written the character with Rutger Hauer in mind.

"It always helps if one is controversial in casting a movie," director Neil Jordan said. "I just thought that if Tom was willing to go the distance this character demands—and he was—then we could end up with something quite extraordinary, and we did."

48. Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation was legendary before it hit theaters in 2015 for Cruise's viral airplane stunt, in which he hung onto the door of an Airbus A400M as it took off. For real. He also did his own motorcycle chase and learned how to hold his breath for six and a half minutes for the underwater document swap.

49. He was back on the bike for Mission: Impossible—Fallout and "when the [safety] rigs didn't work, we just went for it," director Christopher McQuarrie told the New York Times . "Everything that you're seeing Tom doing, he's doing free riding on cold cobblestones. Sometimes there was rain; sometimes there was morning dew. There was always a danger of skidding and wiping out."

Cruise also did his own skydiving along with Henry Cavill 's stunt double, dangled from a rope attached to a flying helicopter, and piloted a helicopter for a mid-air chase scene, getting his certification in six weeks. It normally takes three months, McQuarrie said, but Cruise trained for 16 hours a day to cut the time in half.

"Tom was having the time of his life," the director said.

50. Cruise has social media accounts but they are strictly for un-risky business, and he prefers to not know everything that's happening online. "Sometimes I have to for work, but I keep it very limited," he told E! News in 2016. "I don't spend time doing that kind of stuff."

51. Cruise isn't one to let himself go in between physically taxing roles. "Sea-kayaking, caving, fencing, treadmill, weights, rock-climbing, hiking… I jog… I do so many different activities," he has said.

In fact, he refers to his personal workout space—a version of which he takes with him everywhere—as the "Pain Cave."

"Only the motivated can enter," he explained to the AP at the 2017 premiere of The Mummy . "All you got to do is just be motivated. Anyone can come in, we have the crew come in, and we just make it available to everyone."

As co-star Jake Johnson   revealed: "You start every morning with the daily challenge. So before work starts, you're in there. His hair and makeup team is in there, his crew is in there, so there's about 15, 20 people every day doing their squats and jumping jacks. And then I kinda got into it with him…I wanted to be in a Tom Cruise movie and do it the Tom Cruise way."

That includes, alas, avoiding sugar.

"I love sugar," Cruise assured James Corden  on The Late Late Show in 2018, "but I can't eat it because when I'm training, I'm doing all these movies—so I send it to everyone." And then, "I wait for the calls. Like, 'tell me about it.'"

52. Don't tell anyone, but Cruise is human: Aside from what he did to himself running around in childhood, he threw out his back making Legend ; developed an ulcer while shooting Eyes Wide Shut ; tore his labrum scaling a cliff at Dead Horse Point, Utah, for Mission: Impossible 2 ; and broke an ankle on Mission: Impossible—Fallout .

"It was the easy one where I'm running and I jump from one building to the next," Cruise later described the fateful stunt on  The Tonight Show .

53. But this guy commits . In addition to doing three months of helicopter pilot training in six weeks and learning how to hold his breath like he's David Blaine , he played pool for 12 hours a day to play Fast Eddie Felson's protegee in The Color of Money. He lost 18 pounds and read classic books out loud to work on his diction to play centuries-old Lestat in Interview With the Vampire. He learned German to better embody a World War II-era officer in Valkyrie . He actually spent a year and a half learning how to fly a helicopter for  Mission: Impossible—Fallout  (before his whirlwind certification).

54. "I haven't seen him in awhile, but he has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old," Dakota Fanning  said on Watch What Happens Live in 2016 about her dad in 2005's War of the Worlds . "Beautiful gifts, it's really kind. I always think, 'Oh, when I'm 18, he'll probably stop. Oh, 21, he'll stop. But every year."

What does Team Cruise pick out? "It's usually shoes," the actress, then 22, shared.

55. In 1986, he told Cameron Crowe , "Let's face it, I'm not saving lives here. I feel fortunate, but this is just one aspect of my life. I love my work, but my family is very important to me, too. You pick up the paper and see that there are many things happening outside my little world."

Since then, the real-life heroics include, all within a few years in the '90s: He lifted two boys over a barricade to prevent them being crushed at the Mission: Impossible premiere in London; he sent his own yacht's skiff to rescue a family whose sailboat was on fire in the Mediterranean in 1996; he rushed to the aid of a woman who had been mugged in London; and he paid the $7,000 emergency room bill for an uninsured cashier who was injured in a hit and run—an accident Cruise witnessed.

"It's just an impulse," Cruise told People in 2000 about his spate of good deeds. "I was never a Boy Scout, so maybe I'm making up for it now."

Or, as he said in the video of an interview for his church that went viral in 2008, "You can't drive past an accident, because as a Scientologist you are the only one who can help"

56. Though he's the most famous face of Scientology, Cruise is incredibly protective of his beliefs and doesn't say too much about it publicly. But in October 2016, he told ITV at the London premiere of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back , "It's something that has helped me incredibly in my life. I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It's something that is, you know...without it, I wouldn't be where I am. So, it's a beautiful religion. I'm incredibly proud."