Step awayAt the age of 60, the American actor continues to take on blockbuster action and adventure films. Recently, Top Gun: Maverick reached the milestone of over 1 billion USD . The film marks the return of Tom Cruise as Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell after 36 years since the first film.
In addition, this is the occasion to celebrate Tom Cruise’s 40th year of acting. In 2023, the actor’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will be released, continuing the success of the previous 6 parts. In the latest series of photos revealed on the set, the actor still directly performs dangerous action scenes without the support of stuntmen.
Tom Cruise just celebrated his 60th birthday and 40 years of career.
40 years of roaming
Tom Cruise began his acting career in 1981, playing Billy in Endless Love . In the same year, he attracted everyone’s attention with his handsome appearance in the film Taps . Cruise’s turning point in life took place 2 years later, when he took on the leading role in Risky Business (1983). Through the character of Joel, Tom Cruise gradually gained recognition for his acting talent by audiences and critics.
The success of Top Gun (1986) was a memorable milestone for the American actor, contributing to his rise to A-list stardom in Hollywood.
Top Gun served as a launching pad for Tom Cruise’s career.
In the following years, Tom Cruise had mixed success in his career. Tom Cruise received the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor in 1988, for his role as Brian Flanagan in Cocktail (1988). However, Ron Kovic’s performance in Born on The Fourth of July (1989) helped him win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama and nominations for the BAFTA and Oscar for Best Actor.
Tom Cruise joined the Mission: Impossible project in 1995. Initially, the film was a reboot of the television series of the same name that made waves in 1966. Despite controversy over its content that was different from the original, Mission: Impossible became one of Hollywood’s billion-dollar brands to date.
Throughout the films, Tom Cruise began to perform his own dangerous stunts without the help of a stuntman. Typically, he held his breath for 6 minutes underwater and hung from an Airbus A400M in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015). Recently, he also performed his own aerial stunt in Mission : Impossible 7 .
Tom Cruise always does his own dangerous action scenes.
In terms of work, Tom Cruise is not only disciplined and strict with himself, but also with the film crew. While making Mission: Impossible 7 , the 60-year-old actor once yelled at and threatened to fire two members of the film crew when they did not strictly follow the instructions on Covid-19 prevention.
“I don’t want to see this happen again. If you don’t comply, you’re fired. I won’t accept any apologies, you go tell those people who lost everything because our industry was forced to shut down. What you’ve done is not going to automatically put food on their tables.”
The actor was heard shouting in the audio recording revealed by The Sun.
The actor once threatened to fire a film crew member for not following epidemic prevention rules.
Tom Cruise’s strict work ethic has helped him have a fulfilling career. In 2006, Premiere and Forbes magazine voted him the most powerful actor in Hollywood. At the same time, Tom Cruise and Leonardo Di Caprio were recognized by Ed Mintz – founder of Cinema Score – as “guarantees” of the revenue of every film they appeared in.
Specifically, The Mummy (2015) starring Tom Cruise was negatively reviewed in terms of content across all information sites. However, the film still grossed 410 million USD with a budget of 125 million USD . This ensures that Tom Cruise’s name always attracts audiences in every project he participates in.
On the other hand, although he often participates in blockbuster action movies, the actor is still capable of performing roles with deep psychological depth.
In Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money (1986), Tom Cruise successfully transformed into the role of Vincent – a rebellious, unruly person. Besides, he had the opportunity to collaborate with the late director Stanley Kubrick in his last work, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The actor once again affirmed his acting ability with Dr. William Harford – a character with complex psychological developments.
Connection to Scientology
The low points of the 60-year-old actor’s career and marriage are always associated with the New Scientology Association. Specifically, the actor has made many statements supporting and overly worshiping his religion.
However, Scientology has never been considered an orthodox religion, many sources say that Neo-Scientology is somewhat “heretical”.
The climax came in 2005, when Cruise suddenly jumped up in his chair during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Many viewers speculated that this was the influence of Scientology on Tom Cruise. In addition, Tom Cruise’s relationship with his religion almost caused him to cancel his acting career because of the boycott from his fans.
Most of Tom Cruise’s scandals are related to Scientology.
Cruise has been married three times to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes.
With Kidman, Tom Cruise and the actress were considered the most powerful couple in Hollywood at that time. However, they suddenly divorced after more than 10 years together, the reason for the separation is still unclear. Many people believe that it was Sciantology that interfered in their marriage.
The same thing happened with the actor’s marriage to Katie Holmes.