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Tom Cruise Turns 61: Inside His $10 Billion Career and Being 'Hollywood's Last Real Movie Star'

Inside tom cruise's rise to becoming the world's biggest movie star, how justin timberlake and jessica biel are handling his arrest (source), 'bridgerton's sam phillips and bessie carter are dating, lisa rinna debuts platinum blonde makeover at paris fashion week, nick jonas enjoys sweet daddy-daughter date with malti, rob kardashian makes rare appearance at khloé's 40th birthday, et vault unlocked: ryan reynolds | unseen interviews from his action-packed career, lil rel howery dishes on working with nina dobrev, chace crawford and more in 'reunion', sean penn on why he hasn't been wearing shoes (exclusive), prince harry accused of destroying evidence in lawsuit, taraji p. henson reacts to usher receiving bet lifetime achievement award (exclusive), 'a quiet place: day one's joseph quinn brings mom as date to premiere, michael jackson's $500 million debt revealed in new court docs, kris jenner in tears over cancer scare on 'the kardashians', kevin costner opens up about 'crushing' divorce and 'yellowstone' exit drama, emma roberts calls out george clooney during nepo baby discussion, ben affleck and jennifer lopez reunite at his office amid relationship struggles, kim kardashian compares sister khloé to brendan fraser's character in 'the whale', kylie jenner enrages her family after making private plane turn around, watch taraji p. henson fan out over ice spice, will smith, usher and more bet awards performers, aaron carter's twin sister angel carter conrad says she spent years in therapy preparing for his death, the 'top gun' star has built a reputation for box office success -- and he's not slowing down anytime soon.

Tom Cruise turns 61 on Monday, marking more than four decades since he broke on to the Hollywood scene and started his ascension to the mega-famous movie star we know today.

Born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, Cruise got his start in bit movie parts before a breakout year in 1983, in which he starred in All the Right Moves, The Outsiders, and his breakthrough hit, Risky Business.

But it was in the 1990s when Cruise began to hit his stride as box office magic. From 1992-96, he made history when he starred in five consecutive movies that grossed $100 million or more in the United States: A Few Good Men, The Firm, Interview With the Vampire, Mission: Impossible and Jerry Maguire .

His starring role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible has also been a blockbuster boon. So far, the franchise's six films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide, with the seventh --  Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One -- coming to theaters July 12.

"It's unbelievable," Cruise told ET while premiering Dead Reckoning in Rome last month. "I do pinch myself every day.... It's something that I've never taken for granted ... I just feel very privileged."

And then, of course, there's Top Gun. The   iconic original flyboy flick was the highest-grossing domestic film in 1986, and when Cruise returned to the role of Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell last year for Top Gun: Maverick, it was a triumph in more ways than one. The film became Cruise's first to earn over a billion dollars worldwide and was a major success for movie theaters just starting to dig their way out of COVID shutdown difficulties.

"I make movies for audiences," the actor told ET. "I work so hard and I think about them the whole time and when you see how excited they are and how much they appreciate it - it's just beautiful."

In total, the man often referred to as "the last true movie star" has made himself a $10 billion career so far -- and he doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

However, despite the money, and despite the moniker, for Cruise it's all about the craft.

"It's not about being a movie star," he insisted. "It's about being an actor and concentrating on that and finding roles that are going to be a challenge for me... Movie stardom can come and go, but your craft within, you can work forever if you keep working hard at that."

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Updates on celebrity news, tv, fashion and more.

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

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

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 Becomes Major The Flash Villain In Stunningly Realistic DC Universe Art

10 harsh realties of rewatching the lion king, 30 years later, 6 spaceballs actors who can return for spaceballs 2.

• Risky Business launched Tom Cruise's career at just 20, showcasing his charisma and acting chops in a darkly comedic film.
• Top Gun solidified Cruise's superstar status, showcasing his aerial skills and magnetic personality in a high-flying action movie.
• Rain Man displayed Cruise's range as an actor, earning him accolades and proving he could excel in drama as well as comedy.

One of the premiere movie stars of the modern era, Tom Cruise has a career that can be traced along several distinct milestones as marked by some of his most significant films. Tom Cruise's famous love of stunt work , tenacious charisma, and sheer unbridled energy have helped him maintain a position as a versatile movie star in Hollywood. Though the actor has not been free from controversy over the course of his career, he has endeared himself as a staple of the film industry for nearly forty years.

From his early films of the mid-80s to his breakout hits of the present day, Tom Cruise's best movies each mark an important chapter in the legendary performer's lauded career. The most iconic films attached to Cruise's name typically mark a new milestone, be it a high point or a low point, or introduce Cruise's acting capabilities to a new genre or tone. Whether he's dangling from a ceiling, flying a cutting-edge jet, or fostering a tender emotional connection, Tom Cruise's varied performances tell the story of his stardom just as much as the story of the film they're within.

Tom Cruise has been rumored for both Marvel and DC heroes; however, new DC Universe art makes the case for the actor to play a terrifying villain.

10 Risky Business

Risky business.

A generation X classic, Risky Business was a strong catalyst for Tom Cruise's rise to stardom. The film set the precedent for the great films of John Cusack, following the romance a high school senior, played by a young, hungry Cruise, and a lady of the night. From the iconic dance scene set to Old Time Rock and Roll to the film's ability to balance comedy with darker themes, Risky Business was an instant success.

Essentially Cruise's breakout role, Risky Business put the actor on the map at the tender age of 20. Perhaps the single most important film of Cruise's career, without Risky Business , the short-statured movie star wouldn't have gotten the chance to head major action franchises. While The Outsiders of the same year also placed Cruise in an impressive ensemble cast managed by Francis Ford Coppola, Risky Business put him front and center, giving him room to flex his dazzling performance.

In this classic action flick, Tom Cruise stars as daring young pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. Among the other students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school, he competes to be best in the class, and learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Top Gun strapped a freshly-famous Cruise into the cockpit of an F-14 as the hot-blooded Maverick.

If Risky Business proposed Tom Cruise's superstar status as a thesis statement, Top Gun confirmed it, officially cementing him in place as one of the premiere forces of personality Hollywood could rally around. To this day the single most influential dogfighting movie of all time, Top Gun strapped a freshly-famous Cruise into the cockpit of an F-14 as the hot-blooded Maverick. Fueled by a glam-infused 80s soundtrack, earnest patriotism and a palpable chemistry between Maverick and the rest of the Top Gun Academy pilots, the film was a near-instant success.

Top Gun went a long way in earning Cruise even more trust in Hollywood, proving he could pilot a blockbuster that left a massive cultural impact. The many planes of the Top Gun franchise also helped inspire Cruise's own love of aviation, later using much of his wealth to buy planes of his own, including a genuine P-51 Mustang from World War II. The choice of Cruise for the responsibility of putting a face to the absurdly expensive film paid off in a big way, with the U.S. Navy seeing record recruitment numbers after the film's release.

Cruise may have proven himself as a scenery-chewing action hero in Top Gun , but Rain Man presented him an opportunity to re-ignite his comedy chops while showing off a new, more tender side to his performances. Starring opposite the great Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise starred in the film as a hustler who learns of his estranged brother, an autistic savant with a knack for numbers. The road trip buddy comedy excelled in both comedic pacing and genuine drama, thoughtfully promoting awareness of autism even if it did leave many audiences with an unrealistic view of the condition.

Few films were as rewarding for Cruise's resume as Rain Man , which went on to earn an astounding eight nominations at the 1989 Academy Awards and take home four wins, including the coveted Academy Award for Best Picture. Cruise in particular also didn't go unrecognized, gaining accolades as the year's Best Supporting Actor courtesy of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Rain Man widened the public's perception of Cruise's range going forward, awarding him a reputation as a genuinely great actor rather than just an entertaining action star.

7 Mission Impossible

Mission impossible.

Of course, Cruise's days as an action star were far from over, and the thunderous applause of the first Mission Impossible would see to it that he would remain a contender for a lead role in many blockbusters for years to come. Putting Cruise in the role of Ethan Hunt, the reboot of the classic heist film allowed him to flex his physicality, dangling from ceilings and holding on to moving trains for dear life. From the iconic theme song to the death-defying action scenes, Mission Impossible put Cruise on a whole new level.

Beyond spawning the critically acclaimed Mission Impossible franchise , which Cruise has continued to carry as a leading man, the film was among the first to give Cruise a reputation as a daredevil. Considering he was also a producer on Mission Impossible , it quickly became evident that Cruise was willing to go out of his way to put his safety on the line for some breathtaking practical action sequences. From proving Cruise's ability to drive a long-running franchise to honing his stunt skills and sharpening his producing acumen, MIssion Impossible was an incredibly important feather in Cruise's cap.

6 Jerry Maguire

Within the same year as the bombastic action of Mission Impossible , Tom Cruise released a more down-to-earth sports comedy that often gets unfairly shadowed by the other giants of his filmography. Playing the titular sports manager, Cruise demonstrates a more poignant acting talent beyond high-flying planes and death defying stunts, simmering in the simple story of a professional wishing to deepen his personal relationships. Though technically a sports film, it's the human drama that drove Jerry Maguire into success.

Jerry Maguire was the peak of Cruise's broad audience appeal in the 90s.

Jerry Maguire was the peak of Cruise's broad audience appeal in the 90s. Not the most narratively complex film, Jerry Maguire relied heavily on its talent to carry the weighty character drama to the end zone. Luckily, Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renée Zellweger were more than up to the task, and Cruise provided proof of yet another expansion of his versatile acting capabilities.

5 Eyes Wide Shut

Eyes wide shut.

Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama mystery directed by Stanley Kubrick centering on a Manhattan doctor who goes to unexpected lengths to please his wife after she admits she was unsatisfied and almost had an affair a year earlier. Eyes Wide Shut stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as husband and wife.

No film was a greater testament to the trust Cruise earned from Hollywood by the end of the 90s than his status as the lead role in the last entry in the great Stanley Kubrick's filmography . In Eyes Wide Shut , Tom Cruise plays a medical doctor that gets sucked into the scandalous world of a high-society cabal of sexual fantasies. The mystery, psycho-sexual themes and weighty personal tension of the film divided critics, becoming one of the most infamously polarizing films of all time.

If Jerry Maguire was a testament to Cruise's widespread appeal, Eyes Wide Shut proved he was capable of committing to off-beat stories that wouldn't necessarily go down easily for every viewer. Even many of the negative reviews of Kubrick's last film offered at least some amount of praise to Cruise's fierce, if eccentric, performance, usually not citing his leading role as a problem. In Eyes Wide Shut , Tom Cruise's willingness to take risks beyond committing to dizzying stunts truly shone through for the first time.

4 Minority Report

Minority report.

In Minority Report's utopian future, where murders can be predicted and prevented, police chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is accused of a crime he hasn't committed and goes on the run to prove his innocence. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a Philip K. Dick short story, the 2002 sci-fi film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $350 million worldwide.

Tom Cruise entered the new millennium strong with Minority Report , an adrenaline-fueled science fiction film that proved to be more heady and existential than his other action films. Cruise lent his talent as John Anderton, a "pre-crime chief" in the near-future that specialized in apprehending criminals before they had a chance to even commit their crimes in the first place. Exploring themes of determinism, free will, and complicity in a broken system, Minority Report was able to balance its philosophy with some visceral action.

Minority Report was another successful high-profile collaboration between Tom Cruise and a famous director, this time Steven Spielberg. Whereas Cruise's thoughtful and action-oriented sides were previously separated by an invisible line, Minority Report proved that he could juggle both within the context of a single film. Earning a litany of awards, Minority Report was a critically and financially successful stop along Tom Cruise's impressive development as an actor.

3 The Last Samurai

The last samurai.

At first, The Last Samurai may seem like just another successful action film in Tom Cruise's endlessly impressive filmography. However, other than being one of the actor's more popular films, it also finally granted him a proper tangible recognition as a leading actor. Cruise's first period film, The Last Samurai posited the superstar as an American cavalryman in the 1870s who finds himself stranded in Japan, adapting to the warrior culture of the samurai while leading them in battle against the modernizing Imperial Army.

The Last Samurai finally gave Tom Cruise his long-deserved dues as an impressive lead performer, earning him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. While Western reviews of the film were merely average, describing it as a stock standard period epic, the film did surprisingly well in Japan, being one of the better Western depictions of the setting according to Japanese critics. It doesn't hurt that Cruise's training scene as Algren is one of the best movie sword fights around, maintaining a lasting impression for the entry in Cruise's catalog.

2 Edge Of Tomorrow

Edge of tomorrow.

Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow follows Major William Cage (Tom Cruise), who finds himself drafted into humanity's ongoing war against a seemingly unstoppable race of hostile aliens called Mimics. Cage is killed in combat, but wakes in a time loop, reliving the same battle day after day. Gradually, he realizes that if he teams up with the decorated war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), he can exploit the time loop to defeat the Mimic army and save the human race. 

Returning to the science fiction realm, Edge of Tomorrow holds a fascinating spot in Tom Cruise's career. Loosely based on the amazingly-titled Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill , the film put Tom Cruise in one of his most fantastic worlds yet, starring him as a hapless conscript in an alien war strapped into a suit of power armor with little choice. In a daring twist, the film was also a Groundhog's Day -style time loop movie , complimenting the straightforward science fiction action with a puzzling mystery.

Despite critical praise, Edge of Tomorrow had a lukewarm domestic box office reception, making most of its money overseas. While the film has gone on to amass something of a cult following, it was far from the success a well-written science fiction action thriller with Cruise headlining should've been. Edge of Tomorrow made the interesting point that Cruise's involvement in even a big-budget project isn't an instant herald of success, even if the film in question does nothing overtly wrong. As powerful as Cruise's star power is, it can't win every battle.

1 Top Gun: Maverick

Top gun: maverick.

Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 original film starring Tom Cruise as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a top-tier pilot in the Navy. Thirty years after the original film's events, Maverick is asked to head up a section of the TOP GUN program to embark on a dangerous mission. Things become personal when the program includes the son of Maverick's late friend, forcing him to confront his past.

Returning to the role of Captain Peter "Maverick" Mitchell after a whopping 36 years, there were some understandable doubts in Cruise's ability to ignite the same amount of passion the first Top Gun had so long after what may have been considered the peak of his career. Luckily, Cruise swiftly disproved the notion of the first film's fading legacy by releasing a smash hit with Top Gun: Maverick. One of the most successful 80s revivals of recent years, the film saw Maverick take a mentor position with a new class of Top Gun cadets.

Earning over one billion dollars, Top Gun: Maverick became Tom Cruise's single most financially successful film, and for good reason. Critics and casual audiences alike heaped praise on Cruise's steady returning performance as the loose cannon Maverick, somehow outdoing the first film in both of jaw-dropping visuals and palpable emotional drama. Earning Cruise an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, it's safe to say that Top Gun: Maverick reigns supreme as the current peak of Tom Cruise 's hall-of-fame career.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Businesses Does Tom Cruise Own? Actor to Mogul Business Ventures Unveiled

Tom Cruise isn’t just a powerhouse on the silver screen; he’s also a savvy businessman with an impressive portfolio. While he’s best known for his blockbuster hits, there’s more to Cruise than meets the eye.

From his production company to his stake in various entertainment ventures, Cruise has spread his wings far beyond the realm of acting. Let’s take a peek at the business side of this Hollywood icon and discover what enterprises he’s got his hands in.

Cruise/Wagner Productions

In the heart of Hollywood’s soaring skyscrapers and star-studded Walk of Fame, Cruise/Wagner Productions stands as a testament to Tom Cruise’s entrepreneurial prowess. Founded in 1993, the production company is a partnership between Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, a former talent agent with an equally keen eye for cinematic hits. This dynamic duo has steered the company to remarkable achievements , producing several box-office successes that have ingratiated Cruise not just as an actor but as an influential producer.

The company’s filmography is impressive, boasting titles that have become synonymous with high-octane action and compelling narratives. Mission: Impossible —a franchise that redefined the spy genre—is perhaps the brightest jewel in their crown, grossing billions globally and cementing Cruise’s status as a producer who can deliver both critical acclaim and commercial success.

While action may be their bread and butter, Cruise/Wagner Productions hasn’t shied away from investing in an array of genres, demonstrating Tom Cruise’s ability to identify and produce films that resonate with a diverse audience. From the haunting psychological drama Vanilla Sky to the historical thriller Valkyrie , the company’s versatility is evident.

Cruise and Wagner have fostered strong connections within the industry, enabling them to attract some of the most celebrated directors and A-list actors to their projects. Their knack for creating collaborative environments has not only resulted in high-quality entertainment but has also nurtured enduring relationships in the ever-evolving landscape of Hollywood.

As Cruise/Wagner Productions continues to establish its presence in the entertainment world, their ability to adapt and innovate remains key. With technology and audience preferences constantly changing, Tom Cruise’s business acumen keeps him ahead of the curve, ensuring that the company doesn’t just react to trends, but often sets them.

United Artists

Tom Cruise’s ambitions in the entertainment industry didn’t halt with the success of Cruise/Wagner Productions. In a move that showcased his deep understanding of the business, Cruise took a significant step by partnering with MGM in 2006 to resurrect the historic film studio United Artists. The legacy of United Artists, founded by cinema giants like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, was now in the hands of one of Hollywood’s most driven actors.

Under Tom’s leadership, United Artists aimed to give artists more control and a collaborative space to create unique and compelling content. He took the creative helm, determined to steer the studio back into prominence by producing films that resonate with both critics and audiences. “Lions for Lambs” , featuring heavyweights like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, was among the first films created under the revitalized banner.

While Cruise’s tenure with United Artists was brief, it left an indelible mark on the studio’s approach to filmmaking and business strategy. Despite stepping down from his executive role within a few years, the period marked by Cruise’s involvement brought forth critical discussions about independence and innovation in Hollywood’s dynamic ecosystem. His foray into the storied studio is yet another testament to his versatility, not just as an actor but as a filmmaker with a keen eye for both art and commerce.

United Artists also provided Tom Cruise with an avenue to further imprint his vision onto the industry, reinforcing the notion that celebrities can deftly navigate the complexities of Hollywood’s corporate side. It wasn’t just about starring in blockbusters but about nurturing a more artist-friendly environment — one where the story and the storytellers are valued components of the cinematic experience.

Tom Cruise Aviation

In his continuing pursuit of personal and professional excellence, Tom Cruise also took to the skies literally. His passion for aviation is well-known among fans and industry insiders alike. Cruise, a licensed pilot, owns a P-51 Mustang , a historic World War II fighter aircraft. Aside from the Mustang, he’s also the proud owner of a Gulfstream IV , a jet known for its luxury and speed.

Cruise’s fascination with aviation isn’t just for play; it’s an extension of his persona . He often pilots himself to film sets and has been known to engage in aerobatic maneuvers, bringing a sense of adventure to his travels. The investment in these aircraft is not only a nod to his love for flying but also speaks to his approach to business: private, efficient, and with a penchant for control.

Tom Cruise’s aviation assets stand as a testament to his commitment to his craft. He doesn’t simply play a pilot on-screen; he embodies the thrill-seeking, barrier-breaking characters that have made him a household name.

• P-51 Mustang: a showpiece of aviation history and personal nostalgia.
• Gulfstream IV: reflects luxury, speed, and the heights of business travel.

Aircraft ownership, for Cruise, isn’t merely a means of transport. It’s a statement —about his dedication to the craft, the value of time-saving practices in business, and his personal brand that prizes freedom and a capacity for unique experiences.

Aviation isn’t just a part of Cruise’s life; it’s an integral thread in the fabric of his being , weaving together the domains of his film career, his business ventures, and his personal aspirations. Like his United Artists initiative, Tom Cruise Aviation is yet another example of how he charts his own course, in the air and in the competitive skies of Hollywood.

Church of Scientology

While Tom Cruise’s endeavors in the entertainment and aviation sectors are well-known, his involvement with the Church of Scientology is another facet of his multifaceted life. He’s not just a member of this controversial organization but one of its most prominent advocates. His connection with Scientology has sparked curiosity and debate, but it’s evident that Cruise’s commitment is deep-rooted and personal.

Scientology’s Principles and Beliefs shape its members’ perspectives, and Cruise has often credited the Church for his successes and personal growth. The actor’s investment in the Church is more than just financial; it’s an intertwining of his life’s philosophies with the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, the Church’s founder.

Rumors have circulated that Cruise holds a significant position within the Church’s hierarchy, although these claims are often speculative. The Church’s tight-knit community values privacy, making it challenging to suss out the specifics of Cruise’s role. Regardless, his dedication to Scientology endures as a key aspect of his public persona.

The star’s association with Scientology extends beyond personal belief into the realm of business. There’s speculation that he has used his A-list status to champion Scientology-affiliated businesses. Influence and Networking within the Church could provide Cruise with unique business opportunities, though details on exact enterprises remain sparse due to the Church’s infamous secrecy.

Despite the Church’s contentious reputation, Cruise’s association with it has seemingly done little to dampen his career. In Hollywood, he’s as much a power player as ever, with the Church of Scientology accompanying him behind the scenes. It’s a testament to Cruise’s Teflon-like star power that his business interests continue to flourish amid the complexities of his spiritual affiliations.

Tom Cruise’s Real Estate Portfolio

Tom Cruise, a man known for his blockbuster smashes, also boasts a real estate portfolio as impressive as his filmography. They’ve often likened his collection of homes to the eclectic characters he’s portrayed—each property with a distinct personality and charm. Cruise’s investments span the map, signifying not just wealth but his penchant for privacy and excellence.

The Hollywood icon’s property holdings are nothing short of breathtaking. From the sprawling hills of Telluride, Colorado to the buzzing heart of New York City, Cruise’s choice in estates mirrors his adventurous spirit. His Telluride home, on the market for $39.5 million , is tucked away on over 298 acres of land, complete with a 10,000-square-foot main house that’s a monument to rustic luxury.

Down in sunny Florida, Cruise’s Clearwater apartment is strategically placed near the spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology. It’s reported that the building’s top floor, rumored to be his retreat, promises unobstructed views and a sanctuary from the paparazzi’s prying lenses.

Further west in Beverly Hills, the star’s former estate—a palatial spread once valued at around $30 million—vied for attention with the grandest of the golden state’s mansions. Although Cruise has since let go of this gem, the property bore witness to opulent parties and was a sterling example of extravagance.

While specifics about each property Cruise owns aren’t always public, it’s known that he has a knack for flipping his homes for a profit. Industry professionals speculate that beyond his star power, he possesses a shrewd sense of the real estate market. And with each strategic buy and sell, he cements his role not just as a leading man in films but as a savvy investor in the high-stakes world of real estate.

Tom Cruise’s business ventures are as varied and dynamic as his film career. From the skies to the silver screen and even into the realm of spirituality, he’s built an empire that mirrors his diverse interests and relentless drive. His properties aren’t just homes but investments that reflect his eye for excellence and privacy. Whether he’s in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang or walking the halls of United Artists, Cruise’s entrepreneurial spirit is unmistakable. His deep ties with the Church of Scientology may stir up controversy, yet they’ve become an integral part of his identity. As Cruise continues to navigate the worlds of entertainment, aviation, and real estate, his ventures serve as a testament to his ambition and the breadth of his influence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is tom cruise’s role with united artists.

Tom Cruise aims to empower artists by providing them with greater control over their projects, thereby fostering a platform for creating unique and innovative content within United Artists.

Does Tom Cruise own any aircraft?

Yes, Tom Cruise owns a vintage P-51 Mustang and a Gulfstream IV, reflecting his passion for aviation and his dedication to his personal interests and brand.

Is Tom Cruise involved with the Church of Scientology?

Tom Cruise is not only a member of the Church of Scientology but also one of its most prominent advocates, often crediting the Church for his professional successes and personal development.

What position does Tom Cruise hold in the Church of Scientology?

Cruise’s exact position within the Church of Scientology’s hierarchy remains undisclosed and is the subject of speculation due to the Church’s private nature.

Has Tom Cruise used his Church of Scientology connections in business?

While specific engagements are unverified, it is speculated that Tom Cruise has utilized his Church of Scientology network to support Scientology-affiliated businesses.

Has Cruise’s career been affected by his association with the Church of Scientology?

Despite the Church of Scientology’s controversial reputation, Tom Cruise’s career continues to prosper without any signs of being adversely impacted by his association with the Church.

Does Tom Cruise invest in real estate?

Tom Cruise possesses an extensive real estate portfolio, including properties in Telluride, New York City, Clearwater, and Beverly Hills, indicating his keen interest in real estate investment and his shrewdness in the market.

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These 60 Facts About Tom Cruise Will Tell You Everything You Need to Know

Otherwise ageless movie star tom cruise is celebrating his 60th birthday and here's a guide to the man behind the myth..

Tom Cruise , he of the ageless face, body and energy level, is celebrating a birthday July 3.

Contrary to what's visible to the naked eye, the actor is turning 60. 

He has the appropriate amount of work under what must be a utility belt to back that up, including his first-ever billion-dollar box office haul with Top Gun: Maverick . But it's Cruise's sheer zest for entertaining audiences that continues to awe and delight.

And his viral lecture  in December 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic protocol wasn't taken as seriously as he demanded on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 ,   proved that the world's biggest movie star isn't afraid to throw his hard-earned Hollywood weight around, either.

"I said what I said," he told Empire  in an interview published in May 2021. "There was a lot at stake at that point."

Alas, production was suspended anyway  in June 2021 after a positive COVID test, but after all sorts of pandemic-induced delays,  Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One is  finally  slated for July 14, 2023, with Part Two  to follow on June 28, 2024.

"I have an aggressive side, absolutely," Cruise told Cameron Crowe 36 years ago  for  Interview  magazine . "I need a creative outlet. Now I work out every day. I get up and work out 45 to 60 minutes. And that's how I start my day. Discipline is very important to me."

When Brad Pitt , who's only 58, told GQ Australia  a few years ago that he thinks making movies (or at least being in them) is "a younger man's game," you could practically hear Cruise's inimitable laugh.

So, with our need for speed recently fulfilled, in honor of his milestone birthday here are 60 things to know 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."

57. Cruise has been nominated for three Oscars: Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia and Best Actor for Jerry Maguire and Born on the Fourth of July . He has seven Golden Globe nominations and three wins, for those three films.

58. He  returned all three Globes  in 2021 as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association came under fire for its lack of diversity in its ranks.

59. Cruise's movies have collectively grossed more than $11 billion at the box office worldwide, though Top Gun: Maverick  is his first  film to cross the billion-dollar threshold on its own.

Prior to the release of the 36-years-in-the-making, pandemic-delayed sequel, his highest-grossing movie worldwide was Mission: Impossible—Fallout , with $791 million. Domestically, his biggest film was War of the Worlds with $234 million—though adjusted for inflation, it was the original  Top Gun  ($180 million in 1986 vs. $444 million in 2022). Top Gun: Maverick has made $534 million in the U.S.

60. Of course those are real F-18s and the actors are really flying in  Top Gun: Maverick .  "It is aggressive. You can't act that, the distortion in the face," Cruise explained in a making-of featurette . "They're pulling 7 1/2, 8 G's. That's 1,600 pounds of force."

As he recalled to  Empire , he told the studio before they got started, "'You don't know how hard this movie's going to be. No-one's ever done this before.'" But he was firm about not wanting to do any "CGI stuff."

And in the end, Cruise said, "There's never been an aerial sequence shot this way. I don't know if there ever will be again, to be honest."

61. When Tom Cruise wants to tell you he appreciates you, he sends dessert. The White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake from Doan's Bakery  in Woodland Hills, Calif., has become the stuff of holiday-gift-giving legend, sent to the likes of Tom Hanks , Rosie O'Donnell  and, more recently,  Top Gun: Maverick co-stars Miles Teller  and Jon Hamm .

When December comes around, the staff at Hanks' production company Playtone "start eyeing what mail has come in," Hanks shared on the Mythical Kitchen YouTube series  Last Meals . "Is the big box coming in? Are we getting what has essentially been called 'the Tom Cruise cake?'"

Asked about the criticism that he hadn't really played any grown-ups yet, Cruise told Cameron Crowe for Interview  in 1986, "God forbid if I do everything I want to do before I'm 26. When I get to [ Paul ] Newman 's age, I'm looking to still be playing the great characters he plays.

"I hope the public and everyone realize that I'm still growing. I'm still feeling my oats here. I'm working toward the long range of what I can be as an artist. And I work my ass off trying. Because I know what I want to be."

Mission: accomplished.

( Originally published July 3, 2019, at 3 a.m. PT )

• svg]:stroke-accent-900">

The Navy loves Tom Cruise, is letting him film the latest ‘Mission Impossible’ on an aircraft carrier

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Mar 4, 2023 2:32 PM EST

3 minute read

Tom Cruise just cannot get enough of naval life. And apparently the U.S. Navy can’t get enough of Tom Cruise. After bringing back Pete “Maverick” Mitchell for one last flight in last year’s Top Gun: Maverick , Cruise is once again climbing aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, just not as a naval aviator.

Variety reported that Cruise is filming the eighth Mission Impossible film onboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea. Antonio Parente, the head of the Apulia Film Commission in Italy, told Variety that Cruise was heading to a carrier, “which is probably the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush, but we are not sure,” to film flight sequences for the movie.

As of press time, Task & Purpose has not heard back yet from the Navy about what specific carrier Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two is filming on.

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The USS George HW Bush would be the fourth aircraft carrier a Tom Cruise film has shot footage on. The original Top Gun used the USS Enterprise as the carrier in the film’s beginning and end. For the sequel, the opening sequence showing flight crews at work and planes launching was filmed on the USS Abraham Lincoln. For the final mission, Maverick and his fellow aviators deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. 

Despite its reputation for big action and stunts, the Mission Impossible franchise has not significantly incorporated U.S. military elements. At least until these two upcoming films. The trailer for the upcoming seventh film, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One shows Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys in action — the Marine Corps initially made such participation public before removing the notice — and that looks to increase with the eighth film.

There is both a military element and aviation role in the upcoming Mission Impossible films. Actor Nick Offerman is set to play the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in both Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One and the eighth film. Alongside this aircraft carrier footage, behind the scenes elements shared by Dead Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie have seen Cruise both flying and standing on the side of a World War I-era biplane while it’s midair. Plot details on both films are thin, but the military is at least a major player of equipment in the movies.

The USS George HW Bush is currently sailing through European waters. The carrier and its support group were in the Adriatic Sea recently, taking part in NATO Vigilance Activity Neptune Strike 2023-1, which featured more than 30 vessels. The operation saw the George HW Bush sail alongside carriers from Italy and Spain, among other ships.

MH-60S and MH-60R helicopters assigned to the USS George HW Bush recently deployed to Turkey to help with relief efforts following the devastating earthquake there last month, which has killed at least 45,000 people.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters July 14, 2023. The eighth film is currently filming and due for release in 2024. 

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See Tom Cruise Reenact Entire Film Career With James Corden

By Elias Leight

Elias Leight

James Corden and Tom Cruise reenacted scenes from Cruise’s extensive filmography on Wednesday, bringing brief snippets of Top Gun , Rain Man , Risky Business , Vanilla Sky and many more to life on The Late Late Show . The pair moved at a blistering pace, changing outfits and hairdos in rapid succession as they romped through three decades of pop culture. 

Most of the transitions between films went smoothly. During the segue to A Few Good Men , Cruise appeared to forget to remove his  Eyes Wide Shut wig, but the crowd cheered furiously as he pulled it off.

The actors showed extra love to a few of Cruise’s most famous roles. The pair paid homage to every entry in the Mission: Impossible series, pretending to hang from the ceiling, race motorcycles, pull off cardboard masks, climb the side of a building and board a moving airplane. Jerry Maguire also earned special treatment; as Cruise and Corden shouted their way through the “show me the money” scene, Cuba Gooding Jr. made a cameo to critique Corden’s approach. “If you’re gonna do it,” Gooding Jr. said, “let me do it right.”

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Toward the end of their tour through recent film history, the two actors revealed the larger purpose of the segment. After Cruise pretended to kick Corden’s character in the groin during a scene from Jack Reacher , Corden told Cruise, “this movie was so great, I think you should make a sequel.” Sure enough, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back arrives Friday. 

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Tom Cruise Once Hinted Why He's Estranged From His Daughter Suri

Tom Cruise has long been tightlipped about anything that happens in his personal life, but his experience with fatherhood has been an exception, particularly with regard to his youngest child, Suri Cruise . Way back when, the "Mission Impossible" star was bursting at the seams with excitement for the birth of the only child  he shares with ex Katie Holmes , resulting in the revelation that he purchased a $200,000 sonogram machine so he could see her anytime he wanted.

"I'm a filmmaker — I need to see the rushes," he told GQ at the time (via Hollywood ). "At first we did it a lot. I don't know how many times, but I did not exceed FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulations." When Suri was finally born, Tom expressed profound awe. "It [the birth] was everything that we wanted it to be. It was spiritual. It was powerful. It was indescribable," he shared with  "20/20" reporter Deborah Roberts . "What words can you use? It's still something that I'm processing and keep reliving."

However, the dynamic between Tom and Suri experienced a dramatic shift over the years since his highly publicized split from Holmes, resulting in a strained and distant relationship with Suri. In a surprising revelation, the actor asserted that his affiliation with the Church of Scientology played a big part in the estrangement.

Tom Cruise's ties to Scientology got in the way

The intricacies surrounding Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' divorce remain a mystery to this day, but rampant speculation has repeatedly suggested that it had something to do with Cruise's deep ties with Scientology. Knowing that she couldn't escape the shackles of religion if she were to approach the split the conventional way, the "Dawson's Creek" alum reportedly decided to blindside her ex-husband with divorce filings instead and go off the grid with Suri.

Interestingly, this isn't something Cruise has explicitly denied. During his deposition in his $50 million libel suit against a media outfit that alleged he abandoned Suri, he was pressed on whether Holmes left him "in part to protect Suri from Scientology" (via HuffPost ). The "Top Gun" star was backed into a corner then, so he had no choice but to respond: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes." However, he countered by asserting, "There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion," rendering the point essentially moot.

Tom Cruise reportedly hasn't seen Suri in years

Despite the abrupt nature of their split, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes finalized their divorce in record time. The former couple only took 11 days to iron out the kinks in their separation with Holmes getting sole custody of Suri and $400,000 a year in child support payments until Suri turns 18 — though Cruise was granted ample visitation options.

But he has reportedly never fully utilized his visitation privileges, and initially he chalked it up to the complications of his divorce from Holmes. "Listen, where there is a divorce — if you look at this also in terms of Suri coming to me and certain agreements that you have, when a divorce occurs things change," he said in the deposition (via Radar Online ). "And it's more complicated, as everyone knows when that is, when that occurs, and there are certain agreements; now you have to ask for permission and organize schedules to make things happen. So it wasn't — it's not an ideal scene. It's not an ideal situation."

Unfortunately, it continued over the years, and his relationship with Suri is practically non-existent to this day. A source confirmed with  Page Six that the actor has "no part" in his daughter's life, and this will likely persist as long as he's deeply embedded in Scientology, as the organization prohibits its adherents from associating with former members. "This is his loss, his issue, his problem," another source said. "He must be really brainwashed."

Tom Cruise Movies List

1. Endless Love

3. The Outsiders

4. Losin' It

5. All the Right Moves

6. Risky Business

9. The Color of Money

10. Cocktail

11. Rain Man

12. Born on the Fourth of July

13. Days of Thunder

14. A Few Good Men

15. The Firm

16. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

17. Mission: Impossible

18. Jerry Maguire

19. Eyes Wide Shut

20. Magnolia

21. Mission: Impossible II

22. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

23. Vanilla Sky

24. Space Station 3D

25. Minority Report

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All of Tom Cruise’s wives and girlfriends in order, chronologically

There’s nobody like Tom Cruise . He’s charismatic, he’s eccentric, he’s controversial, and he’s everybody’s beloved. He has made some of the most quotable films of all time yet has dedicated the last decade of his career to performing some of the most dangerous stunts ever. His unpredictability is arguably his greatest weapon, and we struggle to find a more perfect word to describe his love life.

Cruise has been world-famous since the 1980s, and in that time, he’s been linked to several different women. The interesting thing to note here, especially given Cruise’s desire for privacy, is that nearly all the women he’s dated are celebrities. Apparently, the Mission: Impossible actor likes to fraternize with other actors. Cruise’s latest girlfriend is literally his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One co-star! However, before we jump ahead too quickly, let’s step back and begin at the very start.

Melissa Gilbert

Cruise’s relationship with Melissa Gilbert predates the name Cruise! Gilbert appeared on an episode of Watch What Happens Live in 2014, and she revealed that the actor was still going by his birth name when they first met. “I was maybe 16 or 17,” she recalled. “Actually, when I dated him, he was still Tom Mapother.”

Both Cruise and Gilbert were actors in 1981, but their situations could not have been more different. The former had just made his film debut in Endless Love (1981), and the latter was one of the cast members on the hit show Little House on the Prairie (1974-83). “He was like a struggling, starving actor, and I was working,” Gilbert added. “I actually bought him his first set of dishes.” They broke up within a few months.

Patti Scialfa

There are claims that Cruise romanced Heather Locklear and Rebecca de Mornay during the early 80s, but neither relationship has been confirmed by the people involved, so we felt like they shouldn’t warrant their own entry. However, what has been confirmed is the brief romance between Cruise and Patti Scialfa in 1985.

In a 1988 profile on Scialfa, People Magazine revealed that she dated Cruise before moving on to her future husband (and fellow E Street Band member) Bruce Springsteen. “Patti was hardly a nun before she met Bruce,” a source told People. “She doesn’t go out with accountants.” Scialfa and Springsteen have been married since 1991.

Tom Cruise and Cher dating already seems like the epitome of 80s pop culture, but it gets even better when you consider where they met: the 1985 wedding of Sean Penn and Madonna. These circumstances are so bizarre and hilarious that they sound made up. We digress. Cruise and Cher dated for a year, and while things didn’t last between them, there didn’t appear to be any hard feelings. Cher even listed Cruise as one of her top five lovers on a 2013 Watch What Happens Live episode.

Cher also marked the last time Cruise dated someone more famous than he was. Cher was one of the biggest pop stars on the planet and had just earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Mask (1985). Cruise released Top Gun the following year, and things were never the same.

Mimi Rogers

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. They were together for three years, and BBC News theorized that Rogers was actually the person who introduced Cruise to the Church of Scientology. Either way, their romance was not built to last. Rogers cited intimacy issues, and then there were discrepancies in their respective careers.

Rogers’ career ran parallel with Cruise’s. She also made her film debut in 1981 and earned critical praise for her performances in Gung Ho (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me , and Street Smart (both 1987), but Cruise’s megastardom led to her being overlooked in the media. “No matter what the article is, it’s ‘Tom Cruise‘s wife’,” Rogers told People . She received a $4 million settlement from the divorce.

Nicole Kidman

Cruise quickly rebounded from the Rogers marriage and started dating Nicole Kidman. The two had met during the making of Days of Thunder (1990) and were already two years into their marriage by the time they made Far and Away (1992). Cruise and Kidman were one of the premiere celebrity couples of the decade, and their third collaboration, Eyes Wide Shut (1999), drew attention for its scandalous depiction of a marriage on the rocks.

Eventually, the issues bled into real life. Cruise and Kidman divorced in 2001 and released a joint statement citing “difficulties inherent in divergent careers.” They remain co-parents to their adopted children, Isabella Jane and Connor Antony.

Penelope Cruz

Cruise likes to rebound quickly, and he did it again while making Vanilla Sky (2001). He started dating co-star Penelope Cruz, who played his love interest in the film, and despite their shared fame, they maintained a relatively low profile. They dated until 2004 when their amicable split was chalked up to scheduling conflicts and a general acceptance that things had run their course.

At the time, Lee Anne DeVette, Cruise’s sister and publicist, told People : “They broke up at the end of January, and it’s amicable.” Cruz’s publicist, Robert Garlock, went as far as to state that the actors stayed in touch after splitting. “They remain good friends and still talk often,” he assured fans. “There is no other person involved.”

Katie Holmes

We wonder if you need a refresher on this one. Cruise went on The Oprah Winfrey Show to jump on the host’s couch and declare his love for Katie Holmes in one of the most cringe-inducing interviews ever. That being said, the couch jumping worked, and Cruise and Holmes were wed in 2005. They had a daughter named Suri the following year and remained steady tabloid fodder until their divorce in 2012.

Holmes told In Style that the attention of being married to Cruise was often overwhelming. “That time was intense,” she admitted. “It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. We had some funny moments out and about in public.”

Hayley Atwell

Cruise’s love life has slowed down, but things picked up with Hayley Atwell during the making of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One . The Sun reports that Cruise and Atwell started dating in 2020, when Dead Reckoning Part One was going into production, and remained a couple until their split in May 2022.

While a reason for their official split was not given, Cruise and Atwell appear to be friendly with one another during the press junkets. Atwell even attended the premiere of Cruise’s film Top Gun: Maverick (2022) to show her support. Both are currently single.

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Suri Cruise Graduates From NY High School, Might Attend Carnegie Mellon University

By Eve Batey

Suri Cruise entered the world in perhaps the most public way possible: the infant child of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes made her public debut in the pages of Vanity Fair, the center of a lush photoshoot by storied photographer Annie Leibovitz in 2006. A few years later, the famous couple split, and since then, sightings of the father and daughter have dwindled , as has Suri’s presence in the public eye . Her low profile might be why Gen Xers and older Millennials are reacting with disbelief this weekend, as they learn that the tiny, Leibovitz-photographed baby is now a young adult who just graduated from high school.

Suri Cruise in an undated photo.

Page Six reports that until Friday’s graduation ceremony, Suri Cruise was a student at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts , a public high school in New York City with a stunning list of famous graduates including Awkwafina , Sarah Paulson , and Zazie Beetz . Unlike many of the school’s alumni, Suri was globally famous even before her freshman year at the school, and the subject of much speculation given her father’s controversial faith .

Suri Cruise and Tom Cruise visit Charles River Basin on October 10, 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Some might cite that faith as the reason Tom Cruise was not there for Suri’s landmark event. A beaming Holmes, who appears to have been responsible for Suri’s upbringing since her 2012 divorce from Tom Cruise, watched from the audience at Manhattan’s United Palace Theatre, as her 18-year-old daughter crossed the stage to claim her diploma.

There’s always the possibility, of course, that Cruise’s ongoing shooting schedule for the next Mission Impossible film prevented his attendance, or that he had another commitment he couldn’t pass up. Or perhaps the name on the invitation to the ceremony threw him: According to Page Six, LaGuardia’s graduation program didn’t list a “Suri Cruise,” only a “Suri Noelle.”

That’s the same name Holmes and Cruise’s daughter used in the playbill for her school’s spring musical, but it's unclear if Suri has legally changed her name. (Either way, “Noelle” is a likely nod to Holmes, as the moniker is her middle name.) As it has with other famous progeny , the answer to Suri's name enigma might become clearer this fall, when Suri will reportedly matriculate at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University.

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By Tom Kludt

Tom Cruise’s Ex-Wives: Everything To Know About His 3 Marriages To Katie, Nicole, & Mimi

The 'Mission: Impossible' star has been married thrice throughout his career. Find out everything you need to know about his ex-wives.

• Tom Cruise remains one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars
• The actor has been linked with several high-profile actresses throughout his career and married three of them
• He shares three children with two of his ex-wives

Tom Cruise   has been a popular actor for decades. He’s appeared in classics like  Top Gun and  Jerry Maguire,  but he’s also been a part of the massively popular  Mission: Impossible  film franchise. While he got famous through his many movie appearances, Tom’s personal life has long been a public interest , from his relationships to his family. Throughout his life, the 59-year-old actor has been married to three different women and welcomed three children with two of them.  Find out more about who his exes are and what his relationships with them were like!

Mimi Rogers

Tom’s first marriage was to  Mimi Rogers  in 1987. The actor had experienced early success in his career with  Risky Business  and  Top Gun , before he married the actress. Mimi, 66, has starred in a number of beloved movies like Lost In Space  or the first  Austin Powers  film. While the marriage was short-lived, Mimi did have a major impact on Tom, being the one who introduced him to Scientology, according to the book The Passion of Tom Cruise , via  Radar .  Her dad had been an original member of the church, via  The Hollywood Reporter .

Tom had said that the pair met at a dinner party in a 1986 profile by  Rolling Stone . In another profile , he later gushed about Mimi. “I care about my wife more than anything in the world. She’s my best friend. I just really like being with her, you know? I love her,” he said.

Unfortunately, the couple later split and broke up in 1990. In the years since the divorce, Mimi has said that she regularly gets questioned about her marriage to the  Top Gun  star, but she doesn’t really comment much. ““Any time anything happens with him I get a call: ’What do you think of Katie? What do think about this?’ … ’Yeah, he’s having a kid. Of course I think it’s great. What do you want me to say?’ ’Do you think he’ll be a good father?’ ’How do I know any more than I would know what kind of parent you would be,” she explained to  Today  in 2006.

Meanwhile, Mimi keeps her fans up to date on her latest moves via Instagram . Her last post celebrated another season of working on the hit TV show Bosch Legacy.

Nicole Kidman

After the split from Mimi, Tom starred alongside his future wife  Nicole Kidman in  Days of Thunder,  and the pair got married in December 1990. The couple adopted two kids: a daughter Isabella,   29, and a son Connor,  27, in the 90s. During their 11-year marriage, Tom and Nicole also starred in the 1999 film  Eyes Wide Shut  together, which Nicole, 54, looked back on fondly in a 2020 New York Times   interview. “We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We’d rent out a place and go racing at 3 in the morning,” she said.

After 11 years together, the couple broke up, and Tom filed for divorce in February 2001. In the years after the split, Nicole said the breakup was a “major shock” in a 2006 interview with  Ladies Home Journal,  per  Today .  “I knew I was going to get hit with something. But I think a divorce, and the demise of what your family is, is a little death in itself,” she said. Shortly after the split, there had been reports that Nicole had suffered a miscarriage at the end of their relationship, but she set the record straight in a 2007 interview with  Marie Claire . She said that it was “wrongly reported,” and clarified, “I had an ectopic pregnancy at the beginning of [my marriage].”

Nicole went on to marry country music singer Keith Urban in 2006. The gorgeous actress shares hilarious videos of their daily life together in Australia via her Instagram . Check out the cute couple hilariously chasing a native brush tail possum away from their deck here !

Katie Holmes

Tom’s third and most recent marriage was to actress Katie Holmes .  The pair started dating in 2005, and they were quickly nicknamed “TomKat.” The actor famously declared his love for Katie in a viral interview with  Oprah Winfrey,  where he jumped on the couch on her talk show. A year after going public with their romance, Katie, 43, had their first daughter   Suri ,  16, together in April 2006. The couple got married that November. The wedding was an extravagant affair, with tons of high profile guests like  Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey,  and many more, per  USA Today.   Tom’s best man was the head of the Church of Scientology  David Miscavige,  according to the   BBC .

After six years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2012. Katie announced that she was filing for divorce, and the split was quickly resolved due to a prenup arranged by the actress’s dad, according to  Vanity Fair . After the split, Katie moved to New York with Suri. Although she doesn’t often share snaps of her mini-me daughter to her Instagram , Katie does give fans a peek at her life in the Big Apple.

She reflected on the time after the divorce in an April 2020 interview with   InStyle . “That time was intense. It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. We had some funny moments out and about in public. So many people I didn’t know became my friends and helped us out, and that’s what I love about the city,” she said.

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Tom Cruise: a look at his career, marriages and other curious facts about the star - He's had a successful career in the cinema, though his personal life is pretty strange: take a look at the life of Tom Cruise!

© Getty Images

0 / 31 Fotos

Beginnings - The star was born on the July 3, 1962 and is now 56. He's had a successful career, with more than a few curious goings-on in his personal life.

© All rights reserved

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Teenage years - Before he was famous, the film star studied to be a priest, and went to join a seminary in 1976, but he ended up getting expelled for stealing liquor.

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'Endless Love' (1981) - The first film of his career was 'Endless Love', where he played the part of Billy.

© All rights reserved / Universal Pictures

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'Risky Business' (1983) - Two years later he appeared in 'Risky Business', playing Joel Goodson. The film was a box office success.

© All rights reserved / Warner Bros

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'Top Gun' (1986) - It was as Maverick in the action film 'Top Gun' that Tom Cruise caught the public's attention, particularly with women.

© All rights reserved / Paramount Pictures

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'Rain Man' (1988) - In 1988 he played the main part in the film 'Rain Man.' The picture won an Oscar the following year.

© All rights reserved / United Artists

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'Born on the Fourth of July' (1989) - In 1989 he played the protagonist in the film 'Born on the Fourth of July,' a film for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

© All rights reserved / MGM UA Communications Company

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'Days of Thunder' (1990) - Another standout role for the actor was his part in the movie 'Days of Thunder.' The film was a success with the public and also with critics. The actor played the protagonist, Cole Trickle.

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'Interview with the Vampire' (1994) - The '90s were a good decade for the actor, with him appearing in 10 films. In 1994, he was in the suspense/terror film 'Interview with the Vampire,' playing the part of Lestat de Lioncour.

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'Interview with the Vampire' (1994) - The film, which also featured Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas, was a big success which raked in over $35 million. In just one film, Tom Cruise became one of the best-paid actors in the world.

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'Mission: Impossible' - In 1996 he appeared in the first 'Mission: Impossible' film, as the protagonist Ethan Hunt. The actor also served as a producer and actor in subsequent films.

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'Mission: Impossible II' (2000) - In the year 2000, he won the 'Best Actor' award at the MTV Movie Awards for 'Mission: Impossible II.'

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'Vanilla Sky' (2001) - Another successful film in which he was both actor and producer was 'Vanilla Sky.'

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'War of the Worlds' (2005) - After appearing in hits such as 'The Last Samurai,' the actor played the protagonist in the film 'War of the Worlds.'

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'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' (2011) - He also appeared in many other action films, such as 'Valkyrie' (2008), 'Knight and Day' (2010), and 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' (2011).

© All right reserved / Paramount Pictures

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The Mummy (2017) - The actor's most recent film was 'The Mummy' (2017), playing the role of Nick Morton.

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Personal Life - The American actor Rebecca de Mornay was Cruise's first celebrity girlfriend. The actors met during the filming of 'Risky Business.'

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First Marriage - Cruise's first marriage was with actor Mimi Rogers, and lasted three years.

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Second marriage - In 1990, Tom Cruise married actor Nicole Kidman. The romance started while they were filming 'Days of Thunder.'

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Children - Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise adopted two children, Isabella in 1994 and Connor the following year. The marriage lasted 11 years and ended with them getting divorced in 2001.

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Four-year romance - In the same year as his divorce with Kidman, Cruise began a relationship with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, which lasted four years.

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Controversy - In 2005, he surprised everyone. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he jumped on the sofa and declared his love for American actress Katie Holmes. On live TV!

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Third marriage - They got married in 2005 and have a daughter together, named Suri.

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Third Divorce - After six years of marriage, the actors divorced in 2012. Cruise's fanatical devotion to the Church of Scientology was cited as one of the main reasons for his divorce from Katie Holmes.

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Religion - Cruise is an advocate of Scientology, a controversial religion that believes that all human beings are aliens who arrived on Earth millions of years ago.

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Mimi Rogers - It was Mimi Rogers who first introduced Cruise to Scientology. Even after this, the leaders of the religion persuaded the actor to end his relationship with the actress.

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Surgery - Cruise is known for his perfect smile, and the actor has had so many surgeries to correct his teeth that his front tooth is now in the center of his mouth.

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Curiosities - Cruise is 1.7 m tall, which is shorter than his three ex-wives, Nicole Kidman (1.82 m), Mimi Rogers (1.76 m), Katie Holmes (1.8 m).

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Career - Cruise is the only actor to have worked with these four great directors: Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg.

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The strange 33-year mark - The star's three marriages all ended when his respective wives were each 33 years old. In Shinto (a Japanese religion), the age of 33 for women is considered to be a year of 'misfortune.'

30 / 31 Fotos

Tom Cruise: a look at his career, marriages and other curious facts about the star

You'll be surprised at what you find.

29/07/18 | StarsInsider

CELEBRITY Tom cruise

T om Cruise is one of the biggest names in film. Throughout his career he's had many standout roles, and he's even produced many films himself. The leading man has also won numerous awards along the way.

When it comes to his personal life, he's had some drama. He's been divorced three times and has been involved in some other controversies, largely due to his unshakable faith in Scientology.

Take a look at these and other strange facts about his life!

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Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s Daughter Suri Just Graduated High School

Her mom beamed with pride as they posed for photos

On Friday, Suri received her diploma from LaGuardia High School in a ceremony held at United Palace, a theater in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Her famous mom was there to celebrate the moment, and beamed with pride as she hugged her daughter and posed for photos.

Holmes looked chic in a cream long-sleeved polo and tan pleated trousers, which she paired with shiny silver kitten heels, tortoiseshell sunglasses, and a beige Celine handbag. In pictures obtained by Page Six , 18-year-old Suri can be seen wearing a red graduation gown over a summery white midi dress. The teen carried a matching red graduation cap in her hand as she walked down the street in strappy gold heels with a red floral detail.

Suri’s estranged father , Cruise, did not attend the event. Instead, he was spotted at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour show in London. According to Page Six, Suri seems to have dropped her famous father’s last name entirely, going by “Suri Noelle” in the graduation ceremony’s pamphlet. As previously reported , the two have not spoken in several years due to Cruise’s long involvement with the Church of Scientology.

But Suri is incredibly close with her mother. The duo can often seen exploring the city together, wearing coordinating outfits and grabbing coffee. “You’d struggle to find a mom-daughter duo who are more in sync with each other. They’re a real team—their connection is a beautiful thing to witness,” an inside source told US Weekly in 2020.

Maya Ernest is an editor who covers everything from the latest fashion news to features that investigate personal style, social media trends, and thoughtful consumption. 

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Suri's Candid Graduation Pics May Confirm The Unfortunate Rule Tom Cruise Continues To Follow

• Suri Cruise's prom photos went viral, sparking speculation on Tom's absence, possibly due to his connection to Scientology.
• Katie Holmes remains close with Suri, supporting her film pursuits, while Tom seems distant from their relationship.
• Recent family photos show Tom still plays an active role in Connor and Bella's lives, although he keeps Kim and Suri at arm's length.

A candid photo is making the headlines, but it isn't of Tom Cruise . Instead, it is a photo of Suri Cruise all grown up, celebrating her prom out in New York. Katie Holmes isn't present, but the two remain closer than ever. As for Tom and Suri, the photo added more doubt to their current status.

In the following, we're going to take a closer look at the viral photos, and what it might mean to Tom's relationship with Suri. We'll also take a closer look at what might be the reason for Tom's disappearance in Suri's life. Although he appears to be non-existent with Suri, recent pics with Connor and Bella prove otherwise.

Let's take a closer look.

Tom Cruise And Keanu Reeves Drew Completely Different Reactions For Their Candid Shirtless Photos

Fans were debating the media's credibility after calling Tom Cruise's physique, "chiseled."

Tom Cruise Was Nowhere To Be Found Following Suri's Candid Prom Pictures, And Scientology Is Likely Why

It has been a busy day in the headlines for Suri Cruise, who hasn't shied away from living her life out in New York. Suri was recently snapped celebrating her prom. The photos made headlines particularly given that she was alongside her rumored boyfriend, identified as LaGuadria senior, Toby Cohen. The two were snapped in various photos together. Cohen does have social media, but has wisely kept things quiet.

As for Suri's future, she's headed to Carnegie Mellon University, continuing her education.

As expected, the photos did spark further speculation about Tom's relationship with Suri, or lack thereof. Tom was nowhere to be found, and there wasn't any mention of the actor. Given his connection to Scientology, it seems like the two don't have any type of relationship, at least that's what seems to be the case at the moment.

Former leading Scientologist Karen De La Carriere, revealed there is one rule that may be prohibitting Tom :

• Katie was deemed a Suppressive Person and Suri, by extension, Potential Trouble Source, she said.
• Tom cannot engage or connect with his own daughter. In Scientology, it is Scientology first; family priorities come low down in the order.

As for Katie Holmes, she remains closer than ever with her daughter, and actually encourages Suri to pursue film.

"I hope she always does something on my films," Katie said. "I always ask her. But both of those experiences came out of the same sense of what I love about our industry, which is, you have these projects and you become a family with people."

Tom Cruise's Appearance Shocks Fans After Scantily Clad Pictures Go Viral

Tom Cruise was subjected to body shaming comments and plastic surgery rumors after beach pictures go viral.

Life goes on for Suri, Katie and Tom. Though it should be noted that Cruise continues to play an active role in Connor and Bella's lives.

Tom Cruise Still Has A Close Connection To Connor And Bella

Thanks to Derrick Brooks's IG post, fans got to see that Tom is still very present with both Connor and Bella. A group photo showed the family together.

Bella has dropped hints most recently that her relationship with Nicole Kidman is also intact, despite rumors suggesting otherwise.

Although Tom wasn't present at Bella's wedding, it is said that Cruise paid for the entire event, and didn't attend due to the attention his appearance would gather.

As for Tom and his status as a father, he hasn't said much in recent times, choosing to keep that side of his life private. However, over a decade ago, he did express how grateful he was to be a dad.

"I'll never forget the moment I became a dad. But it's hard to describe -- that level of responsibility, the desire to give such joy. The clarity: Nothing is more important than this. I remember that first night, just staring at Bella. I was checking her every second, just looking at her, feeling that immediate bond. I was probably looking at her so much that I was keeping her up."

Things have clearly changed for Tom since then.

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Tom cruise attends taylor swift’s eras tour in london day after daughter suri’s high school graduation.

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Tom Cruise was all smiles at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour show in London Saturday night the day after daughter Suri’s high school graduation in NYC just hours prior.

The “Top Gun” star looked gleeful at Wembley Stadium as he traded friendship bracelets with fans ahead of the singer’s second of three sold-out performances in England’s capital city.

The 61-year-old actor — who rocked dark wash jeans, a white T-shirt and a black jacket — sat among A-list attendees including Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Grant and “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig.

Cruise appeared to be having the time of his life as he — much like Prince William the night prior — danced along to the Grammy winner’s hit song “Shake it Off” with his famous peers in the VIP tent.

Swift’s beau, Travis Kelce, was also among stars as he attended his second London concert in a row with his brother and sister-in-law, Jason and Kylie .

Meanwhile in the US, Cruise’s estranged 18-year-old daughter graduated from LaGuardia High School the day prior.

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Want celebrity news as it breaks? Hooked on Housewives?

A beaming Suri was photographed greeting friends outside the venue shortly after they received their diplomas.

She also eagerly took pictures with mom Katie Holmes, who proudly stood by her daughter’s side on the special day.

The teenager dressed for the heat in a white sundress and heels adorned with a flower.

She completed her summery ensemble with a red graduation robe and white sash.

The 45-year-old “Dawson’s Creek” alum, for her part, looked cheerful in beige pleated trousers and a matching collared shirt.

Cruise’s choice to opt out of the graduation does not come as a surprise, as he has been estranged from the teen for years .

Suri even dropped the “Risky Business” actor’s last name in her school’s official graduation pamphlet, opting instead to go by her first and middle names, “Suri Noelle.”

Cruise confirmed in a 2012 deposition that Holmes divorced him “in part to protect Suri from Scientology.”

Followers of the controversial religion are not allowed to associate with nonbelievers.

Suri — who revealed she will attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in the fall — did not let her father’s absence ruin her final days of high school.

Earlier this week, she was seen having a blast with her friends as they took pictures before they went off to prom.

Suri looked like a spitting image of her mother in a ’90s-inspired floral gown that featured a corseted bodice.

Holmes and Cruise split in 2011 nearly six years after tying the knot.

The “Mission Impossible” actor shares daughter Isabella, 31, and son Connor, 29, with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, whom he separated from in 2001 following an 11-year marriage.

Cruise still spends time with his eldest children as they have followed in his Scientology-practicing footsteps.

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