Every Tom Cruise Movie from the 1990s, Ranked
Some of Tom Cruise's best work as an actor was during the 1990s. Here are all his films from that decade, ranked.
Tom Cruise has been a movie star since the late '80s, but it was in the '90s when he played some of his more memorable roles, both as a box office star, but also as an actor who wasn’t afraid to play some unique, not always good characters. Here’s every Tom Cruise movie from the 1990s, ranked.
9 Far and Away (1992)
Far and Away tells the story of Irish immigrants who move to America for a better life. Joseph (Cruise) is poor, and Shannon (at the time, his real-life girlfriend, Nicole Kidman) is rich, and yet they fall in love while also being participants in the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893.
The film has some great shots, taking as much opportunity as possible to show the incredible hills and vistas around, and Ron Howard directed the film, but it still falls flat. The Irish accents of both leads don’t help their performances at all, in a movie that now is almost forgotten.
8 Days of Thunder (1990)
Days of Thunder was one of the first movies to explore the deadly sport of car racing and reunited Cruise with his Top Gun director, Tony Scott. The film isn’t great, other than giving some cheap thrills on the racing track, and two fun performances from Robert Duvall as Cruise’s mentor, and Nicole Kidman as his love interest.
7 Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles has one of the things Cruise hasn’t done enough, being the bad guy as Lestat. When he was cast in this Neil Jordan film, most people, including the writer of the novel, Anne Rice, thought it was a mistake, but Cruise won them over. His interpretation of Lestat as a sad, bored-to-death, lonely brat, who decides to create a buddy for himself in Louis (Brad Pitt), is a unique way to see the character.
Even then, it’s a young Kirsten Dunst who almost steals the show, as a girl who is transformed and stays physically as a kid while her psyche is getting older. The film also had Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas in its cast, making it one of the most interesting assembled back then.
6 The Firm (1993)
Back in the '90s, a John Grisham adaptation was as big office success as superheroes are now, that’s why it was big news when Cruise got cast as the lead in The Firm . The thriller tells the story of Mitch McDeere (Cruise), a tax lawyer who starts working for a firm in Memphis until he discovers they’re laundering money for one of the biggest crime families in the nation.
Cruise is great as the charismatic, idealist lead, and has fun cat-and-mouse-like chemistry with a villainous Gene Hackman. In the movie with an incredible cast, not only Cruise and Hackman appear, but also Jeanne Tripplehorn, Hal Holbrook, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, David Strathairn, Gary Busey , and Wilford Brimley.
5 Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Eyes Wide Shut was the last film Stanley Kubrick ever directed and had, at its center, Tom Cruise and his then-real wife Nicole Kidman. Alice (Kidman) tells Dr. Bill (Cruise) that she fantasized about cheating on him with another man, and that’s enough for Bill to explore his darkest nature in the New York underground, which gives the film most of its plot. Kubrick died before he could finish editing the whole thing, and yet the many layers of the film about marriage, love, and desire are still visible.
Both actors give great performances, but it’s Cruise's humiliated husband who decides to challenge his whole life after his wife’s confession that’s fascinating, as this character was very different from his usual roles . This film is also the reason Cruise didn’t do more films in the '90s, as they spent three years shooting it with one of the most perfectionist directors ever.
Related: These Strange Romance Movies Redefine Loving Relationships, For Better or Worse
4 Jerry Maguire (1996)
Jerry Maguire was a surprising hit for Cruise, and everyone involved (it also had breakout roles from Renée Zellweger and Cuba Gooding Jr.,) playing a character that started pretty despicable and becomes a little bit better as the movie goes along. The film had a lasting legacy , as some of its best quotes are still used (and parodied) today. The movie used the underdog theme to tell a story about sports, family, working with the ones you love, and much more. Cruise’s Maguire shows a more human side of the actor, one where he’s always one step away from losing everything, and yet the most vulnerable he allows himself to be, the most things go well for him.
About how much Cruise wanted to do the film, director Cameron Crowe told Deadline : “My first conversation with Tom after he read the script, he said, I’ll fly out there. I’ll sit down. I’ll read for you. You tell me if you think I’m right for the part. He asked to audition. He came out, we sat and talked, and he said, well, let’s read this thing. He read the script out loud with Jim and me.”
3 Mission: Impossible (1996)
It’s crazy to think about it now, but the original Mission: Impossible was released 27 years ago, and it was the start of an incredible action franchise that, for some, has even replaced the James Bond movies as their action go-to. The saga has the best Cruise action movies by a mile, and all started with this one, and its memorable sequence where Cruise is trying to get information in a disc without touching the floor.
Brian De Palma delivered an action-packed, tense, thriller, with a couple of scenes that are still memorable (the one mentioned before, and the first scene in the film where most of Ethan’s team is killed, including Emilio Estevez in a cameo). All these years later, Cruise (and Ethan) are still working with their inseparable Ving Rhames (and Luther), who also had his first appearance here.
2 A Few Good Men (1992)
A Few Good Men was Aaron Sorkin’s first script ever shot, as it started as his play, and it showed, making every character interesting, and having some tense, court scenes. The play that became the movie was based on a true story . Cruise plays Lt. Daniel Kaffee, the cocky, smart military lawyer investigating a death at Guantánamo Bay.
The actor shows all the attitude and charisma that had made him a movie star, and the script has some incredible lines he gets to deliver perfectly. Cruise was so good in this film, that he was able to go toe-to-toe with non-other than Jack Nicholson in the court scene, where Nicholson has the famous “You can’t handle the truth!”
Related: These Are the Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked
1 Magnolia (1999)
Magnolia was Paul Thomas Anderson's third film, and for some, it’s still his best. Copying the structure of Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, the film tells many interconnected stories in Los Angeles, with an incredible cast, from Philip Seymour Hoffman to John C. Reilly, and has one of Julianne Moore’s best performances ever . Cruise plays Frank T.J. Mackey, a misogynistic guru who tells other men how to seduce women.
It has one of Tom Cruise’s most essential movie moments , but what makes this role so good is how broken the character is at the end when he sees his father one last time. Cruise has become a stuntman more than an actor in the last few years, and that’s a shame as in movies like this, he proves how much he could as an actor interested in character more than in action. Luckily enough, his films in the '90s were always about that first.
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"Days of Thunder" is an entertaining example of what we might as well call the Tom Cruise Picture, since it assembles most of the same elements that worked in " Top Gun ," "The Color Of Money" and " Cocktail " and runs them through the formula once again. Parts of the plot are beginning to wear out their welcome, but the key ingredients are still effective. They include: 1. The Cruise character, invariably a young and naive but naturally talented kid who could be the best, if ever he could tame his rambunctious spirit.
2. The Mentor, an older man who has done it himself and has been there before and knows talent when he sees it, and who has faith in the kid even when the kid screws up because his free spirit has gotten the best of him.
3. The Superior Woman, usually older, taller and more mature than the Cruise character, who functions as a Mentor for his spirit, while the male Mentor supervises his craft.
4. The Craft, which the gifted young man must master.
5. The Arena, in which the young man is tested.
6. The Arcana, consisting of the specialized knowledge and lore that the movie knows all about, and we get to learn.
7. The Trail, a journey to visit the principal places where the masters of the craft test one another.
8. The Proto-Enemy, the bad guy in the opening reels of the movie, who provides the hero with an opponent to practice on. At first the Cruise character and the Proto-Enemy dislike each other, but eventually through a baptism of fire they learn to love one another.
9. The Eventual Enemy, a real bad guy who turns up in the closing reels to provide the hero with a test of his skill, his learning ability, his love, his craft and his knowledge of the Arena and the Arcana.
The archetypal Tom Cruise Movie is "Top Gun," in which the young fighter pilot, a natural, was tutored by a once-great pilot and emotionally nurtured by an older female flight instructor before testing his wings against the hot dogs of his unit, in preparation for a final showdown.
In " The Color of Money ," the young pool player, a natural, was tutored by a once-great pool hustler and emotionally nurtured by an older female who had been around the block a few times, in preparation for a two-part showdown with (a) his hated opponent on the professional pool circuit, and (b) his Mentor himself. In "Cocktail," the young bartender, a natural, was tutored by an older bartender, before eventually meeting first an older female who taught him a thing or two, and then a younger but still more mature female who taught him how to forget them.
In "Days of Thunder," all of these elements are present in an entertainment of great skill but predictable construction. The Craft is stock-car racing. The Mentor is played by Robert Duvall , as a veteran racing-team leader. The Superior Woman is a physician ( Nicole Kidman ), who is attracted to the raw energy of the hero but forces him to grow up by laying down the line of responsible behavior. The Arena is the auto-racing track, and the Arcana includes such lore as "slipstreaming," RPMs, tire temperature and whether to pass on the outside or the inside. The Proto-Enemy is a driver named Rowdy ( Michael Rooker ), who challenges the hero to racing duels, including one that winds them both up in the hospital. The Eventual Enemy ( Cary Elwes ) is a driver named Wheeler who would like to run the hero into the wall and kill him. And the Trail is the Southern stock-car circuit, ending in the holy city of Daytona.
"Days of Thunder" was directed by Tony Scott , the same man who started this whole cycle by directing "Top Gun," and the new movie shows the same mastery of the photography of fast machines. The movie's handicap is that auto racing is a boring sport visually unless you are standing close to the cars or they are crashing into each other. The rest consists of long shots of lots of anonymous cars dashing confusingly around the track, medium shots of two cars trying to pass one another, and closeups of drivers looking as if they are experiencing proctoscopy.
As "Days of Thunder" sees it, the principal strategy in stock-car racing consists of trying to sideswipe your opponent and push him into the wall, and Cruise's cars scrape the wall for easily half of the time they are on the track. Most of this racing footage is loud and fast enough to be exciting, however, and the off-track sequences are served by Duvall's usual laconic, sensitive performance; Randy Quaid as a used-car dealer who has faith in the kid, and Rooker as the perfect Proto-Enemy (he can look hateful and then turn it around with a smile).
Kidman has little to do as the love interest and doesn't make much of an impression. And Cruise is so efficiently packaged in this product that he plays the same role as a saint in a Mexican village's holy day procession: It's not what he does that makes him so special; it's the way he manifests everybody's faith in him.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
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Film credits.
Days Of Thunder (1990)
Rated PG-13
106 minutes
Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle
Randy Quaid as Tim
Robert Duvall as Harry
Nicole Kidman as Claire
Directed by
Produced by.
- Don Simpson
- Jerry Bruckheimer
- Robert Towne
- Billy Weber
- Chris Lebenzon
Photography by
- Ward Russell
- Hans Zimmer
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Tom Cruise Through the Years
By Apryl Lovera
4:48 PM PDT, July 2, 2022
Tom Cruise, one of the world's highest-paid actors, has a storied acting career that includes various accolades and iconic roles. Take a look back at the star's most memorable moments.
Tom Cruise poses for a portrait.
Tom Cruise stars as Cadet Captain David Shawn in the film Taps .
Tom Cruise laughs in a scene from the film Risky Business.
Tom Cruise as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun .
Tom Cruise married Mimi Rogers in May 1987. They divorced in February 1990.
Rain Man producer Mark Johnson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and director Barry Levinson at the 61 st Annual Academy Awards Show on March 29 in Los Angeles, California. Johnson (Best Picture), Hoffman (Best Actor) and Levinson (Best Director) took home Oscars that year.
Tom Cruise in a scene from Born on the Fourth of July .
Tom Cruise met Nicole Kidman on the set of Days of Thunder . The pair tied the knot in December 1990. He filed for divorce in February 2001.
Actor Tom Cruise attends the 47th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 20 and takes home the Best Actor prize he won for Born on the Fourth of July .
Tom Cruise's Hand and Footprint Ceremony at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on June 28.
Tom Cruise as Lestat in The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles .
Tom Cruise stars in his legendary role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible .
Tom Cruise talks on a phone in a scene from the film Jerry Maguire .
Actor Tom Cruise attends the 54th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 19 and takes home the Best Actor award for Jerry Maguire .
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise hit the red carpet for the Eyes Wide Shut premiere on September 9 in Los Angeles, California.
Tom Cruise attends the 6th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on March 12 at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Tom Cruise dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz from 2001 to 2004.
Tom Cruise enters Dodgers Stadium with the Olympic torch during the torch relay on June 16 in Los Angeles, California.
Tom Cruise began dating Katie Holmes in April 2005.
Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes in Rome, Italy on November 18, 2006. The actress filed for divorce in June 2012.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz during the shooting of the film Knight and Day on December 9 in Seville, Spain.
Tom Cruise and Jennifer Lopez perform onstage at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards at Gibson Amphitheatre on June 6 in Universal City, California.
Tom Cruise stars in Edge of Tomorrow and the film premiered on March 14, 2014.
Tom Cruise speaks onstage at the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures preview of Edge of Tomorrow film during Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center on July 20.
Tom Cruise signs autographs for fans as he arrives in South Korea to attend Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Seoul premiere on November 7.
Tom Cruise is seen on the set of Mission: Impossible 6 on May 4 in Paris, France.
Tom Cruise poses at the global premiere of Mission: Impossible - Fallout at Palais de Chaillot on July 12 in Paris, France.
Tom Cruise wears a face mask during the filming of the movie Mission: Impossible Lybra on October 9.
Tom Cruise attends the men's final of Wimbledon in England on July 11.
Tom Cruise arrives in a helicopter to the world premiere of Top Gun: Maverick aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, California on May 4.
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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 Said in 1990 Making a Sequel to Top Gun Would Be 'Irresponsible'
Cruise suggested a sequel to top gun would give kids a warped 'fairy tale' view of war..
Tom Cruise’s latest movie, a sequel to his classic 1986 action pic, Top Gun , is finally getting a release later this month after delays related to the covid-19 pandemic. But Cruise, who’s now 59 years old, felt very different about doing a sequel to the film back in 1990. In fact, Cruise said making a sequel would be “irresponsible” and suggested any continuation of the story could be interpreted as pro-war propaganda.
Cruise made the comments in an interview with Playboy magazine for the January 1990 issue, while promoting his then-new film Born on the Fourth of July . That movie, directed by Oliver Stone, was an anti-war statement that seemed to clash ideologically with Top Gun , something the Playboy interviewer pointed out.
But Cruise was clearly ready for the question and believed Top Gun ’s cartoonish artifice was clear. The actor did, however, draw a line at doing a sequel.
Playboy: [ Born on the Fourth of July ] is also the flip side of Top Gun , which is essentially war by Nintendo game and a paean to blind patriotism. Cruise: OK, some people felt that Top Gun was a right-wing film to promote the Navy. And a lot of kids loved it. But I want the kids to know that that’s not the way war is—that Top Gun was just an amusement park ride, a fun film with a PG-13 rating that was not supposed to be reality. That’s why I didn’t go on and make Top Gun II and III and IV and V . That would have been irresponsible.
Cruise notes that “some people” felt Top Gun was a promotion for the Navy, but it quite literally was. The film received assistance from the U.S. Navy from its inception and the script was approved by the Pentagon, as we know from books like Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film by Lawrence Suid.
But many readers of this interview in 1990 may not have been aware of the military’s intimate involvement in the movie. And, even if they were, Cruise was still going to pretend like Top Gun was a story that was responsible for a huge uptick in kids signing up to be fighter pilots.
Playboy: Is Born a redemption of Top Gun ? Cruise: They are to different things. Top Gun is a joy ride and shouldn’t be looked at beyond that. Born is about real people and real events. Top Gun should be looked at as going on Space Mountain—it’s like a simple fairy tale.
But the interviewer wouldn’t let Cruise off that easy.
Playboy: A lot of boys have gone off to war to that kind of drumbeat. That is the history of war—young, callow kids marching off to a fairy-tale glory as in Top Gun . Cruise: Think of that: I am totally responsible for World War Three [ laughs ]! Come on. Let’s look at the reality of what I am saying—where my beliefs lie. I didn’t have anything riding on Top Gun . The fact is, I really want people to see Born on the Fourth of July —it’s a movie that had to be made.
As Suid points out in his book, the producers of Top Gun met with military leaders at the Pentagon in early June of 1983, long before they even had a script. The producers, including action movie legend Jerry Bruckheimer, pitched the basic idea for Top Gun and the brass at the Pentagon loved it. The military received total veto power over the script and the producers in turn received access to incredibly advanced weapons of war that would’ve been difficult to reproduce effectively and economically with the relatively primitive special effects of the early 1980s.
Top Gun producers gained access to aircraft carriers the USS Enterprise and the USS Ranger, along with incredibly expensive F-14 jets, with the military charging Paramount Pictures for the fuel alone.
What got cut from Top Gun ? According to Suid, an early version of the screenplay had Tom Cruise’s love interest as a naval officer. That character, played by Kelly McGillis, was turned into a civilian astrophysicist at the Navy’s request. The filmmakers also scrapped a scene showing U.S. aircraft “flying after MIGs over land of the fictional foreign country,” another thing with which the Pentagon took issue.
Not only did the Navy receive a pro-military film at a time when movies more critical of the establishment were popular in the wake of Vietnam—like Apocalypse Now (1979), Rambo: First Blood (1982), and Platoon (1986)—the military also got a huge boost in interest from kids looking to sign up for real warfare by enlisting in the armed services. Military recruiters even set up enlistment booths at movie theaters, according to an article from Time magazine in 1986 .
But where does all of that leave this Top Gun sequel, known as Top Gun: Maverick , which will hit theaters on May 27? Cruise started receiving criticism for the Top Gun sequel as early as the summer of 2019, when the first trailer for the film hit the web. Viewers noticed that Maverick’s jacket no longer had a Taiwanese flag , an obvious concession to China, the world’s biggest cinema market. And whatever Cruise’s hesitation to create a pro-military film in 1990 that could lead to increased recruitment, he clearly doesn’t feel that way anymore.
“I wasn’t ready to make a sequel until we had a special story worthy of a sequel and technology evolved so that we could delve deeper into the experience of a fighter pilot,” Cruise says in a new promo for the film uploaded to YouTube by Paramount Pictures .
“We worked with the Navy and the Top Gun school to formulate how to shoot it practically. Because if we’re going to do it, we’re flying the F-18s,” Cruise continues as viewers see footage of the planes zooming by like a Navy commercial.
That YouTube video has over 4.3 million views and Cruise clearly has a different attitude about it all now. And don’t be surprised if you see military recruiters camped outside the theater when you buy your ticket for Top Gun: Maverick . There really is nothing new under the sun.
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Highest Rated: 97% Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Lowest Rated: 9% Cocktail (1988)
Birthday: Jul 3, 1962
Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA
Tom Cruise rose quickly to become one of the best-known American actors in the world. Born in Syracuse, New York, he moved around throughout his childhood, including a period in Canada. After graduating from high school in New Jersey, he moved first to New York and then to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He made his film debut in the Brooke Shields vehicle "Endless Love" (1981). His next role as an aggressive military cadet opposite Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn in "Taps" (1981) caught people's attention. He joined another group of young stars, including Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe, in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of the S.E. Hinton novel "The Outsiders" (1983). His starring role as schoolboy-turned-pimp Joel in "Risky Business" broke him as one of Hollywood's newest celebrities. The long shoot schedule of Ridley Scott's fantasy epic "Legend" (1985) briefly took him out of the public eye, but he bounced back with one of the iconic roles of the 1980s. Playing Navy fighter pilot Maverick in Tony Scott's "Top Gun" (1986) turned Cruise into a superstar. He began branching into roles with more heft at the same time when he joined Paul Newman for "The Color of Money" (1986). He continued in that vein during the next several years, working with high profile directors and co-stars in prestige projects. He partnered with Dustin Hoffman for "Rain Man" (1988), Oliver Stone for "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), and Jack Nicholson for "A Few Good Men" (1993), the first two of which were Oscar-winners for Best Picture. The actor picked up his first Academy Award nomination for "Born on the Fourth of July." While it didn't garner the same level of critical acclaim, his role as Anne Rice's vampire Lestat opposite a young Brad Pitt in "Interview with a Vampire" (1994) became as well-remembered as any of the actor's roles. His 11-year marriage to Nicole Kidman saw the couple partner on three films including Ron Howard's "Far and Away" (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999). By the '90s, he had his pick of roles and began mixing in big-budget populist fare like "Mission: Impossible" (1996), based on the '60s television show of the same name. His role as secret agent Ethan Hunt proved popular enough for a series of sequels that would extend for more than two decades. Cruise also notched a second Oscar nomination for his role as a sports agent gaining a conscious in Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" (1996). He worked with another rising filmmaker when he played motivational speaker Frank Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" (1999), a role that earned him another Academy Award nomination. After the turn of the century, Cruise bounced between effects-heavy fare like "Minority Report" (2002) and "War of the Worlds" (2005) to dramas such as "Lions for Lambs" (2007) with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. He also proved himself willing to puncture his own inflated image, with comedic cameos in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002) and "Tropic Thunder" (2008), and his musical turn in "Rock of Ages" (2012). He similarly adopted a self-effacing posture when fans began noticing that there was a scene of the actor running in nearly all his films. Over the years, he found himself a magnet for the tabloids thanks to his close ties to the Church of Scientology and his celebrity marriages to Kidman and Katie Holmes. Cruise added another action franchise to his resume when he jumped into the role of Lee Child's literary tough guy "Jack Reacher" (2012). He would reprise the role in "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016). After starring in the big-budget reboot of "The Mummy" (2017) and the drama "American Made" (2017), he returned to the role that once cemented his superstar status. More than 20 years after the original, Cruise climbed back into the cockpit to revive Maverick for a sequel to his 1986 hit "Top Gun: Maverick" (2020).
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A brief history of tom cruise’s impressive filmography, now that's a lot of movies..
Tom Cruise is such a staple in American cinema that it’s easy to take him for granted. Since the early 1980s, he’s been cranking out hit after hit, becoming one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors and consistently making blockbusters that shatter box office records.
In the past five decades, Cruise’s movies have grossed more than $11.5 billion worldwide. Oh, and he also does all his own stunts! The man himself may be an enigma, but there’s no denying the role he’s played in cinematic history.
In 2022, his return to the Top Gun universe even managed to lure pandemic-wary moviegoers back to theaters. Top Gun: Maverick grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and became one of the highest-grossing movies in history. As a result, according to Variety , Steven Spielberg told Cruise he “saved Hollywood’s a** and [ … ] might have saved theatrical distribution.”
Cruise began his career like so many others, journeying to New York City to bus tables while trying to become an actor, eventually moving to the West Coast and signing with a talent agency. He got attention on sets right away, landing small roles in both Endless Love and Taps in 1981. The Hollywood Reporter states that Cruise’s role in Taps was expanded after director Harold Becker noticed the actor was “out-marching the other cadets on the parade field,” which totally fits everything we know about Cruise now!
All of Tom Cruise’s films, in order
Below is a list of all of the movies Cruise has made since he first boarded that Greyhound to NYC back in the early ’80s. Our favorites are in bold.
– Endless Love (1981)
– Taps (1981)
The Outsiders (1983)
Welcome to the Brat Pack! Cruise’s first big break came when he was selected to join the ensemble of The Outsiders , directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Cruise joined fellow young rising stars C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane, yet he still managed to stand out on screen.
– Losin’ It (1983)
– Risky Business (1983)
This movie was transformative and really put Cruise on the map as a leading man. Who could forget the shirt-no-pants dance scene? Or the train scene with Rebecca De Mornay? Is it hot in here?
– All The Right Moves (1983)
– Legend (1985)
Tim Curry! A very young Mia Sara! David Bowie in a cod piece! This movie has it all.
Top Gun (1986)
You might have an inkling of how huge this movie was when it came out, but you’re probably underestimating it. Seriously, it was massive ! Money-wise, it grossed $357 million globally and was the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. Anecdotally, everyone was buying Ray-Bans and bomber jackets and rewinding that love scene with Kelly McGinnis until we wore out the VHS tape.
– The Color of Money (1986)
Just when we thought he couldn’t get more popular, he made a movie about shooting pool with Hollywood legend Paul Newman.
– Cocktail (1986)
– Rain Man (1988)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Cruise won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who co-wrote the biographical screenplay with director Oliver Stone. Cruise also received the first of four Academy Award nominations. His star was truly rising by now. People magazine named him 1990’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
– Days of Thunder (1990)
– Far and Away (1992)
– A Few Good Men (1992)
Cruise and Jack Nicholson proved to be a riveting pair to watch on screen. “You can’t handle the truth!”
– The Firm (1993)
– Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Audiences didn’t love him as Lestat, but the film was critically acclaimed nevertheless.
– Mission: Impossible (1996)
The movie that kicked off a billion dollar franchise!
– Jerry Maguire (1996)
“Show me the money!” Cruise received a second Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a second Academy Award nomination for this romantic comedy, which co-starred Renee Zellweger.
– Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
– Magnolia (1999)
Cruise earned a third Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a motivational speaker, but he missed out on an Academy Award for a third time.
– Mission: Impossible II (2000)
– Vanilla Sky (2001)
– Minority Report (2002)
– Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
– The Last Samurai (2003)
– Collateral (2004)
– War of the Worlds (2005)
– Mission: Impossible III (2006)
– Lions for Lambs (2007)
– Tropic Thunder (2008)
An unrecognizable Cruise plays a ribald studio executive producer who was reportedly modeled after Harvey Weinstein.
– Valkyrie (2008)
– Knight and Day (2010)
– Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2001)
– Rock of Ages (2012)
– Jack Reacher (2012)
– Oblivion (2013)
– Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
– Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
– Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
– The Mummy (2017)
– American Made (2017)
– Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Top Gun: Maverick (2021)
Maverick is back to fight unnamed U.S. enemies, romance an age-appropriate new love interest (Jennifer Connelly), and oh yeah, save Hollywood! With a cast full of easy-on-the-eyes new fly boys and girls, it’s easy to see why Top Gun: Maverick was such a smash hit .
– Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
What’s next?
-Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film (2025)
More Mission: Impossible movies … yay? Oh well, it’s not like we don’t have a ton of other movies in the Tom Cruise catalog to occupy our time. This guy sure has been busy for these past few decades!
(featured image: Paramount Pictures)
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- Born July 3 , 1962 · Syracuse, New York, USA
- Birth name Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
- Height 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious youngster who was born in 1962 in Syracuse, New York, was destined to become one of the highest paid and most sought after actors in screen history. Tom is the only son (among four children) of nomadic parents, Mary Lee (Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, and he has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Young Tom spent his boyhood always on the move, and by the time he was 14 he had attended 15 different schools in the U.S. and Canada. He finally settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with his mother and her new husband. While in high school, Tom wanted to become a priest but pretty soon he developed an interest in acting and abandoned his plans of becoming a priest, dropped out of school, and at age 18 headed for New York and a possible acting career. The next 15 years of his life are the stuff of legends. He made his film debut with a small part in Endless Love (1981) and from the outset exhibited an undeniable box office appeal to both male and female audiences. With handsome movie star looks and a charismatic smile, within 5 years Tom Cruise was starring in some of the top-grossing films of the 1980s including Top Gun (1986) ; The Color of Money (1986) , Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) . By the 1990s he was one of the highest-paid actors in the world earning an average 15 million dollars a picture in such blockbuster hits as Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) , Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996) , for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for best actor. Tom Cruise's biggest franchise, Mission Impossible, has also earned a total of 3 billion dollars worldwide. Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise. In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life. A kind and thoughtful man well known for his compassion and generosity, Tom Cruise is one of the best liked members of the movie community. He was married to actress Nicole Kidman until 2001. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV has indeed come a long way from the lonely wanderings of his youth to become one of the biggest movie stars ever. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom McDonough, Grant failor
- Spouses Katie Holmes (November 18, 2006 - August 20, 2012) (divorced, 1 child) Nicole Kidman (December 24, 1990 - August 8, 2001) (divorced, 2 children) Mimi Rogers (May 9, 1987 - February 4, 1990) (divorced)
- Children Isabella Jane Cruise Suri Cruise Connor Cruise
- Parents Thomas Mapother III Mary Lee Pfeiffer
- Relatives William Mapother (Cousin) Amy Mapother (Cousin) Katherine Mapother (Cousin) Lee Anne De Vette (Sibling)
- Often plays romantic leading men with an edge
- Often plays characters caught up in extraordinary circumstances
- Frequently plays intelligent yet laidback and likeable characters
- Beaming smile and intense eye contact
- Boundless off-stage energy
- His acting idol is Paul Newman . Much to the delight of Cruise, they became good friends during work on The Color of Money (1986) . Newman got him into racing, and Cruise ultimately raced on his team.
- Stopped to help a hit and run victim and paid her hospital bills. The victim was aspiring Brazilian actress Heloisa Vinhas (1996).
- Insists on performing many of his own stunts in his films, including climbing the exterior of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during the filming of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) , and driving during the car chases in Jack Reacher (2012) .
- Cruise earned roughly $75 million for Mission: Impossible II (2000) . He did this by turning down any upfront salary, for instead taking a back-end deal that landed him 30% of the film's gross for both his producing and acting duties.
- He did not stay for the remainder of the 2002 Academy Awards after opening them because it was his turn to look after his and ex-wife Nicole Kidman 's children. He reportedly left the Kodak Theatre by a back door after opening proceedings and dashed home to watch the rest of the event on television with his kids Connor and Isabella.
- The thing about filmmaking is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible.
- [to Jay Leno regarding his topless Vanity Fair cover shoot] I don't drink but I had a beer that night and they only did one setup like that. I'm a cheap date. What can I say?
- [on Eyes Wide Shut (1999) ] We knew from the beginning the level of commitment needed. We felt honored to work with Stanley Kubrick . We were going to do what it took to do this picture, whatever time, because I felt - and Nic [ Nicole Kidman ] did, too - that this was going to be a really special time for us. We knew it would be difficult. But I would have absolutely kicked myself if I hadn't done this.
- I have cooked turkeys in my day but when Mom's around I let her do it.
- I was 18 when I saw Akira Kurosawa 's Seven Samurai (1954) . After about 30 seconds, I realized that this was not just a cultural thing, it was universal. Years later, I read Bushido. It talked about many things that I strive for in my own life: loyalty, compassion, responsibility, the idea of looking back on your life and taking responsibility for everything you've ever done. I'm fascinated by the samurai and the samurai code - it's one of the main reasons I wanted to make The Last Samurai (2003) .
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2025) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - $13,000,000 + % of back end
- The Mummy (2017) - $13,000,000 + % of gross
- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - $12,500,000 + % of back end
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How many Oscars does Tom Cruise have and how many times has he been nominated for the Oscars?
Tom Cruise has been a constant Hollywood presence since he arrived in the world of cinema. He’s evolved, developed as an artist, and has become one of THE legendary actors despite the fact despite a number of nominations, winning an Oscar has turned out to be an impossible mission.
Follow the 2024 Oscars ceremony and the red carpet latest updates live online on As.com.
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As a young man, Cruise stumbled around the United States in search of opportunities, starting in New York , where he signed up for different castings while working as a waiter , until he gave up. It was at the age of 19 that he changed the city that never sleeps for Los Angeles , landing in a Hollywood that was waiting for him with open arms.
The beginnings of Tom Cruise’s career
Cruise thus began his career on the big screen with a brief role in ‘Endless Love’ (1981), to later share a shooting set with another promising filmmaker Sean Penn, in ‘Taps’ (1981). However, his youth saw him participate in a number of adolescent comedies such as ‘Losin’ It’ (1983) and ‘Risky Business’ (1983).
But it wasn’t until 1988 that the actor truly began to shine, with ‘Rain Man’ , a film that won four Oscars, but with going to Cruise. The first film for which he received a nomination was ‘Born on the 4th of July’ (1989), and although he fell just short of his first Oscar, he did receive his first Golden Globe .
Lots of movies and no Oscars for Cruise
From then on, his career went skyrocketing, thanks to his participation in movies such as ‘Mission Impossible’; ‘Jerry Maguire’ , where he was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars; ‘Magnolia’ , which also earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination; and ‘Top Gun’. A career that has also had its ups and downs, punctuated on various occasions by his interests in his personal life, where he devoted himself almost entirely to Scientology , which also affected his marriage to actress Katie Holmes .
A long, stellar career, but one little recognised in terms of awards. He has never won the coveted statuette . The actor is also a producer on what has been one of the big surprises of 2023, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ , which broke various box office records that year.
'Mission: Impossible' Should’ve Never Killed This Character — and Tom Cruise Tried to Bring Them Back
This Mission: Impossible character deserved more than a single appearance.
The Big Picture
- Emilio Estevez's character Jack Harmon in Mission: Impossible was killed off early, leaving fans wanting more.
- Tom Cruise regrets killing off Jack Harmon and considered bringing him back for future movies.
- The Mission: Impossible series has a history of forgetting about its IMF characters, leaving fan-favorite roles behind.
For nearly thirty years now, Tom Cruise has been wowing audiences everywhere with death-defacing stunts as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible series of action films. Based on the original television series from the 1960s, Mission: Impossible was relaunched as a film series in 1996, and we've been thrilled ever since. But every once in a while, a character appears in the Cruise-led series that never returns. Sometimes they're written off, and sometimes they are killed, and in the case of Emilio Estevez 's Jack Harmon, we've never quite forgiven the franchise for killing him off in the very first movie.
Mission: Impossible
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
Emilio Estevez Played a Break-out Character in the First 'Mission: Impossible'
When the first Mission: Impossible starts , Ethan Hunt (Cruise) works as an agent directed by his friend and mentor Jim Phelps (played by Jon Voight , who takes over the role from Peter Graves in the original series) with the Impossible Mission Force (IMF). But when Ethan's team is suddenly killed all around him, our favorite IMF agent is forced to clear his name and uncover the web of conspiracy that threatens to trap him. But one member of Ethan's original team stands out above the rest, one who died way too soon. Estevez's Jack Harmon is the team's resident tech guru and controls the elevators during their fateful mission in Prague . Sadly, it's the only field action the character ever gets.
We don't get to see too much of Estevez in Mission: Impossible . His character is killed in the very first act and the actor isn't even credited on-screen (either in the opening or in the end credits) for his part in the film. While Estevez doesn't get any billing for his work here, Jack's companionship with his IMF team, and Ethan in particular, helps establish the tight-knit bond between the largest IMF unit we've ever seen in the film series . The way the actors play it, these guys are a sort of make-shift family, and it's arguably the happiest we ever see Ethan Hunt until he meets Julia Meade ( Michelle Monaghan ) a few movies later. While Simon Pegg 's Benji Dunn took over the role of "the tech guy" in future installments, Estevez's Jack was the first man behind the computer screen. He and Ethan are clearly close, and Jack's sudden and brutal elevator death affects the IMF agent deeply.
Along with Jack, agents Sarah Davies ( Kristin Scott Thomas ) and Hannah Williams ( Ingeborga Dapkunaite ) are killed on the same Prague mission. As it turns out, their team leader, Jim Phelps, and his wife Claire ( Emmanuelle Béart ), are the ones behind the betrayal, and though Ethan survived to take the fall, he too was eventually supposed to die. Thankfully, with the help of Luther Stickell ( Ving Rhames ), Ethan clears his name and the rest is history, but his team is still dead, and that means no sequel for Jack Harmon. Sadly, Emilio Esteves never returned to Mission: Impossible , which is a tragedy since the actor was pretty popular at the time, with movie series like The Mighty Ducks and Young Guns ––the latter of which ironically killed Tom Cruise in a brief cameo role.
Tom Cruise Regrets Killing Jack Harmon in the First 'Mission: Impossible'
According to Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise personally asked him to take on the role of Jack Harmon in the first Mission: Impossible . "The way Tom had explained it, he said, “Look, I’d love for you to come and join the cast. The whole opening number where everybody gets wiped out, it’s going to be a lot of well-known people and all of them are going to go uncredited and it’s really going to set up the level of peril for Ethan," the actor told Uproxx in 2023. He also noted that he didn't even think twice about joining the cast, and jumped aboard as soon as possible. Estevez and Cruise had become friends years earlier while filming The Outsiders , though the two haven't appeared on-screen together since the 1996 Mission: Impossible .
Estevez later recounted a conversation he had with Cruise a year after Mission: Impossible came out. "'Man, we made such a mistake killing you off,'" Cruise reportedly told him, a sentiment we can't help but agree with ourselves. " He and [ Mission: Impossible 2 director] John Woo were trying to figure out a way to bring me back for part two, but it just didn’t make sense ," Estevez explained. "I thought you could have because with all the masks, right?" Now all we can think about is how fun it would've been to watch Estevez play Cruise's Ethan Hunt in Jack Harmon makeup––assuming the identity of a dead man would definitely be a smart move, Ethan––but sadly we never got that. Though, Cruise does get to play a disguised Sean Ambrose ( Dougray Scott ) in the sequel, pretending to be Ethan Hunt to frame the IMF agent.
With the advent of the artificial intelligence known as the Entity as Ethan's latest opponent, it seems like the odds of Estevez returning to the franchise may be less impossible than before. Henry Czerny already returned as Eugene Kittridge, who hadn't been seen since the 1996 film, in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning , and it seems like other familiar faces aren't out of the picture quite yet. Since A.I. can use deep fakes and make Ethan see things that aren't there , perhaps using images of his dead teammates against him would be a powerful motivator for Ethan Hunt's latest adventure. But, speculating aside, Estevez's Jack is a character who has been missed since his untimely death , and before the death of Ilsa Faust ( Rebecca Ferguson ) in Dead Reckoning , he was no doubt the biggest IMF fatality.
'Mission: Impossible' Has a Problem With Forgetting About Its IMF Characters
Throughout the Mission: Impossible franchise, we've seen plenty of cast members come and go . Sure, Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell keep coming back for more (and we love them for it), but aside from Ethan's most trusted allies, the only other members of Ethan's IMF team to return for seconds are Ilsa Faust and William Brandt ( Jeremy Renner ), who hasn't been seen since Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation . Thandiwe Newton 's Nyah Nordoff-Hall from Mission: Impossible 2 , Maggie Q 's Zhen Le and Jonathan Rhys Meyers ' Declan Gormle from Mission: Impossible III , and Paula Patton 's June Carter from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol have all been forgotten about by subsequent sequels. And they're not the only ones, Anthony Hopkins and Lawrence Fishburne have yet to return as government higher-ups and IMF directors of years past themselves.
The IMF must have a high turnover rate or something, because Estevez's Jack Harmon clearly isn't the only agent to refuse a future mission. While Estevez has an excuse (being killed off will do that), the other surviving characters haven't found their way back to Ethan Hunt's core team for some reason, which is a crying shame. But since Tom Cruise shows no signs of slowing down, it's always possible that some of these seemingly forgotten IMF stars will make their way back into the world of international espionage . In fact, we hope they all choose to accept a final mission sometime down the line.
Mission: Impossible is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch on Paramount+
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Tom Cruise Wants to ‘Explore a Relationship’ With ‘Stunningly Beautiful’ Costar Monica Barbaro
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Thank u, next! With reports that Russian socialite Elsina Khayrova got cold feet after Tom Cruise proposed, sources exclusively tell In Touch that the 61-year-old is already on the lookout for her replacement. Top of his list: his Top Gun: Maverick protégée, Monica Barbaro .
“Tom thinks she’s stunningly beautiful,” a source says of the 33-year-old. “He’d like to explore a relationship with her.”
He’s already played a hand in her career, adds the insider, pulling strings to get her cast as singer Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown , directed by his old pal James Mangold .
“Tom’s mentored younger actors before — men and women,” says the source. “It’s a very rewarding process for him.”
And if love blooms, so much the better. “People around Tom believe they’re a great match,” adds the insider. “But he genuinely wants her to succeed.”
As for Monica, she’s “flattered” by the attention,” says the insider. “But she wants to prove that she’s deserving of the role.”
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Tom Cruise filmography. Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama Endless Love. [1] [2] Two years later he made his breakthrough by starring in the romantic comedy Risky Business (1983), [3] [4] which garnered his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor ...
Days of Thunder: Directed by Tony Scott. With Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid. A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American sports action drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Tony Scott.The film stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes, Caroline Williams, and Michael Rooker.It also features appearances by real life NASCAR racers, such as Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant.
8 Days of Thunder (1990) Paramount Pictures. Days of Thunder was one of the first movies to explore the deadly sport of car racing and reunited Cruise with his Top Gun director, Tony Scott. The ...
Check out the official Days of Thunder (1990) Trailer starring Tom Cruise! Let us know what you think in the comments below. Watch on FandangoNOW: https://w...
Tom Cruise. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, [1] [2] [3] he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $4 billion in North America and ...
"Days of Thunder" is an entertaining example of what we might as well call the Tom Cruise Picture, since it assembles most of the same elements that worked in "Top Gun," "The Color Of Money" and "Cocktail" and runs them through the formula once again. Parts of the plot are beginning to wear out their welcome, but the key ingredients are still effective. They include: 1. The Cruise character ...
Tom Cruise, one of the world's highest-paid actors, has a storied acting career that includes various accolades and iconic roles. Take a look back at the star's most memorable moments. 1 / 30
The 62nd Academy Awards | 1990. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Monday, March 26, 1990. Honoring movies released in 1989. Share Facebook Twitter. Highlights. Visual Effects. ... Tom Cruise in "Born on the Fourth of July" * Film Editing - David Brenner, Joe Hutshing * Directing - Oliver Stone. C. Camille Claudel. 2 Nominations.
Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise. In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life.
Tom Selleck and Kim Nocak present the 1990 Golden Globe for Best Actor In a Motion Picture - Drama to Tom Cruise for "Born on The Fourth of July." Tom Cruise...
In a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other. Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze. Votes: 96,652 | Gross: $25.60M. 4.
Tom Cruise, American actor who emerged in the 1980s as one of Hollywood's most popular leading men, known for his clean-cut good looks and versatility. He exhibited a broad depth and range of characters in such movies as Top Gun (1986), A Few Good Men (1992), Jerry Maguire (1996), and the Mission: Impossible series.
Tom Cruise is an American actor known for his roles in iconic films throughout the 1980s, ... On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.
In the fast-paced world of NASCAR, a rivalry brews between rookie hotshot Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) and veteran racer Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker). ... (1990) Days of Thunder (1990) Days of ...
Tom Cruise Said in 1990 Making a Sequel to Top Gun Would Be 'Irresponsible' ... Tom Cruise's latest movie, a sequel to his classic 1986 action pic, Top Gun, is finally getting a release later ...
Tom Cruise. Highest Rated: 97% Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) Lowest Rated: 9% Cocktail (1988) Birthday: Jul 3, 1962. Birthplace: Syracuse, New York, USA. Tom Cruise rose quickly to become ...
CRUISE, Tom. Nationality: American.Born: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, New York, 3 July 1962. Education: Attended high school in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Family: Married 1) the actress Mimi Rogers, 1987 (divorced 1990); 2) the actress Nicole Kidman, 1990, son: Connor, daughter: Isabella. Career: 1981—film debut in Endless Love; 1993—directed an episode of TV series Fallen Angels.
People magazine named him 1990's "Sexiest Man Alive.". - Days of Thunder (1990) - Far and Away (1992) - A Few Good Men (1992) Cruise and Jack Nicholson proved to be a riveting pair to ...
Tom Cruise has also shown lots of interest in producing, with his biggest producer credits being the Mission Impossible franchise. In 1990 he renounced his devout Catholic beliefs and embraced The Church of Scientology claiming that Scientology teachings had cured him of the dyslexia that had plagued him all of his life.
Browse Getty Images' premium collection of high-quality, authentic Tom Cruise 1990 stock photos, royalty-free images, and pictures. Tom Cruise 1990 stock photos are available in a variety of sizes and formats to fit your needs.
List of Tom Cruise awards; Cruise in 2019 Award Wins Nominations Academy Awards: 0 4 Bambi Award: 1 1 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: 3 5 British Academy Britannia Awards: 1 1 ... 1990 Best Foreign Actor (Migliore Attore Straniero) Born on the Fourth of July: Nominated 2005 Special David Won Empire Awards. Year Category Work Result 2000:
The beginnings of Tom Cruise's career Cruise thus began his career on the big screen with a brief role in 'Endless Love' (1981), to later share a shooting set with another promising ...
Tom Cruise regrets killing off Jack Harmon and considered bringing him back for future movies. ... A 1990 musical featuring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern may be the weirdest project of Lynch's ...
Top of his list: his Top Gun: Maverick protégée, Monica Barbaro. "Tom thinks she's stunningly beautiful," a source says of the 33-year-old. "He'd like to explore a relationship with ...
Magnolia is a 1999 American drama film written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson.It stars an ensemble cast, including Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards (in his final film role) and Melora Walters.