Few actors possess the kind of star power that Tom Cruise has accumulated over the past few decades. Whether it’s an action film (Top Gun), a romantic drama (Jerry Maguire) or a thriller where he’s a calculated murderer (Collateral), the actually extremely versatile Cruise has continually embodied the pure definition of what a movie star should be.
Cruise started out, like many young actors, in a relatively small part in the now cult favourite, The Outsiders before graduating to his first lead role as a chancer teen in Risky Business. The success of that film led to bigger roles and bigger budgets; none more iconic than that of cocky fighter pilot, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the smash hit blockbuster, Top Gun. The success of that movie allowed him to try riskier roles; in time proving that he had the chops to act opposite Dustin Hoffman (in Rain Man) and take direction from the notoriously hardcore helmer Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July) – giving superb performances in both.
As Cruise starred in one box-office smash after another in the 90s, he found his best role so far in Jerry Maguire where he played a sports agent with a conscience and just one client. A role that had everything a magnetic and talented movie star could want, Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for his excellent work in the Cameron Crowe flick.
Switching gears for the dark Magnolia and later in Michael Mann’s Collateral, he dug deep to channel a dark side that had only ever been hinted at before; once again delivering the goods in two very different, but equally impressive, performances.
Cruise is notoriously picky about the roles that he takes, so when he decided to take on a cinematic adaptation of cult TV series Mission Impossible a few eyebrows were raised – four huge box-office hits later in a still strong franchise and he’s proving into his fifties that he can more than handle the tough action roles.
In his latest blockbuster, Oblivion, Cruise once again brings the intensity, proving that he’s lost none of his love for acting and delivering thrills on a mammoth scale.
