Tom Cruise turns 60 as one of the most influential people in the American film industry, maintaining a love-hate relationship, while walking his eternal youth with his latest release.
Cruise (Syracuse, New York 1962) enters the selective list of “young” Hollywood sixty-year-old actors toasting to a collection of US $ 1,006 million in his first month since the premiere of this film worldwide, and with notable reviews, thus confirming his alias as a blockbuster actor.
Like many other colleagues, Cruise began serving breakfast and cleaning tables but at the age of 19 he was given a small role in the film “Endless Love” (1981) by Franco Zeffirelli, in which the leading role was monopolized by the female star of the moment. , Brooke Shields, with whom years later he had a confrontation as a result of the actor’s involvement with Scientology.
Cruise joined this church in 1990, considered a sect in several countries, years after leaving the Cincinnati Catholic seminary where he entered at age 14 with the intention of becoming a Franciscan monk.
“Risky Business” (1983) by Paul Brickman was the film that allowed him to conquer the young female audience of the 80s. “The Color of Money”, by Martin Scorsese, together with the iconic and already mature Paul Newman and, above all, ” Top Gun” by Tony Scott, both from 1986, consolidated his fame and pigeonholed him in action movies.
In this type of role, it is worth highlighting the six times he has played Ethan Hunt, the main character of the “Mission Impossible” saga, pending two other premieres scheduled for 2023 and 2024.
But he has come out of this role of action hero in titles like “Rain Man” (1988) or “Eyes wide shut”, Stanley Kubrick’s posthumous film (1999), “Born on July 4” (1989), “Jerry Maguire” (1996) or “Magnolia” (1999).
The last three led the American to parade down the red carpet of the Oscars, but on all occasions he was denied the statuette.
Although he did win the Golden Globe for them, on May 10, 2021 he returned these three awards in protest at accusations of racism and sexism towards the association that grants them.
To these awards must be added the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor in 1990 and 1994, and on the other side of the scale, two Razzie Awards for Worst Actor for “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) and “The Mummy” (2017).
For various reasons, the actor and producer has also had a relationship with Spanish cinema. Fascinated by the work of Alejandro Amenábar, he produced his film “Los otros” (2001) sharing co-production with filmmaker José Luis Cuerda. His condition, that the main character be played by his then-wife, Australian actress Nicole Kidman.
Cuerda remembered Cruise in his memoirs and in different interviews, his professionalism and seriousness with the work, but also his careful handling skills. That same year, 2001, she produced and performed with Penélope Cruz “Vanilla Sky”, an adaptation of the script for “Abre los ojos” written by Amenábar himself and Mateo Gil.
From that filming arose a romance between Cruise and Cruz that would last until 2004. A year later, the actor declared his love for fellow actress Katie Holmes, with whom he had filmed “Mission: Impossible 3” and months later he married she. Previously, he had already shared marriage and divorce with actresses Mimi Rogers (1987-1990) and Kidman (1990-2001).
With 45 films released in his little more than four decades of profession, Tom Cruise is the third richest actor in the world, according to Forbes magazine’s list, with a net worth of US $ 570 million in 2020. He is also one of the most influential and blockbuster in the film industry of all time, and it goes on and on, pending future releases and projects.
