Tom Cruise — Movies, Bio, Popularity, Filmography & Fame Trend

Summary

Updated 2026-07-17

He does his own stunts at altitudes that would make insurance adjusters weep, and the box office has rewarded him for forty years straight. The Ethan Hunt franchise alone would be a career; it's a footnote on his spreadsheet.

Biography

About

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV broke through in the early 1980s with Risky Business (1983) and Top Gun (1986), the latter turning him into a tabloid sex symbol. Critical respect followed with The Color of Money, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July (1989), which earned him a Golden Globe and his first Oscar nomination for playing Ron Kovic. Through the 1990s he stacked commercial hits—A Few Good Men, The Firm, Interview with the Vampire, Jerry Maguire—winning another Globe and a second Oscar nod. Magnolia (1999) brought a third. Then he pivoted hard into action and sci-fi, launching the Mission…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise

said16 Jan 2008

I think it's a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist and it's something you have to earn.

— Transcript of Tom Cruise on Scientology (January 16, 2008)

Tom Cruise

said16 Jan 2008

There was a time I went through [the Scientology doctrine], I said, you know what, when I read it, I just thought 'Whoa', this is it. This is exactly it.

— Transcript of Tom Cruise on Scientology (January 16, 2008)

Tom Cruise

said16 Jan 2008

Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else, it's, you drive past, you know you have to do something about it.

— Transcript of Tom Cruise on Scientology (January 16, 2008)

Tom Cruise

said16 Jan 2008

We are the authorities on getting people off drugs. We are the authorities on the mind. We are the authorities on improving conditions. Criminon (sic).

— Transcript of Tom Cruise on Scientology (January 16, 2008)

Tom Cruise

said16 Jan 2008