Tom Cruise

1990s: Dramatic roles

Cruise's next films were Days of Thunder (1990) and Far and Away (1992), both of which co-starred then-wife Nicole Kidman as his love interest, followed by the legal thriller The Firm, a critical and commercial success. In 1994, Cruise starred with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire, a gothic drama/horror film based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well-received, although Rice initially criticized the casting of Cruise, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film, she paid $7,740 (equivalent to $16,813 in 2025) for a two-page ad in Daily Variety praising his performance and apologizing for her doubts about him.

In 1996, Cruise starred as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of Mission: Impossible, which he also produced. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and was a box-office success. Film critic Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised Cruise's performance, writing, "Tom Cruise has found the perfect superhero character on which to graft his breathlessly gung-ho screen personality." The same year, Cruise had the title role in Cameron Crowe's sports drama Jerry Maguire, playing a sports agent in search of love. The film was a massive financial success, grossing more than $273 million worldwide against its $50 million budget.

In 1999, Cruise co-starred with Kidman in Stanley Kubrick's erotic and psychological drama film Eyes Wide Shut. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised both of their performances, writing, "Cruise in particular lays himself open in that fiercely committed way that he tries everything as an actor". Also in 1999, Cruise took a rare supporting role, as motivational speaker Frank T. J. Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers heaped praise on Cruise, writing, "Cruise is a revelation, fully deserving of the shower of superlatives coming his way... Cruise seethes with the chaotic energy of a wounded animal—he's devastating." For his performance he received another Golden Globe and nomination for an Academy Award.

2000s: Established career

In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission: Impossible films, Mission: Impossible 2. The film was helmed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his gun fu style; it continued the series' success at the box office, taking in $547 million worldwide. Unlike its predecessor, it was the highest-grossing film of the year but had a mixed critical reception. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance for the film. His next five films were major critical and commercial successes. The next year, Cruise starred in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, he starred in the dystopian science fiction action film Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the short story by Philip K. Dick. It has been included on lists of the greatest science fiction films of all time.

In 2003, he starred in Edward Zwick's period action drama The Last Samurai, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 2004, Cruise received critical acclaim for his performance as Vincent in Collateral. The critical consensus reads, "Driven by director Michael Mann's trademark visuals and a lean, villainous performance from Tom Cruise, Collateral is a stylish and compelling noir thriller." In 2005, Cruise worked with Spielberg again in War of the Worlds, a loose adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel of the same name, which was the year's fourth highest-grossing film, at $591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he was a nominee for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star and won the MTV Generation Award. Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once. Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made more than $100 million at the box office.

In 2006, he returned to his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible III. The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office. In 2007, Cruise took a supporting role for the second time in Lions for Lambs, a commercial disappointment. This was followed by an appearance as Les Grossman in the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. The performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise played the central role in the historical thriller Valkyrie, released on December 25, 2008, to box-office success.

2010s: Action star

In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy Knight and Day, in which he re-teamed with Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010. On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he would star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment in the series. It was released in December 2011 to high critical acclaim and box-office success. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to that date.

On May 6, 2011, Cruise received a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist. In mid-2011, Cruise started shooting Rock of Ages, in which he plays the fictional character Stacee Jaxx. The film was released in June 2012 and was a rare box-office misstep for Cruise, but he received positive reviews, with Variety's film critic Justin Chang writing, "Channeling the likes of Axl Rose and Keith Richards with his tattoos, heavy furs and even heavier eyeshadow, Cruise clearly relishes the opportunity to play against type even as he sends up his world's-biggest-movie-star identity, displaying a cock-of-the-rock strut that viewers haven't seen since his turn in Magnolia."

Cruise starred as Jack Reacher in the film adaptation of British author Lee Child's 2005 novel One Shot. The film was released on December 21, 2012. It met with positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, grossing $217 million worldwide. In 2013, he starred in the science fiction film Oblivion based on director Joseph Kosinski's graphic novel of the same name. The film met with mixed reviews and grossed $286 million worldwide. It also starred Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko. In 2014, Cruise starred in the science fiction-action film Edge of Tomorrow, which received positive reviews and grossed more than $370 million.

In 2015, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which he also produced. Returning cast members included Simon Pegg as Benji and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt. Christopher McQuarrie directed. The film earned high critical acclaim and was a commercial success. Cruise starred in the 2017 reboot of Boris Karloff's 1932 horror movie The Mummy. The new film, also titled The Mummy, received poor reviews and disappointed at the box office, though still grossing more than $400 million. In 2018, Cruise again reprised Ethan Hunt, in the sixth film in his franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The film was more positively received by critics than the previous films in the series and grossed more than $791 million at the box office. Unadjusted for ticket price inflation, it was Cruise's biggest commercial success to date.

2020s: Franchise films

In May 2020, it was reported that Cruise will star in and produce a movie shot in outer space. Doug Liman will direct, write, and co-produce. Both will fly to the International Space Station as part of a future Axiom Space mission in a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft. In May 2021, Cruise protested the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) by returning all three of his Golden Globe Awards in light of controversy surrounding the HFPA, particularly its lack of diversity, specifically no black members, and ethical questions related to financial benefits to some of its members.

In 2022, Cruise reprised his role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, a film he also produced. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where Cruise received an Honorary Palme d'Or. It was released to widespread critical praise, with many reviewers deeming it superior to its predecessor. The film broke several box-office records, earning more than $1 billion and becoming the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career. Cruise earned $100 million for the film, when combining ticket sales, his salary, and his cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenues.

Cruise reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, released in theaters on July 12, 2023. The film received critical acclaim, but was a box-office disappointment, in large part due to the Barbenheimer phenomenon involving the concurrent releases of Christopher Nolan's biopic Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy Barbie. Peter Debruge of Variety praised Dead Reckoning's performances, action sequences, and ending, writing, "This outing may be one-half of a two-part finale, but it gives audiences enough closure to stand on its own". In 2024, to promote the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, Cruise jumped from the roof of the Stade de France stadium during the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. He took the flag from Mayor Karen Bass and athlete Simone Biles.

Cruise reprised the role of Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, released in May 2025. He said it would be the last film in which he would portray the character. He stars in Digger, a black comedy film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, his first film at Warner Bros. Pictures in 12 years.

Scientology advocacy

Cruise was converted to Scientology by his first wife, Mimi Rogers, in 1986, and became an outspoken advocate for it in the 2000s. His involvement in the organization was leaked by the tabloid Star in 1990, and he publicly announced he followed Scientology in a 1992 interview with Barbara Walters. Cruise has said that Scientology, through its teaching method Study Technology, helped him overcome his dyslexia. He has been a close friend of Scientology leader David Miscavige since the 1980s.

Several years after Cruise started studying Scientology, the organization's leaders promised to share some Scientology secrets with him, including information about the extraterrestrial ruler Xenu. According to Janet Reitman's book Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion (2011), Cruise "freaked out" and took a step back from the Church to work on the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut. In 1999, Miscavige sent Marty Rathbun to convince Cruise to return to the Church and continue his studies. Cruise sparked controversy in the 2000s with his efforts to promote Scientology.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City rescue workers "detoxification therapy", drawing criticism from medical professionals and firefighters. In late 2004, Miscavige created the Scientology Freedom Medal of Valor and awarded it to Cruise for this work. Former Scientologist Paul Haggis has said that Cruise attempted to convert several celebrities to Scientology, including James Packer, Victoria and David Beckham, Jada Pinkett, Will Smith, and Steven Spielberg. Since 2008, Cruise has restricted interviewers from asking him about Scientology.

In the 2020s, Cruise dated Ana de Armas. They broke up in 2025, reportedly due to religious differences, primarily his desire to recruit her into Scientology. He reportedly severed contact with his daughter, a practice known as disconnection, when her mother, Katie Holmes, refused to raise her in the Church. He did not attend her high school graduation, and Suri dropped her father's surname at age 18.

Controversies

Criticism of psychiatry

In January 2004, Cruise said, "I think psychiatry should be outlawed." In 2005, he criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the antidepressant Paxil to treat postpartum depression following the birth of her first daughter. Cruise denied the existence of chemical imbalances in the brain and described psychiatry as a form of pseudoscience. In response, Shields argued that Cruise "should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them," and further called Cruise's comments "a disservice to mothers everywhere". In a June 2005 episode of NBC's Today, Cruise reiterated his views, leading to a heated exchange with interviewer Matt Lauer. In August 2006, Cruise apologized in person to Shields for his comments.

Medical authorities viewed Cruise's comments as contributing to the social stigma surrounding mental illness. According to The Lancet, Cruise "may be right that psychotropic drugs are overused, sometimes misused; and that lifestyle changes (and exercise for depression) can be helpful. But he is wrong, as a celebrity, to add to the burden of those with a mental illness, who often fear seeking or continuing treatment because of the stigma still attached to their condition."

Scientology is well known for its opposition to mainstream psychiatry and to psychoactive drugs that are routinely prescribed for treatment. It was reported that Cruise's anti-psychiatry actions caused a rift with director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg had reportedly mentioned in Cruise's presence the name of a doctor friend who prescribed psychiatric medication. Shortly thereafter, the doctor's office was picketed by Scientologists, reportedly angering Spielberg.

YouTube video removal

On January 15, 2008, a video produced by Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube by the Anonymous-linked group Project Chanology, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him. Church of Scientology said the video had been "pirated and edited", and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology. YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation. It was subsequently reinstated on the site, and as of June 2020, the video has achieved more than 15 million views.

Purported influence

In March 2004, Cruise's publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley, resigned. Cruise's next publicist was Lee Anne DeVette, his sister, who was herself a Scientologist. She served in that role until November 2005. DeVette was replaced with Paul Bloch from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan. Such restructuring was seen as a move to curtail publicity of his views on Scientology, as well as the controversy surrounding his relationship with Katie Holmes. Lawrence Wright's 2013 book Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Alex Gibney's 2015 documentary adaptation of the book cast a spotlight on Cruise's role in Scientology. The book and the film both state that the Scientology organization groomed romantic partners for Cruise and that Cruise used Sea Org and Rehabilitation Project Force workers as a source of free labor. In the film, Cruise's former auditor Mark Rathbun says that Cruise's then-wife Nicole Kidman was wiretapped on Cruise's suggestion, which Cruise's lawyer denies. Cruise's ex-girlfriend Nazanin Boniadi compared the Scientology organization's auditioning of women to date Cruise and experiences with him to "white slavery".