Tom Cruise's Adopted Son Connor Left Us Speechless

Mar 03, 2022 by apost team

Tom Cruise is one of the biggest male actors in Hollywood and he's been on our screens since 1981, which makes his career now four decades-long. A star since the age of 21, Tom, who is now 61 years old, has truly spent his entire adult life in the spotlight. 

Along the way, he's also had some very famous romances. His first marriage was to actress Mimi Rogers, but it was his second marriage to Nicole Kidman that catapulted his private life into the public eye. The couple was married for 11 years, and even adopted two children together, Isabella Jane Cruise, and Connor Anthony Cruise. However, their union wasn't meant to be and they ended up getting divorced in 2001.

Tom then had a relationship with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz for three years, before he found love again with one of America's sweethearts, Katie Holmes. Their relationship made headlines when Tom professed his love for her on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," as he jumped up and down on the couch. Together the couple had a daughter named Suri Cruise, who was born in April 2006, but their marriage wouldn't last either, and Holmes filed for divorce in 2012.

Since then Tom hasn't publicly dated any other women. He's instead used the time to focus on being a father to his three children. Nowadays, Isabella, 30, and Connor, 28, are adults, while Suri, 16, is a teenager. All of Tom's kids have kept a quiet life out of the public eye, but it's Connor who has really settled down for a relaxed life of fishing in Florida. Let's take a look at what he's been up to lately.  

Tom is probably one of the most famous American actors in the world — his movies, especially the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, have made him a familiar face globally. But another reason he's so well known is the sheer longevity his career has had. But how did the heartthrob get his start in Hollywood? Tom's early life wasn't in the spotlight, but sure enough, he made his impression on Hollywood quickly and only rose up through the ranks. 

Born as Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, Tom didn't have a particularly warm childhood, as his family grew up poor and he later spoke of his father beating him and his siblings. The family moved around a lot in his youth and Tom attended 15 schools in 14 years. He graduated from a high school in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and soon after at the age of 18, moved to New York to pursue acting. 

He didn't have immediate success so he moved out to Los Angeles. His first role was in 1981 and just two short years later he made a huge splash in Hollywood when he appeared in the youth ensemble movie "The Outsiders," and fronted "All the Right Moves" and "Risky Business," the latter of which became a cultural touchstone for Generation X. The '80s only saw his star rise, and the movies "Legend" and "Top Gun" cemented his status as a superstar of his time. The rest of the decade saw Tom star in countless movies that showed off his scope as an actor including "The Color of Money," "Cocktail," "Rain Man" and "Born on the Fourth of July."   

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At the same time his career was soaring, so was his personal life. He got married in 1987 to fellow actress Rogers, who introduced him to Scientology. Their marriage didn't last long, however, and in 1990 they were divorced in February before Tom met Kidman when they both starred in "Days of Thunder." 

The couple got married the day before Christmas in 1990. Soon after they became a Hollywood fixture and the superstar couple worked together on multiple films, including Stanley Kubrick's final movie "Eyes Wide Shut," while their individual careers shone. Tom extended his '80s reign into the '90s with movies such as "Interview With the Vampire," "Mission: Impossible" and "Jerry Maguire." 

During the couple's 11-year marriage, they adopted two children, Isabella, who was born in 1992, and Connor, who was born in 1995. Eventually, however, even their union didn't last, and Tom filed for divorce in 2001. He dated Spanish actress Cruz for three years following that before he met Holmes, who was 16 years his junior, in April 2005. 

Their relationship began like a whirlwind before Tom declared his love for Holmes on an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," just one month after their relationship had become public and not long after they'd started dating. He infamously jumped up and down on the couch, clearly infatuated with his new love. The couple was engaged just seven weeks into dating, and by October of the same year, they'd announced Holmes was pregnant. Their daughter Suri was born on April 18, 2006.  

This period coincided with Tom becoming much more public about his religion, Scientology, and he, Holmes and their daughter often found themselves photographed and in the press. It proved too much for Holmes, who in June 2012 filed for divorce from Cruise. Although the couple kept the details to themselves, it was thought that Scientology was one of the factors leading to their breakup, with allegations that Holmes wanted Suri to grow up outside of the religion.

ABC News reported that this fact was confirmed by Tom, who was asked in a court case whether Holmes divorced Tom in order "to protect Suri from Scientology," to which he replied, "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

After the couple's split, Holmes was granted primary custody of Suri and Tom has been seen less frequently with his daughter since then. This led some tabloids to report that Tom had "abandoned" Suri, which led Tom to take them to court over the defamatory allegations. The court documents revealed that Suri was not practicing Scientology at the time of the case. Since then, Suri has lived in New York with her mother and she appears to be leading a very normal life. 

However, Tom's relationship with his other two children, Isabella and Connor, has proved to be a reverse of this situation. After he and Kidman divorced, the kids stayed with their father and have chosen to remain in Scientology. This has meant that they don't spend as much time with Kidman and she's even commented on this. While Isabella is married and lives in London, where she has a fashion brand, Connor has chosen quite a different life from the rest of his family.  

Connor was born on Jan. 17, 1995, in Florida, which happens to be where he's also based these days. He was adopted by his parents not long after his birth and joined their family of three, as they had adopted Isabella a couple of years earlier. Although Connor grew up with incredibly famous parents, they did their best to keep him and Isabella out of the spotlight and give them a relatively normal upbringing.

During the remainder of the '90s, Tom, Kidman, Isabella and Connor were a happy family of four, but by 2001 things took a turn when Tom filed for divorce. The couple broke up one year before Kidman was due to film "The Hours," a movie in which she played writer Virginia Woolf. The role earned her an Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress. However, she admitted in an interview with BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life, as reported by the Daily Mail, that the film's heavy themes and her own personal turmoil at the time led her to feel depressed. She said about the breakdown of her marriage:

“When it didn’t work out I had to really dig deep and find my way through depression. I have no regrets about all of it. It was all part of growing up.” 

In the wake of the couple's divorce, there were rumors that Kidman's relationship with her children was severed. The allegations related to the fact that Kidman had left Scientology while Isabella and Connor had stayed in the religion with their father.  

In a rare public moment, Connor spoke to the media about his relationship with his mother in 2014, when he told Australian magazine Woman's Day, as reported by Yahoo:

"I love my mum. I don't care what people say. I know that me and mum are solid. I love her a lot. My family means everything. Yeah, I love my music, but the family comes before everything else."

Then in 2019, Kidman also opened up about her relationship with Connor and Isabella. She told another Australian magazine, WHO, “I’m very private about (them)," but she did reveal a little about their relationship as it then was. She said:

“I have to protect those relationships. I know 150 percent that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is. They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them.”

But that same year, there were media reports that Kidman hadn't attended Connor's wedding to an Italian Scientologist named Silvia. A source told Radar Online:

"Tom is behind this and what he wants is as good as law ... Tom made the call and Connor followed."

The source added that Tom didn't want Kidman at the wedding as she's seen as a "suppressive person" by the church. Kidman also didn't attend Isabella's nuptials in 2015. Nevertheless, the mother's love that she has for her children clearly hasn't waned despite them not being as close as they once were.  

In terms of his career, Connor stayed in the entertainment world for a while but ultimately it wasn't for him. In 2008, at the age of 13, he tried acting when he played a younger version of Will Smith in the film "Seven Pounds." He followed that up with a role in "Red Dawn" in 2012, but since then he hasn't acted in anything else.

It was around that time during his late teenage years that he pivoted to a career in the music industry. A budding DJ, Connor went by the name DJ C-Squared — a play on his initials — and he began to play at events including at San Francisco's Temple Nightclub for his 21st birthday. He even released a track on the label Oxygen titled "Refined." 

But by 2018, Connor didn't seem content living his life in the public eye and since then he's opted for a much quieter life albeit one that appears to make him incredibly happy. Connor swapped the glitz of the entertainment industry for a quiet life in Clearwater, Florida — which is close to the Scientology headquarters — where he spends his days fishing. Specifically, deep-sea fishing. In fact, he even competed in the sport in 2018. AOL reported that Connor was part of the company 2 Shea Charters and that his fishing team had come in third in the Rotary Club of Clearwater's Kingfish Tournament.  

A source spoke to Radar Online about the lifestyle that Connor's fishing life entails and how he's incredibly happy starting his days at 5 a.m. and being out on the water all day. They said:

"Connor’s done some growing up these past few months and decided he doesn’t want to live his life spending his dad’s money ... He loves being out on the water, so this is really a dream job for him.”   

The article said that although his current life is relatively low-key, he still lives comfortably in Clearwater, where he owns a boat worth half a million dollars and regularly dines on five-star meals at Fort Harrison, a private hotel run by the church. It seems his lifestyle has also brought him independence from his father. The source added:

“Connor knows his dad will give him anything he wants, and for a long time he took advantage of that ... But he’s really surprised himself at how much he enjoys being relatively independent, thanks to his new job.”

Connor is proud of his life and even showcases what he's up to on his Instagram page, which has over 35,000 followers. Most of his photos depict the incredibly large fishes he's caught and the big smile on his face each time shows that he is truly happy in his life. He also has a secondary account named "Connor's Meatshack," on which he displays all kinds of meat that he barbecues including "wagyu, brisket, burgers, chicken, and ribs on chars, flats and smokers."

Most recently, Connor debuted a new look on his social channel. In the last few years, he'd let his hair and beard grow out but in June 2021, he shared a snap in which he looked completely different. With a freshly shaved head and no beard in sight, Connor shared the photo to his followers and cheekily captioned it, "new face who dis?" Since then, Connor has kept a low profile and hasn't posted much on social media, but it seems he's content living his life on the sea.   

Do you remember Connor Cruise when he was just a young boy? What do you think about his low-key life on the sea in Florida? If you learned something from this article, be sure to pass it on to others!