Tom Cruise Turns 60, Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down

Jul 03, 2021 by apost team

Known for summer blockbusters and critic favorites alike, Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s most well-known and successful actors. To many of us, Cruise will always be Ethan Hunt, the protagonist of the long-running film series “Mission: Impossible,” which is set to have a new installment come out in the summer of 2023. The fact that Cruise, who turns 60 today, is still making movies — and popular ones at that — is a testament to his talent, endurance and versatility as an actor whose legacy will forever mark the movie industry.

From aspiring priest and busboy in New York to multimillionaire actor, Cruise’s life has been on an upward trajectory ever since he dipped his toes into acting with his first roles in “Endless Love,” “Taps,” “The Outsiders” and “Risky Business.”

His long resume, which includes three Academy Award nominations, is full of unforgettable American classics like “Top Gun,” “Minority Report,” “Magnolia” and “The Last Samurai.”

Cruise is also famous for doing his own stunts, which is nothing to sneeze at given that the actor is pushing 60. While filming “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” Cruise even jumped out of a plane 25,000 feet above the ground. And if that doesn’t sound crazy enough, Cruise also climbed the world’s tallest building, the 2,700-foot high Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It’s no surprise that Cruise got injured on set, breaking his ankle after smashing into a wall. That’s one dedicated actor.

Today, on Cruise’s 60th birthday, we’ll take a look back on Cruise's early life and his incredible career, which shows no signs of slowing down in the near future.

According to a 2006 Parade Magazine profile, Cruise grew up in “near poverty in a Catholic family dominated by an abusive father.” At age 11, Cruise’s mother took her son, divorced her husband and moved back to her hometown in Tennessee.

“It was painful,” Cruise said of his parent’s divorce. “My mother finally had the courage to stand up to my dad and go, ‘No more! I’m not taking it. So long.’”

It was his mother, Cruise explained, who inspired the actor and taught him that “people can create their own lives.”

“I saw how my mother created hers and so made it possible for us to survive,” Cruise told Parade. “My mother was the one who rose to the occasion. She held three jobs. She said, ‘We’re going to get through this.’

“And I decided that I’m going to create, for myself, who I am, not what other people say I should be. I’m entitled to that.”

Despite those strong convictions, Cruise didn’t immediately fall in love with acting from a young age. Instead, he went off to seminary school in Cincinnati to become a priest. But a year later, the young talent discovered that priesthood wasn’t for him, and he was back home with his mother and stepfather. It was at that time that the young Cruise landed a role in the school play, and from then on he knew what he wanted to do with his life: act.

Parade further reports that Cruise gave himself ten years to succeed, moving to Manhattan to try his luck as an actor.

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Less than a year later, Cruise was cast in “Taps,” only to become a star two years later at just 21 years old with his role in the widely popular film “Risky Business.”

“When success happened for me people in the industry changed,” Cruise told Parade in 2006. “All of a sudden I was being offered tremendous amounts of money. I went, ‘Uh, oh, be careful.’ You realize that there are people you can’t trust. I knew from being around my father, who hurt people, that not everyone really means me well.”

Today, Cruise consistently tops lists for the richest actors in Hollywood. Given the countless films the actor has starred in — many of them massive blockbusters like “Mission Impossible” and “War of the Worlds” — that shouldn’t come as a surprise. 

And even as Cruise turns 60 years old, he is still churning out blockbusters like “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Jack Reacher” and “American Made.” And surprisingly, critics are still loving his performances. In fact, Cruise’s most well-reviewed role to date was his portrayal as Ethan Hunt in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” in 2018.

"At 56 years young, there’s no sign of Tom Cruise slowing down in his quest to entertain,” Jeffrey Zhang writes in his review of the film. “His mission with this franchise, which he always chooses to accept, is to work as hard as he can to deliver over-the-top stunts and outdo his last effort, and Fallout is the best one yet. One can only imagine what the next installment will bring.”

And then there was the critically acclaimed and widely well-received “Top Gun” sequel that came out this year — it looks like Cruise is still able to wow his fans even as he grows older. It'll be interesting to see what the star gets up to next!

Happy Birthday, Tom Cruise! What’s your favorite Cruise movie? And which of his upcoming movies are you looking forward to most? Let us know — and celebrate alongside Cruise by passing this on to your friends and family members.