tom cruise 20 years

Tom Cruise’s Historical War Epic Remains Controversial — and Underrated

The Last Samurai may be a product of its time, but it was also a step forward for representation.

Discussions of The Last Samurai often focus on the obvious incongruity of a movie where Tom Cruise dons samurai armor to become the steward of traditional Japanese culture. The picture of Cruise’s bearded, American-Jesus-like face, writ large on a movie poster under the word “samurai,” was more a symbol of Hollywood tradition when the film appeared in theaters on December 5, 2003. Yes, this is a white-savior narrative — Cruise’s cosplaying can’t disguise it — but the first face onscreen is Ken Watanabe, who received an Oscar nomination for his role as Katsumoto, the samurai leader. What the actors represent offscreen, culturally, is the reciprocal of their characters and the film’s central conflict between tradition and modernization.

The Last Samurai follows Cruise’s character, Captain Nathan Algren, a guilt-ridden, mercenary veteran of the American Indian Wars who enters Japan to train the Emperor’s army so they can quell a samurai revolt. Set early in the Meiji era, when Japan opened to the West after 200-plus years of isolationism, the film pits Katsumoto and the country’s old, sword-wielding, feudal ways against new American technologies like the Winchester rifle and the dreaded howitzer. That these are weapons is almost incidental to the plot; the old and new are vying for dominion.

In the opening scene, Katsumoto realizes something’s amiss when his idyllic mountain meditation is interrupted by a vision of a white tiger. This is a premonition of Algren, who inhabits a more industrial milieu when we meet him at a San Francisco trade show. There, “railroads, cannons, and Western clothing,” as Emperor Meiji (Shichinosuke Nakamura) later puts it, are ready to be exported to Japan. Trotted onstage with brass fanfare as a sham war hero, Algren raises his rifle in a drunken stupor and tells the audience, “My thanks on behalf of those who died in the name of better mechanical amusements and commercial opportunities.”

These words, a eulogy for the innocent Cheyenne village he helped massacre, could apply equally to Katsumoto’s samurai generation as it rides in through the mists of time, clashing with contemporary, mechanized forces on the battlefield in Japan. Even before that, Timothy Spall’s British narrator notes how “the ancient and the modern are at war” for the country’s soul.

In telling the story of Japan’s Westernization (really, its Americanization, transposed from post-World War II in a turn-of-the-millennium historical epic), director Edward Zwick relies on cinematic convention. He even repeats a scene from his own Civil War movie, Glory , where the commanding officer in dark blue deliberately rattles the non-white soldier-in-training to prove he’s not ready to hit a target under pressure. At the same time, the Japanese actors who surround Cruise in prominent roles show they’re more than capable of holding their own against the international movie star.

Cruise may be the headliner, but Watanabe is the movie’s soul.

Hiroyuki Sanada plays Katusmoto’s second-in-command, Ujio, and like Watanabe, he’s another actor who’s remained in the limelight (though perhaps not enough so ) 20 years after The Last Samurai . By introducing global audiences to such talents, the film arguably did more to move the needle, representation-wise, than other 2003 releases like Lost in Translation and Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (both set in Japan, but with fewer top-billed Japanese names).

In this way, The Last Samurai managed to plant one foot in the future despite being stuck in the Eurocentric past, with Zwick and co-screenwriters John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz framing the narrative. Even Algren’s love interest, Taka (the mononymous Koyuki, fresh off Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse ), isn’t thrilled about playing house with the unwashed foreigner who killed her husband.

In the third act, Cruise predictably wears his plot armor as the movie goes full Braveheart (with the same cinematographer, John Toll). These internal tensions somewhat reflect the story’s underlying concern with the double-edged sword of progress. If nothing else, The Last Samurai was, as Watanabe alluded in The Guardian last year, a crossroads away from the kind of offensive yellowface caricatures seen in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

“Before The Last Samurai ,” Watanabe said, “there was this stereotype of Asian people with glasses, bucked teeth and a camera. It was stupid, but after [ The Last Samurai ] came out, Hollywood tried to be more authentic when it came to Asian stories.”

While not above reproach, The Last Samurai was a landmark in more authentic Hollywood representation.

The film is loosely based on real Japanese history, with Katsumoto standing in for Saigo Takamori (1828–1877), who led the Satsuma Rebellion and has been called the “last true samurai.” Starting the action in 1876 aligns it with America’s centennial as it reconfigures around Algren, who’s only out for capitalist gain until he sees the beauty of the cultural paradigm he’s worked to obliterate. That’s what The Last Samurai is really about, but it’s easy to lose sight of its broader theme when the movie is so very specific about the story it’s telling (and who’s telling it).

Katsumoto mourns the loss of traditions, something Cruise and other real-life proponents of the theatrical experience might find relatable now more than ever. These days, The Last Samurai’s widescreen visuals are relegated to your typical streaming service, Paramount+. Before it landed there, the film’s supporting cast helped prime the Academy Awards for homegrown Asian films like Parasite and Japan’s own Drive My Car . Nothing can stop progress.

The Stunning Transformation Of Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise has undergone a stunning transformation, going from an awkward kid who had trouble in school to becoming one of the most famous faces on the planet. His 40 years in Hollywood have spawned countless catchphrases ("Show me the money!"), he's continued to helm one of the most popular movie franchises ("Mission: Impossible"), and his net worth is estimated to be $600 million. And while it seems as if he became a big-name actor overnight, that isn't exactly true. Tom Cruise faced childhood hardships — and even as an adult, it hasn't been all smooth sailing.

What has always set the star apart though is a clear vision for his future. "I've wanted to make movies since I was 4 years old," Tom Cruise told People . He noted, "To be able to entertain an audience, that was my dream. And here I am." Read on for the biggest twists in Tom Cruise's stunning transformation into one of Hollywood's true superstars.

Tom Cruise endured several hardships growing up

Born in Syracuse, New York on July 3, 1962, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV had a rough start to life. The family moved often, noted  Syracuse.com , spending time in Ontario, Ohio, and New Jersey before he graduated high school. His mother, Mary Lee, eventually left his electrical engineer father, and his parents divorced when Tom Cruise was 12. 

Cruise's father does not hold a special place in his heart, and the two had presumably been estranged for a decade when the elder Mapother died in 1984. "He was a bully and a coward –- the person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you," the star told Parade (via People ). "It was a great lesson in my life, how he'd lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang!" 

After the separation, the family struggled to make ends meet, and young Cruise did what he could to support his mom and three siblings, telling Playboy (via CNBC ): "I've had paying jobs since I was about 8 years old — cutting grass, raking leaves, paper routes, selling Easter cards and Christmas cards."

Tom Cruise once described himself as 'a functional illiterate'

At age 7, Tom Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia, a neurobiological condition "characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities," according to the International Dyslexia Association . As a student, he would dictate his assignments to his mother, who would write them out for him so he could then copy the words in his own hand. 

Cruise told People , "I'd try to concentrate on what I was reading, then I'd get to the end of the page and have very little memory of anything I'd read. I would go blank, feel anxious, nervous, bored, frustrated, dumb. I would get angry. My legs would actually hurt when I was studying." Regarding his high school years, he described himself as a "functional illiterate." Even after graduating high school, he had issues, and as a young actor, he would ask questions about his character at auditions and then mostly improvise the dialogue. 

Cruise said he has overcome the disability, crediting Scientology's "Study Technology," and he is a founding board member of the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project (H.E.L.P.), which aims to provide free tutoring.

Tom Cruise discovered his love of acting while in Ottawa, Canada

While Tom Cruise's parents were still married, his father got a job with the Canadian military and the family moved to Ottawa in 1971. It was there that the would-be superstar got his first taste of acting.

Just a year after the move, Cruise represented his school, Robert Hopkins, at a local drama festival. "He had good raw energy that had to be channeled," drama teacher George Steinburg recalled in Andrew Morton's book " Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography ." "You could tell there was some talent." 

Cruise appeared in multiple roles during his time there, which spanned from age 8 to 11, and made a memorable impression with each one. "He played the Sun," teacher Wendy Santo shared with the Ottawa Citizen . She added, "I do remember that when that child got up on the stage, there was something in his presentation and the way he posed. You knew he was different."

Risky Business made Tom Cruise a star at age 21

By the summer of 1983, Tom Cruise had appeared in four movies, but he was about to be catapulted into superstardom. In "Risky Business," Cruise played Joel Goodsen, a teen who starts to run a brothel out of his home while his parents are away. But before those shenanigans start, he drinks a Chivas Regal and Coke, attempts to eat a frozen TV dinner ... and then performs one of cinema's most famous dance routines . Wearing a button-down shirt, tighty-whities, and basic gym socks, he lip-synced to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll" — and an icon was born. Rolling Stone called it a "sequence of sexy air-guitar strutting and mock-macho hilarity that endeared Cruise to film audiences." 

The film made a significant $65 million at the box office and allowed Cruise to start demanding $1 million per film. Co-star Curtis Armstrong wrote in his memoir "Revenge of the Nerd" (via The Hollywood Reporter ), "I think I'm safe in saying that 'Risky Business' was the last time he was just 'Tom.'" Talk about a transformation.

Tom Cruise went from the seminary to Scientology

Second to being a movie star, Tom Cruise is famous for his devotion to Scientology . He was introduced to the controversial religion by his first wife, Mimi Rogers, and over the decades, he has become its most high-profile follower. "It's something that has helped me incredibly in my life," he told ITV (via E! Online ). "I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years. ... Without it, I wouldn't be where I am." He called it a "beautiful religion," noting he is "incredibly proud" of his faith. 

Hard as it is to believe, Cruise was once a devout Christian who was raised Roman Catholic. This shift is one of his most stunning transformations: He was even on the track to potential priesthood, attending St. Francis Seminary in Ohio, Newsweek reported. "He had a very strong Catholic faith," classmate Shane Dempler told the New York Daily News . "We went to Mass, spent time in the chapel and enjoyed hearing stories from the priests. We thought the priests had a great lifestyle and we were really interested in priesthood." 

A life in the church was clearly not to be, however, as Tom Cruise seemed to have partying more than priesthood on his mind. Dempler claims the two were asked not to return to the school after they stole alcohol from some of the friars!

In the 1990s, Tom Cruise was arguably Hollywood's biggest star

Tom Cruise literally roared into the 1990s with "Days of Thunder," a film about stock car racing he conceived of and starred in. The production was fraught with problems and delays, but it still went on to find success. As the deadline to wrap approached, he told Rolling Stone : "We always felt the pressure from the beginning, in August. It's been pedal to the floor from that point on." 

The same can be said of his career. After the movie's release, there was no catching Tom Cruise, as he went on to be the hottest star of the decade. His string of successful films spanned genres, including drama ("A Few Good Men"), romantic comedy ("Jerry Maguire"), action ("Mission: Impossible"), and erotic thriller ("Eyes Wide Shut"). 

The films were box office successes — all the more remarkable because, as Forbes pointed out, the majority were rated R. Several of the movies were also critically applauded, with Tom Cruise earning his three Academy Award nominations for work released between 1989 and 1999.

Tom Cruise combined love and work while married to Nicole Kidman

While filming "Days of Thunder," as  Today  recounted, Tom Cruise fell in love with his co-star, a then up-and-coming Australian actress named Nicole Kidman . "It was that special connection when you recognize your soul mate," he told Vanity Fair . "She is a person who understands. It was as if a whole new life had started for me." The two married in 1990 (via Hello! ). It was her first and his second, as he'd previously married and divorced first wife Mimi Rogers. 

The couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor , and acted together twice more in 1992's "Far and Away" and 1999's "Eyes Wide Shut," the final film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. That last movie, about a couple's indiscretions, was plagued by rumors, the Independent reported, including those of troubles within their marriage. But years later, Kidman brushed them aside, telling The New York Times , "We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. ... I don't know what else to say." 

Eventually though, the real-life couple would crumble, with Tom Cruise filing for divorce in 2001.

In the age of CGI, Tom Cruise raised the bar on action stunts

When the CGI blockbuster rose to prominence in the 1990s, Tom Cruise didn't jump on the trend. Instead he jumped off things  — becoming even more famous for performing the majority of his own stunts. "It has to do with storytelling ... It allows us to put cameras in places that you're not normally able to do," he explained on "The Graham Norton Show" (via Screen Rant ). Over the years, he has hung off a flying jet plane, held his breath underwater for more than six minutes, and more. 

Director Christopher McQuarrie told The New York Times he considers the helicopter chase in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" to be Tom Cruise's "hairiest" stunt. "Tom is weaving in and out of canyons and gullies," he explained. "There was one where his rotor blades were just a few feet away from the rock walls on either side. It was like flying through a broom closet." Ironically the star broke his ankle while performing what he told Jimmy Fallon was an "easy" jump during filming.

For Cruise, it's all in good fun. "The first time of any stunt is nerve wracking but it [is] also exhilarating," he told Graham Norton (via NME ). "I have been told a few times during shooting a stunt to stop smiling."

Tom Cruise's relationship with Katie Holmes made headlines

"TomKat," as the couple was known in the tabloids, began in April 2005, recounted The Washington Post , when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were seen together in Rome. The relationship raised eyebrows from the get-go. For starters, the actress, who had kept a fairly low profile after starring in the teen TV drama "Dawson's Creek," was 26, notably younger than her 43-year-old beau. According to Vulture , it was a whirlwind romance worthy of a "Bachelor" episode, complete with first-day motorcycle rides, spontaneous trips to Italy and, ultimately, a proposal at the Eiffel Tower. Before they tied the knot in 2006, she gave birth to their daughter, Suri. 

After her arrival, things settled down a bit. Tom Cruise later told Oprah Winfrey (via MTV News ), "Saturday night we have dinner, and then it's games. We play Quick Scrabble, and then it's usually movie night." 

Still, despite all the public displays of affection and talk of domestic bliss, the marriage was not built to last. In 2012, the actress filed for divorce. The actor's Scientology religion was said to have played a role in her leaving, according to The Hollywood Reporter , but both parties have remained tight-lipped about what really happened .

In a series of disastrous interviews, Tom Cruise almost destroyed his career

In 2005, Tom Cruise was in love with actress Katie Holmes and, according to many, out of his mind. First, there was the couch jump seen around the world in May. Appearing on " The Oprah Winfrey Show ," Tom Cruise pumped his fists in the air, knelt down and, of course, hopped onto the sofa multiple times. "I'm in love," he sighed, as Oprah Winfrey kept repeating, "I've never seen you like this." Eventually her astonished response was simply, "You're gone." And that's how it felt for people watching at home. 

Subsequent interviews didn't help dispel that idea. In June, he chatted with Matt Lauer on the " Today " show and doubled-down on comments he had made criticizing actress Brooke Shields ' use of anti-depressants after she gave birth. "There's misinformation, and she doesn't understand the history of psychiatry," Cruise said, noting , "Psychiatry is a pseudoscience." He also got short with a " 60 Minutes Australia " reporter over personal questions, telling him to "put your manners back in." 

The actor's image was quickly being tarnished. As The Guardian reported, Paramount even considered stopping work on the third "Mission: Impossible" movie. Ultimately, Cruise bounced back — but his star never shone quite so brightly.

In the late 2000s, Tom Cruise revealed a side we'd never seen

After his reputation took a hit, Tom Cruise seemed willing to take some risks to win back audiences. And to that end, he said yes to two outrageous roles that let him show off his not-so-serious and downright goofy side. 

First up was the part of Les Grossman in the action comedy "Tropic Thunder." The character was a loud, unattractive, disgusting movie studio executive. It was a small role, not the kind such a superstar would normally take on. But, as the Observer noted, it got people talking — in a good way. 

Then, in 2012, Cruise appeared in, of all things, a musical. He played Stacee Jaxx, a womanizing hair-metal singer in "Rock of Ages." "It was so different. I'm always looking for different things to do and to work with [director Adam] Shankman on a musical, he just really knows these musicals," Cruise said at the movie's premiere, as reported by  MTV News . The performance was ridiculous and over the top, but that was the point. "Tom Cruise as a bandanna-headed Axl Rose type will hit you as the purest bit of genius in the man's entire film career," raved SFGate .

People have spoken out about Tom Cruise's generosity

Tom Cruise doesn't just play a hero in the movies: He often goes above and beyond for friends and strangers.

At a gala in New York, for example, actor Bill Hader told the story of how the star arranged for him to have safe transport home from Los Angeles to his wife and baby in Manhattan after an attempted bombing in New York. The two were filming promos for the 2010 MTV Awards, but after hearing the news, Hader said he had a "full-on panic attack" and Tom Cruise made sure they wrapped days ahead of schedule and got him a plane ticket (via Vulture ).

And director Cameron Crowe told Deadline how the star kept in touch with the child actor originally cast to appear in "Jerry Maguire": "I thought, wow, I had no idea Tom Cruise was doing that."

The most delicious Cruise story, though, is truly sweet. He reportedly often sends a  white chocolate coconut bundt cake from Doan's Bakery in California to celebrity friends. Recipients, Yahoo! reported, include Jimmy Fallon, Kirsten Dunst, and Henry Cavill.

Over the years, Tom Cruise developed a reputation for being intense on set

In December 2020, Tom Cruise once again made headlines for losing his cool. While filming "Mission: Impossible 7" in the United Kingdom, the actor chewed out crew members for breaking COVID-19 safety protocols. "They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs," he can be heard yelling, hurling profanities and threatening jobs, in an audio recording that was leaked from the set, as  The U.S. Sun  reported.

While filming during a pandemic is definitely a recipe for stress, it wasn't the first time Cruise has been intense while on set. Actress Thandiwe Newton, one of his co-stars in "Mission: Impossible II," referred to a difficult day filming with him as a "nightmare." She told Harper's Bazaar , "I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done."

Is Tom Cruise trying to reclaim some of the glory from his younger days?

Tom Cruise's latest projects are all highly anticipated ... but also seem rather familiar. Up first is "Top Gun: Maverick," a sequel to the 1986 hit "Top Gun." "There's never been an aerial sequence shot this way," the actor told  Empire , teasing the cool stunts being filmed for the movie. "I don't know if there ever will be again, to be honest." Then appearing next on his IMDb  page are the seventh and eighth installments of the ever-popular "Mission: Impossible" franchise.

There are also rumors of a sequel for his 2014 sci-fi flick "Edge of Tomorrow." "It's one of these things where if Tom, Emily and I were to say, 'We're ready to pull the trigger on this script,' it's Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt , the film gets made," director Doug Liman told Collider in early 2021.

Then again, as Cruise's stunning transformation makes clear, he's never been one to rest on his laurels. In May 2020, it was confirmed that the star will work in conjunction with NASA to film a movie aboard the International Space Station. Elon Musk's Space X program is also involved, CNET reported. The big question now is: Can he run in outer space?

20 Years Ago, Tom Cruise Reinvented Himself As An Actor With 'Eyes Wide Shut' And 'Magnolia'

Tom Cruise has always been a risk-taker on the big screen, for good and ill. Lately, the risks he takes center around the physical — the ever-expanding Mission: Impossible franchise is now focused on the question of how far Cruise can push his body for the sake of entertaining the masses. Those risks feel all the more remarkable as Cruise approaches his 60th birthday. (He just turned 57 two weeks ago, a fact that seems...well, impossible.)  But the more Tom Cruise pushes his body, the further he moves away from the time when his risks were ballsier in spite of not being remotely physical. Just as it's hard to imagine that Tom Cruise is pushing 60, it's hard to believe that we're now 20 years removed from a time when he worked on two massively risky projects that required his mental and emotional chops more than the physical: Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia .

If Warner Bros. Pictures' executives had their druthers, of course, Eyes Wide Shut might not be celebrating its 20th anniversary, because the film would have opened well before the summer of 1999. But Kubrick, the immensely brilliant perfectionist, was precise on every detail in what would be his final film, released posthumously. He died on March 7, 1999, just six days after showing a first full cut of the film to Cruise, his then-wife and co-star Nicole Kidman, and WB executive Terry Semel. The film would be released four months later. Eyes Wide Shut was a multi-year production, and the impact was clear. If you look at Cruise's body of work, you'll notice a 3-year gap between his work as the title character in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire and playing the avatar in Kubrick's exploration of sexual mores in New York City. It's because Eyes Wide Shut started filming in November 1996 and didn't end until June of 1998. During that time, Cruise was visited on the set by a young Turk who would direct the movie star's next project. Cruise didn't need much convincing to work on Eyes Wide Shut , if only because Stanley Kubrick was Stanley Kubrick, and his space epic 2001: A Space Odyssey was the star's favorite film. Cruise needed a bit more cajoling with Paul Thomas Anderson, even though the A-Lister had greatly enjoyed the writer/director's previous effort. The sprawling 1997 film Boogie Nights had managed to both ring up a great debt to filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman while feeling distinctly fresh and original. 

The Past Ain’t Through With Us

That paean to the world of pornography was a blast of fresh air to many cinephiles, and did well enough that New Line Cinema gave the director a blank check, the likes of which Anderson knew he wouldn't get again. So he wrote an even longer film with even more characters, a three-hour-plus epic set in the San Fernando Valley, focusing on a group whose interconnections are revealed over time, before a literally biblical, inexplicable act unites them all on a dark night of the soul. One of the many characters, a misogynistic lothario who preached sexual self-help tips to faux-macho guys, was who Anderson wanted Cruise to play. The timing wound up being serendipitous, as a representation of the polar opposite of what Cruise was doing with Kubrick. It's not just that Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia vastly different from each other — on the whole and within Cruise's performances — but they're radically different from the rest of Tom Cruise's filmography of the last 20 years. For Eyes Wide Shut , Cruise allowed himself to be at the mercy of one of the most famous perfectionists in the business. And unlike many of the A-lister's future roles, his lead character is the total inverse of the cocksure hero of films like Risky Business , Top Gun , and Jerry Maguire . Dr. Bill Harford looks as debonair as Cruise, but it's all on the surface of an otherwise helplessly neutered individual.  He's married to a gorgeous woman (Kidman, natch), but Harford drifts through his life in New York City with such naivete that his entire life feels upended when, early on in the story, his wife Alice reveals a sexual fantasy inspired by a passing encounter with a stranger, so intense that she imagined leaving her family behind. Harford's response is that of flight: he comes close to sleeping with a number of other women over a long emotional journey, without ever actually consummating any of the trysts. The culmination of his exploration of the seedier side of his swanky life is a baroque orgy that he crashes, before being humiliated in front of the invitees for having essentially broken in. Bill is a profoundly ineffectual character – he's warned by various characters, from an old friend (Todd Field) to an overly obsequious desk clerk (Alan Cumming), about the underbelly he's trying to investigate, but doesn't actually change much in his life. Both in the opening and closing of the film, Alice is a much more impactful part of their marriage, with a killer last line that cements who holds the power in their relationship. It's both ironic and weirdly appropriate that, for all the marketing about Eyes Wide Shut relating to its sexual content, its orgy sequence, and the Cruise/Kidman dynamic, that characters talk a lot about sex without ever having sex. It serves as a perfect way to neuter Cruise's inherent charisma.

I Will Not Apologize For What I Want

Similarly, in Magnolia , we never see Cruise's character, Frank T.J. Mackey, do the deed. With Frank, though, there's a lot of talk about sex, about the female mind, and about how any man can get into a women's undergarments simply by playing the right series of mind games. While Frank T.J. Mackey never is depicted having sex, there's never really any doubt that he's likely been with a few women in his time. (Or, if you like, he's a lot better at acting like it than Harford ever could be.)  By the end of the film, it's painfully clear that Mackey's intensely misogynistic view of men and women is a darkly cynical mindset instilled in him by his gruffly absentee father. That would be the now-dying TV producer Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), who left Frank's birth mother behind and is currently in the throes of incomprehensible regret at such actions. As gruff as Earl once was, his barely coherent wish to his nurse (a beatific Philip Seymour Hoffman) is to reconnect with his son, which leads to Frank, a motivational speaker of sorts. At the start of a very eventful day documented in Anderson's sprawling Southern California opus, Frank is introduced to a series of largely faceless, cheering dudes in a hotel conference room. (It's all too fitting that Frank is brought on stage with the pomp and circumstance that could only be provided by the bombastic Richard Strauss piece of classical music "Thus Sprach Zarathustra", famously associated with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey .) His first words set the tone for Cruise's blustering, swaggering performance: "Respect the c**k...and tame the c**t!" It's an almost jarringly profane version of Tom Cruise, the pure-id version of his prior heroes, the same ones being almost laughably shunned in Eyes Wide Shut . But Frank is cut down to size over the course of the three-hour-plus running time – after we see his first presentation, a kind of version of the infamous The Game (not the David Fincher film), in which men act cruelly to women to get the fairer sex to give them their prurient desires, he's interviewed by a female journalist (April Grace). All seems well at first, until Frank realizes (and tries to hide this awareness) that she's uncovered his true history, the reality behind his bluster. Frank veers from his initial charm to grouchy pouting (as he icily states, "I'm quietly judging you" to one of her questions) to actively attempting to attack her. And then Frank learns that his father is on death's door.

These Strange Things

Cruise's performances in these films run the gamut, from the internal to the external. His work in Magnolia is more mature and adult than his action-movie fare, but more in line with starring roles in The Firm or A Few Good Men than his henpecked husband in Eyes Wide Shut . If you look at Cruise's filmography in the subsequent 20 years, you'll mostly just find a lot of genre fare. Notably, Cruise has doubled down on his action-hero status since these films opened – five of the six Mission: Impossible films have been released in that period, including the 2006 entry where Hoffman played a terrifying villain.  Cruise has also limited the directors with whom he works, relying on a few favorites such as Joseph Kosinski, Christopher McQuarrie, and Doug Liman. (Kosinski is behind the camera for Top Gun: Maverick , taking over for the late Tony Scott.) Though he's worked with more iconic, auteurist directors too, it's been in more straightforward, action-heavy titles like Minority Report and Collateral . It's not that these films are bad – those two specifically are excellent. But the challenges of movies like these or the Mission: Impossible series or Edge of Tomorrow is that Tom Cruise puts his body through the ringer.  It's exhilarating to watch Tom Cruise dangle off a building or a plane. But as he reaches his sixties, it's just as exhilarating to imagine what it might be like when he eases into an era during which his body just won't let him keep destroying itself. We're a long way removed from films like Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia , but they both prove that there was once a time when Cruise was willing to push himself, both with established and up-and-coming directors, and to do so mentally as opposed to physically. We can only hope he returns to this mindset soon.

‘Mission: Impossible’ 20 Years Later: How An Uneasy Spy Thriller Became a Blockbuster Franchise

How Brian De Palma set the template for a tentpole series by defying genre expectations.

Action movies didn't always have to be franchises. We live in an age where blockbuster entertainment is driven by recognizable brands, household names, and the de rigueur demand for shared universes, but once upon a time in the mythical land of Hollywood yesteryear, major studios were willing to throw down a pretty penny on the basis of making a standout single film so long as it had the promise of profit. As a result, a film could be the best version of itself without becoming beholding to theoretical future installments.

In that regard, Mission Impossible remains one of the finest examples of its time. That's not to say that Paramount and then first-time producer Tom Cruise weren't hopeful for a lasting franchise – after all, sequels aren't exactly a novel concept and Mission Impossible was banking on some goodwill from the hit CBS series of the same name, but that wasn't the driving force. When Brian De Palma sat down in the director's chair, he was focused on crafting a singular spy caper, not building a universe or sowing the seeds of future installments. He just so happened to do those things anyway.

Mission Impossible eschews origin stories and exposition in lieu of presenting a matured, fully-formed team of skillful IMF agents who engage in spycraft with a combination of ease and urgency befitting such a precarious profession. The squad consisted of  Jon Voight as the team leader Jim Phelps, Emmanuelle Beart as his wife and agent Claire Phelps, Emilio Estevez ,   Kristen Scott Thomas and  Ingeborga Dapkunaite as field agents, and of course, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt; the cocky point man and super spy extraordinaire who became the definitive and driving force of the franchise. Then, in a bit of a nasty trick, Mission Impossible killed almost all of them off within the first 30 minutes – a bold, explicit statement of ownership telling the audience that this wasn't a remake of an old TV property; this is spycraft through the twisted lens of Brian De Palma. And it's Tom Cruise's show.

In De Palma's hands, espionage action becomes a landscape of paranoia, canted angles, and dream logic whereby Ethan Hunt descends into a world of conspiracy and corruption after being framed for the death of his team. Regarded by some as an heir to Alfred Hitchcock 's command of uneasy tension thanks to his resume of stylish thrillers like Sisters , Body Double and Dressed to Kill , De Palma has a knack for transplanting the master filmmaker's motifs into bluer material, packed with grisly violence and erotic tension. While he'd earned popularity (and notoriety) with his hit films Scarface and The Untouchables , De Palma had yet to work in the world of blockbusters, exclusively dealing in R-rated fare, until Cruise recruited the director to helm his action vehicle.

With Mission Impossible , De Palma put those sensibilities to good use, offering a vivid counterpoint to the conventions of the action genre by opting for tone and aesthetic over explosive set pieces (though he made room for one of those in the film's climax in a beautiful compromise that blends his flair for suspense with the insanity of a helicopter in a train tunnel). All the same, Mission Impossible is remarkably contained for a summer blockbuster, especially by today's standards of extensive property damage. Ethan Hunt, the very same who would be firing a rocket launcher off a crowded bridge just two movies later, doesn't even pick up a gun.

In a prime example of the way De Palma subverted the standard action format, the film's most iconic set piece is a silent moment of acute accuracy and stillness. When Cruise repels down into that vault, surrounded by a gleaming white light that showcases his figure, form and every minute movement with exclusive intent, it's not a matter of spectacle, it's a matter of tension. It's not about explosions or fisticuffs, it's about control and technique, and a small-scale demonstration of the physical command that would come to define Cruise's later career.

Perhaps most importantly of all, De Palma hinged his unlikely blockbuster on the template of Tom Cruise. Mission Impossible , and all of its subsequent sequels, live and breathe by Cruise's portrayal of Hunt; a showcase by which he could assert his leading man charisma, propensity for action, and fearless skill for stunts – all of which would ultimately become defining traits of the franchise. De Palma established some broader touchstones that would become trademarks (the identity-concealing face masks, the mid-film set-pieces, etc ) but making Cruise the preeminent voice of the franchise was far and away the most important factor in the equation that has allowed it to remain at the top of the game for two decades.

With Cruise taking the leadership role, both as actor and producer, it opened up the Mission Impossible series to a slant of auterism as a new director came on board for each film, putting their idiosyncratic stamps on the world of Ethan Hunt and the IMF. In addition to De Palma, directors John Woo , J.J. Abrams , Brad Bird and Christopher McQuarrie have all tried their hand at that world, and each film bears the trademarks of the individual directors -- from Woo's doves to Abrams' sentimentality -- but because Cruise carries the audience through each journey, every film feels a part of one larger entity despite their aesthetic differences.

With the as yet untitled Mission Impossible 6 , the franchise's age of autuerism may be coming to an end. For the first time, a director will return to helm a second installment when Cruise's frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie steps back into the role of director. That's not a bad thing. Rogue Nation was arguably the best film in the series, and I've made no secret of my love for McQuarrie's approach to the franchise format , but it is the end of a twenty-year run of flexibility that allowed Mission Impossible to be one of the most fluid and surprising tentpole series on the market. We can only wait and see where it goes from here, but in looking back on the blueprint De Palma created with his bizarre, unconventional slant on the genre, it becomes abundantly clear why Mission Impossible has dominated tentpole espionage for the last two decades.

Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including Risky Business , A Few Good Men , The Firm , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Who Is Tom Cruise?

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, better known as Tom Cruise, was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, to Mary and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mother was an amateur actress and schoolteacher, and his father was an electrical engineer. His family moved around a great deal when Cruise was a child to accommodate his father's career.

Cruise's parents divorced when he was 11, and the children moved with their mother to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, after she remarried. Like his mother and three sisters, Cruise suffered from dyslexia, which made academic success difficult for him. He excelled in athletics, however, and considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling until a knee injury sidelined him during high school.

At age 14, Cruise enrolled in a Franciscan seminary with thoughts of becoming a priest, but he left after a year. When he was 16, a teacher encouraged him to participate in the school's production of the musical Guys and Dolls . After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

'Taps,' 'The Outsiders'

Cruise set a 10-year deadline for himself in which to build an acting career. He left school and moved to New York City, struggling through audition after audition before landing an appearance in 1981's Endless Love , starring Brooke Shields. Around this same time, he snagged a small role in the military school drama Taps (1981), co-starring Sean Penn .

His role in Taps was upgraded after director Harold Becker saw Cruise's potential, and his performance caught the attention of a number of critics and filmmakers. In 1983, Cruise appeared in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Outsiders , which also starred Emilio Estevez , Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe —all prominent members of a group of young actors the entertainment press dubbed the "Brat Pack." The film was not well received, but it allowed Cruise to work with an acclaimed director on a high-profile project.

'Risky Business'

His next film, Risky Business (1983), grossed $65 million. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor — thanks in no small part to a memorable scene of the young star dancing in his underwear.

In 1986, after a two-year hiatus, the budding actor released the big-budget fantasy film Legend , which did poorly at the box office. That same year, however, Cruise's A-list status was confirmed with the release of Top Gun , which co-starred Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan . The testosterone-fueled action-romance, set against the backdrop of an elite naval flight school, became the highest-grossing film of 1986.

'The Color of Money,' 'Rain Man' and 'Born on the Fourth of July'

Cruise followed the tremendous success of Top Gun with a string of both critically acclaimed and commercially successful films. He first starred in The Color of Money (1986) with co-star Paul Newman , and then went on to work with Dustin Hoffman on Rain Man (1988). Cruise's next role, as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in the biopic Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned him an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm' and 'Interview with a Vampire'

In 1992, Cruise proved once more that he could hold his own opposite a screen legend when he co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the military courtroom drama A Few Good Men . The film grossed more than $15 million its first weekend and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. He continued to demonstrate his success as a leading man with The Firm (1993) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), which co-starred Brad Pitt.

'Mission: Impossible,' 'Jerry McGuire'

Next, Cruise hit the big screen with two huge hits—the $64 million blockbuster Mission: Impossible (1996), which the star also produced, and the highly acclaimed Jerry McGuire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe. For the latter, Cruise earned a second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe for Best Actor.

'Eyes Wide Shut,' 'Magnolia'

Cruise and then-wife Kidman spent much of 1997 and 1998 in England shooting Eyes Wide Shut , an erotic thriller that would be director Stanley Kubrick 's final film. The movie came out in the summer of 1999 to mixed reviews, but that year Cruise enjoyed greater success with the release of Magnolia . His performance as a self-confident sex guru in the ensemble film earned him another Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

'Vanilla Sky,' 'The Last Samurai'

Cruise then starred in the long-awaited smash hit Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, alongside Anthony Hopkins , Thandie Newton and Ving Rhames. In 2002, he starred in Vanilla Sky , his second collaboration with Crowe, as well as Steven Spielberg 's Minority Report . The following year, Cruise traveled to Australia to shoot the $100 million war epic The Last Samurai, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination.

'War of the Worlds'

Cruise proved he remained a top draw by starring in the Spielberg-directed remake of the science-fiction classic War of the Worlds (2005), which grossed more than $230 million at the box office.

His next effort, Mission: Impossible 3 (2006), also scored well with audiences. However, Cruise was faced with a professional setback in August when Paramount Pictures ended its 14-year relationship with the actor. The company's chairman cited Cruise's erratic behavior and controversial views as the reason for the split, though industry experts noted that Paramount more likely ended the partnership over Cruise's high earnings from the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Cruise quickly rebounded and on November 2, 2006, he announced his new partnership with film executive Paula Wagner and the United Artists film studio. Their first production as a team, the political drama Lions for Lambs (2007), proved a commercial disappointment despite a strong cast that included Meryl Streep and Robert Redford .

'Tropic Thunder'

Taking a break from weighty material, Cruise delighted audiences with his performance in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). Despite his relatively small role in a movie that featured Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller , Cruise stood out by obscuring his trademark good looks to play a balding, obese movie studio executive.

'Valkyrie,' 'Rock of Ages'

In December 2008, Cruise released his second project through United Artists. The film, Valkyrie , was a World War II drama about a plot to assassinate German leader Adolf Hitler . Cruise starred as a German army officer who became involved in the conspiracy.

Cruise returned to one of his most popular franchises in 2011 with Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol . Breaking into new territory, he then starred in the 2012 musical Rock of Ages . Although Cruise received some positive reviews for his performance as a rock star, the movie failed to attract much of an audience.

'Jack Reacher,' 'Edge of Tomorrow'

Returning to his mainstream action roots, Cruise starred in the 2012 crime drama Jack Reacher , based on a book by Lee Child. He then headlined a pair of science-fiction adventures, Oblivion (2013) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Showing no signs of slowing down, the veteran actor in 2015 delivered his usual high-energy performance for the fifth installment of his blockbuster franchise, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation .

Latest Movies and Familiar Franchises

In 2016, Cruise reprised the role of Jack Reacher for Never Go Back . He then headlined a reboot of The Mummy (2017), which performed respectably at the box office but was savaged by critics, before earning better reviews later that year for the crime thriller American Made .

2018 brought a return to familiar territory for Cruise, who starred in Mission Impossible —Fallout that summer. Prior to its release, he tweeted a photo to mark day 1 of production on the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick , scheduled for a June 2020 release.

Scientology and Personal Life

Cruise married actress Mimi Rogers in 1987. It was through Rogers that the actor became a student of Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. Cruise credited the church with curing his dyslexia, and he soon became one of its leading proponents. However, while his spiritual life flourished, his marriage to Rogers ended in 1990. That same year, Cruise made the racecar drama Days of Thunder alongside Kidman. Though the movie was unpopular among critics and fans alike, the two lead actors had real chemistry. On Christmas Eve 1990, after a brief courtship, Cruise and Kidman married in Telluride, Colorado.

Divorce from Kidman

For much of the 1990s, Cruise and Kidman found themselves fiercely defending the happiness and legitimacy of their marriage. They filed two different lawsuits against tabloid publications for stories they considered libelous. In each case, the couple received a published retraction and apology, along with a large monetary settlement which they donated to charity. The couple has two children, Isabella and Connor.

On February 5, 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced their separation after 11 years of marriage. The couple cited the difficulties involved with two acting careers and the amount of time spent apart while working. Following the divorce, Cruise briefly dated his Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz , followed by a much-publicized relationship with actress Katie Holmes. A month after his ties to Holmes became public, Cruise professed his love for the actress in a now-famous appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which he jumped on Winfrey's sofa, shouting "Yes!"

Marriage to Katie Holmes

In June 2005, after a two-month courtship, Cruise proposed to Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower. In October, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. The hasty proposal and surprise pregnancy quickly became tabloid gossip. But Cruise made even bigger headlines that year as an outspoken advocate for Scientology. He openly criticized former co-star Brooke Shields for using anti-depressants during her recovery from postpartum depression. He also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, claiming Scientology held the key to true healing. Cruise's statements led to a heated argument with news anchor Matt Lauer on The Today Show in June 2005, for which Cruise later apologized.

In 2006, Cruise and Holmes welcomed daughter Suri into the world. That year, they were married in an Italian castle, with celebrities Will Smith , Jada Pinkett Smith , Jennifer Lopez and Victoria and David Beckham among those in attendance. However, the storybook romance wouldn't last, and in June 2012, the couple announced their separation.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1962
• Birth date: July 3, 1962
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Syracuse
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Actor Tom Cruise is the star of several box-office hits, including 'Risky Business,' 'A Few Good Men,' 'The Firm,' 'Jerry Maguire' and the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
• Astrological Sign: Cancer

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Tom Cruise Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/tom-cruise
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 26, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

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Tom Cruise Has Entered His Alejandro González Iñárittu Era, and We Have Never Been More Back

By Abe Beame

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Yesterday, early evening, if you were listening closely, an odd call went out across the country. It was the collective groan of dads, uncles, and weird older guys who really shouldn’t be on apps anymore, making that noise we all make as we get up, to cheer and celebrate the news that our beautiful boy, Glenwood Ridge High School’s own Thomas Mapother IV—the Tom we all know and love, the actor who informed our youths, adolescences, and early adulthoods—was coming back to us. The word is Tom will star in the next Alejandro González Iñárittu project, A.I.G.’s first since getting Leonardo DiCaprio his long overdue Best Actor statue for The Revenant . And please, hater— please, skeptic. We understand your mileage varies on Iñárittu, but this news isn’t significant simply because Cruise is about to link with this specific filmmaker. Reading the tea leaves, it’s what it could mean for America’s begotten son going forward.

If you’re, let’s say, a person younger than 25 without a Paramount+ subscription, unfamiliar with the formative cinematic American media of the 80s and 90s, or just generally incurious, you may not be aware that at one time, Tom Cruise wasn’t just the box-office driver he is today, but a very serious, capital-A Actor . He more or less invented the modern Hollywood playbook, a heartthrob with chops who committed totally to each part, who gave us classic “fluff” like Days of Thunder and Cocktail , but beginning in the late 80s, always mixed prestige chocolate into the crowd pleasing peanut butter, and at his absolute best, pulled off both at once.

Here is a partial list of the directors Cruise worked with during his still-untouchable 20-year run, from the early '80s through the early aughts: Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley & Tony Scott, Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Brian De Palma, Cameron Crowe, Stanley Kubrick , Paul Thomas Anderson, John Woo, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann—he worked with everyone, ok? Everyone. He was a quick study, beloved by each of these incredible directors, even when they willfully fucked with his head and destroyed his marriaged to Nicole Kidman for fun , and for all his pain and sacrifice, what did he get? Two Best Actor nominations, one Best Supporting Actor nomination, and three Golden Globes.

It was following a prolonged spate of rejection, presumably the first sustained stretch Tom ever endured in his life, that the wheels began to come off his golden-boy persona. It was uncomfortably, increasingly linked to Scientology, and there are likely several timelines that ended in cancellation, had Tom been less savvy and self-aware. There were ugly details that leaked , first from his divorce from Kidman after a decade of what had been presented in the semi-civil pre-internet tabloid days as a fairytale Hollywood partnership. Then five years later, he married Katie Holmes, generally regarded as a WB ingenue, a relationship that had an odd, seemingly PR-contrived quality everyone was unsettled by. There were several public meltdowns, from Oprah's couch to Tom calling Matt Lauer “glib” while denying modern psychiatry and medicine.

In 2004, Cruise turned in one of his best performances, and films, in Collateral , a two-hander with Jamie Foxx in which, for the first and more-or-less-only time in his career, he plays a deliciously evil, charmingly sociopathic marrow-deep bad guy. But in 2005, he worked with Spielberg on the (sorry, but: intensely mid) War of the Worlds , and due to the aforementioned odd behavior in public promoting the film, a rift opened between the two which has only recently begun to mend .

In the meantime Cruise creates a playbook of another kind, which we’ve seen other greats, from Liam Neeson, to Denzel Washington, to Vin Diesel exploit to lucrative effect. He retracts into a heated deck of Regal popcorn in a clear glass prism. We see Tom Cruise, the ambassador for movies, the glorified stuntman set on sacrificing himself for our entertainment, but we get no closer to the man doing the stunts. We do get regular installments of Mission Impossible , a misguided bid to become Jack Reacher, a disastrous attempt to reboot The Mummy and launch Universal’s Dark Universe , and his miraculously triumphant return to Top Gun , a fevered death-dream that singlehandedly resuscitated the American cinema “post”-Covid. It wasn't all cynical IP, though a lot of it was.

This is why the Iñárittu news is worthy of celebration. The 61-year-old star may be finally, finally willing to do what his longtime die hard legion has been willing him to do, even as we continued to support his respectable, increasingly competent and compulsively entertaining genre stabs with Christopher McQuarrie and Joseph Kosinski: Let us back in!

Don't even let us in too much-- we're still not really interested in where Tom is at on, say, the Adderall shortage-- but do fun and weird shit you can only do if you're Tom Cruise! Weaponize that lethal charisma to do more than rip off a mask and spout exposition as we move tidily from one predictable beat to the next. Cruise has been in talks to get involved in the alleged final Tarantino project , so let’s do it. Bring on the PTA reunion, Christopher Nolan , a final masterpiece from former co-worker Werner Herzog, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Weird Ken in the Barbie sequel. Let’s take some swings! Movies!

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Sort by Year - Latest Movies and TV Shows With Tom Cruise

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Live Die Repeat and Repeat

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | Announced

Plot unknown. A follow-up to the 2014 sci-fi film, 'Edge of Tomorrow'.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Emily Blunt , Rolando Davila-Beltran

2. Top Gun 3

Action | Announced

Plot kept under wraps.

Stars: Tom Cruise , Glen Powell , Miles Teller

3. Untitled Tom Cruise/SpaceX Project

Pre-production

Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman travel far beyond Earth to film the first ever Hollywood motion picture in outer space

Director: Doug Liman | Star: Tom Cruise

4. Luna Park (I)

A group of renegade employees who venture to the moon to steal an energy source.

Director: Doug Liman

5. Untitled Alejandro G. Iñárritu Film

Plot under wraps.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Star: Tom Cruise

6. Untitled Les Grossman Project

Comedy | Announced

A comedic biography of renown movie producer Les Grossman.

7. Adventurer's Club

Adventure | Announced

8. The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015–2023) Episode: Tom Cruise/Monica Barbaro/Teddy Swims

TV-14 | Comedy, Talk-Show

Actor Tom Cruise and actress Monica Barbaro (movie, "Top Gun Maverick"); Teddy Swims performs;

Stars: James Corden , Reggie Watts , Tom Cruise , Monica Barbaro

9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2025)

Action, Adventure, Thriller | Post-production

The 8th entry in the long running Mission Impossible franchise.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Hannah Waddingham , Hayley Atwell , Tom Cruise , Vanessa Kirby

10. 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards (2024 TV Special)

Explore the winners and nominations for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards, celebrates the very best in film of the past year.

Director: Tony Grech-Smith | Stars: David Tennant , Hannah Waddingham , Nick Mohammed , Judi Dench

11. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.107 (2024)

News, Talk-Show

Willie Geist, Martin Scorsese, Paul Giamatti, Lily Gladstone, Mark Ruffalo, Bradley Cooper, Zac Efron, and Jeremy Allen White hit the red carpet for the National Board of Review Awards Gala... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Denny Directo , Rachel Smith

12. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.154 (2024)

On the red carpet for the Billboard Women in Music Awards; actress DeWanda Wise (movie, "Imaginary"); Drew Barrymore on her Oscar preview show; Garth Brooks at the grand opening of his bar ... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Cassie DiLaura

13. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.170 (2024)

The latest on King Charles and Kate Middleton's cancer battles; the premiere of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"; Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Ryan Seacrest dish on "American... See full summary  »

14. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 244,780 | Gross: $172.14M

15. 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards (2023)

The 31st edition of the MTV Movie and TV Awards, and the sixth to jointly honor film and television. It was originally scheduled to be held on May 7, 2023 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and be hosted by Drew Barrymore.

Director: Joe DeMaio | Stars: Drew Barrymore , Adrian Blanco , Sofia Carson , Erica Christensen

16. König Charles III - Tag der Krönung (2023 TV Special)

420 min | Family, News, Reality-TV

"König Charles III - Tag der Krönung" is a TV Special on WeLT Television (formerly known as N24).

Stars: Abdullah II King Of Jordan , Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah , Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani , Patrick Allen

17. The Coronation and Crowning of King Charles III & Queen Camilla (2023 TV Special)

Documentary, Music, News

Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, on May 6th, 2023 at Westminster Abbey following the death of Charles' mother, Elizabeth II.

Stars: Kirsty Young , Huw Edwards , Abdullah II King Of Jordan , Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

18. SAT.1 - Das ist die Krönung! (2023 TV Special)

390 min | Family, News, Reality-TV

"SAT.1 - Das ist die Krönung!" is a TV Special on SAT.1 (DE,AT,CH).

19. etalk presents: Mission: Impossible - All Access (2023 TV Special)

30 min | News

We're in Rome with Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and the rest of the 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' cast. They break down all the wild stunts, bemoan Toronto traffic and Tom even learns a little Hindi from Sonia Mangat.

Stars: Hayley Atwell , Angela Bassett , Sonia Beeksma , Tom Cruise

20. The Last Last Late Late Show with James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special (2023 TV Special)

A prime time special that aired before James Corden's final episode.

Directors: Glenn F. Clements , Tim Mancinelli | Stars: Adele , James Corden , Tom Cruise

21. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003– ) Episode: Tom Cruise/Camila Morrone/Walk Off the Earth (2023)

TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy, Music, Talk-Show

Actor Tom Cruise (movie, "Top Gun: Maverick"); actress Camila Morrone (TV mini-series, "Daisy Jones and The Six"); Walk Off the Earth perform;

Director: Danny Jelinek | Stars: Jimmy Kimmel , Tom Cruise , Camila Morrone , Walk Off the Earth

22. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.140 (2023)

TV-PG | 20 min | News

Happy Valentine's Day; interviews with Tom Cruise, Angela Bassett, and Colin Farrell; Rob Lowe's untold pizza delivery story; Carrie Underwood;

Stars: Billy Bush , Renee Bargh , Charissa Thompson , Jana Kramer

23. Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019– ) Episode: Bounce Back (2023)

TV-MA | Documentary, Sport

Mercedes principal Toto Wolff works to combat the team's unexpected struggles, while Lewis Hamilton navigates a bumpy ride in the team's redesigned car.

Stars: Mattia Binotto , Will Buxton , Jost Capito , Tom Cruise

24. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.143 (2023)

TV-PG | News, Talk-Show

Alec Baldwin appears in court for the "Rust" shooting; the cast of "Daisy Jones and The Six"; the Producer's Guild Awards; the NAACP Image Awards; the SAG Awards; singer Adam Lambert; singer Quincy Jones;

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Matt Cohen , Will Marfuggi

25. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.145 (2023)

The SAG Awards; actress Courteney Cox receives her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; actor Tom Cruise hits the red carpet for the Producers Guild Awards; back stage at the 450th episode ... See full summary  »

26. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.161 (2023)

Tom Cruise, Rihanna, and Jimmy Kimmel prepare for the Oscars; David Letterman and rock legends U2;

27. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.182 (2023)

James Corden talks about his final shows; a Tom Cruise surprise; Jennifer Garner's new collaboration with Reese Witherspoon on the TV series, "The Last Thing He Told Me";

28. Dish Nation (2011– ) Episode: Episode #11.178 (2023)

TV-PG | News

Tom Cruise is spotted with Shakira; Kroy Biermann seeks full custody of his children in his split from wife, Kim Zolciak; Doja Cat says that her latest two albums were money grabs; Jennifer... See full summary  »

Stars: Da Brat , Gary With Da Tea , Heidi Hamilton , Porsha Williams

29. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.213 (2023)

Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible: Deadly Reckoning - Part One"); Sydney Sweeney ("Reality"): Marcia Gay Harden ("So Help Me Todd"); Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette ("High Desert");

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Hallie Stephens

30. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.229 (2023)

Summer movie preview; Tom Cruise; Harrison Ford; Margot Robbie; Sydney Sweeney;

31. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.223 (2023)

"Mission Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"; "Barbie"; "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"; "Gran Turismo"; "Joy Ride"; "Asteroid City"; "Oppenheimer"; "No Hard Feelings"; "Equalizer III";

32. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.237 (2023)

Happy Flag Day; Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, and more at the premiere of "Asteroid City"; Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, and the cast of "Secret Invasion"; Gordon Ramsay (TV series, "... See full summary  »

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Splash_southpark RROSALES_THR_SOUTH_PARK-01500 - H 2016

Holy Shit, ‘South Park’ Is 20! Trey Parker, Matt Stone on Censors, Tom Cruise and Scientology’s Role in Isaac Hayes Quitting

THR spoke to 'South Park' creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and others involved in the Comedy Central show's early days on 20 years of history.

By Ryan Parker

Ryan Parker

Former Senior Reporter

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Back in 1992, two classmates at the University of Colorado took a stack of construction paper, some scissors and an old 8mm camera and pasted together a five-minute stop-motion movie that would launch a cartoon empire. The animation in that first film was primitive, even by Matt Stone and Trey Parker ‘s lenient standards, but the contours of South Park were all there: A bunch of F-bomb-dropping grade-schoolers bring a demonic snowman to life and ask Jesus for help (“Oh my God, Frosty killed Kenny!”).

In the years since, Stone, 45, and Parker, 46, have collaborated on many projects, including a smash Broadway hit ( Book of Mormon ) and a classic cult movie ( Team America: World Police ). But the two college pals’ very first endeavor — a dementedly brilliant twist on Peanuts , in which each week the tiny tykes of South Park, Colo ., spout obscenities (in one episode, the word “shit” is uttered 162 times) and commit blasphemy on everyone from the Virgin Mary to Tom Cruise — likely will remain their greatest artistic achievement.

“There was nothing like it on TV,” says Doug Herzog , the Comedy Central executive who greenlighted the series and ushered its first episode on the air in August 1997. “In those days, there was no context for it at all.” Just The Simpsons — but none of those characters went as Hitler on Halloween (like Cartman ) or gave themselves testicular cancer in order to get medical marijuana (like Stan’s dad, Randy).

Over the last 20 years — and 267 episodes — South Park has been a pillar of the network, remaining one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated shows (watched by more than 8 million viewers a week). It has been translated into 30 languages and shown in 130 countries, nominated for 18 Emmys (winning five), made into a movie (1999’s Bigger, Longer & Uncut , which grossed $83.1 million worldwide) and has spawned a merchandising industry generating hundreds of millions of dollars with everything from Mr. Hankey plushies to Cheesy Poofs (in a deal with Frito-Lay during season 15).

To tell the tale of the show — on the eve of its 20th season, premiering Sept. 14 — The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Parker and Stone, still very much involved in every aspect of the series, at their studio in L.A.’s Marina del Rey and more than 15 others involved in South Park ‘s early development and production. The results: THR ‘s extremely oral history of TV’s most subversive cartoon.

Brian Graden The junior executive at Fox during the mid-1990s asked his friends Stone and Parker — who had moved to L.A. after college — to make an animated Christmas card featuring the foul-mouthed kids they had created for their University of Colorado film. Graden sent VHS copies of that short — a remake of Jesus vs. Frosty, this time with Jesus battling Santa — to 35 of his friends, who sent it to their friends, who sent it to their friends …

[Stone and Parker] brought it in to the Fox office, and I just remember everyone watching it and that moment being five of the most glorious minutes of my life. I didn’t think much about it, then in January and February I would go to meetings and people would say to me, “Have you seen this crazy video?” And they would pop in The Spirit of Christmas .

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'south park' first episode: thr's 1997 review.

Anne Garefino Executive producer.

Before we even began working on the series, the fact that George Clooney had made hundreds of VHS copies of The Spirit of Christmas and sent them out to all his friends was already the stuff of Hollywood history. When he did the voice of Sparky, Stan’s gay dog [for episode four], he did the voice remotely. We never met him until he finally came by the studio to do a voice for the South Park movie.

Doug Herzog Everything was VHS then, so people were making VHS copies. I remember saying, “Hey, we need to be in business with these guys.” I also remember thinking, “I’m not sure we can put that on TV.”

Brian Graden I knew all my friends in Hollywood had seen the video, but I had no sense that anyone else in America had. Then Comedy Central made an offer, so I left Fox [which had no interest in the cartoon] in the spring of 1996 to start the pilot of South Park .

Matt Stone We shot the pilot [“Cartman Gets an Anal Probe”] for 60 or 70 days in Colorado. Every day we would be in Celluloid Studios in Denver — it was a slow time there. It was summer, so they just gave us the keys and we camped out there.

Trey Parker We slept there sometimes.

Graden It was an arduous process because every time there was a note from the network, that meant Matt and Trey had to cut out more construction paper and reanimate five minutes of video, which can take five days.

Stone That was an entire summer. Like, that’s all we did that summer — us just sitting there in the dark. Now a [computer-generated] episode takes six days.

Les Claypool The lead singer of Primus composed the show’s jangly theme song.

We got a call years ago that these guys were working on this little animated pilot for Comedy Central. They were a couple of college kids who were fans of the band, and I guess they approached me to do the theme song. At the time, Primus had just gotten a new drummer, so I said, “Let’s have Primus do it.” We had watched their Christmas thing that was going around, and we realized these guys were pretty clever, but there was no way in hell that they were going to be able to get something like that on television. More than anything, it was just an excuse for us to go into the studio and start experimenting.

Stone We wanted Primus to do the theme song, and then we needed a change. And we were like, “F—!”

Claypool If you listen to the outro, that’s actually the original song. And they came back to us and said, “Comedy Central thinks the theme song is too slow and not peppy enough.” At that point, we were like, “You know, we did this for you guys, we’re out on the road, we’re too busy to do this right now. We can’t just go into a studio and rerecord this.”

Stone We couldn’t get their management to talk to us. They were like, “F— you, dude, take the song.” Not from Les, but from the management. So I actually went down to Irvine and went backstage and found Les at this concert, and I was like “You have to record it.” I got in his face. And he was like, “I’m on tour. I can’t.”

Claypool So they just sped it up and I redid my vocals. I believe I was playing Red Rocks [in Morrison, Colo.] and they sent one of their old high school chums up with a handheld tape recorder, and I just did my vocals into that.

Stone It was really awesome he did it.

Isaac Hayes III The son of the late soul singer says the role of Chef rejuvenated his father’s career.

He was very reluctant to do it in the beginning because I don’t think he understood it. But at that time he had younger people around him like his assistant, who really, really, really encouraged him to do it.

Parker We went and recorded him in New York when he was like, “What’s this dumb little pilot thing I’m doing?”

Hayes III It takes a little bit of a risk to jump into something as controversial as South Park after coming from the years my dad grew up in. He was a very respectful guy and really didn’t curse and never really put his brand in jeopardy like this. It really gave him a huge second act as an artist, and he was very thankful and proud of that. That was huge for him.

Stone Isaac was the nicest guy, and we had a really great working relationship.

Hayes III It gave him an opportunity to feel a little love and admiration that I think he might not have gotten throughout those years while he figured out the changes in music. And it really opened up so many doors for him from a voiceover perspective. It gave him such a platform to continue to capitalize on as an entertainer. South Park was a blessing for him. It meant a lot to him, working with those people and having those types of relationships that he had.

Graden Eventually we got the pilot [about alien visitors] done and went to the focus group. It was the worst focus group I’d ever seen in my life: There were a lot of twos out of 10, and I remember three women crying because they said children should never say these inappropriate things.

Stone Yeah, the women did not like it.

Herzog But we were a fledgling comedy network looking for attention. We wanted to take a chance. But at the same time there was also a little bit of, “Well this is going to get attention one way or another — hopefully the right kind of attention.”

Graden There wasn’t any marketing [for the August 1997 debut] because it was a tiny channel, so I figured if we were lucky, maybe 200,000 people would tune in and we could kind of hold the baseline rating, which was tiny. But the premiere had [889,000] viewers. [It would reach as many as 5.6 million viewers as that season progressed.] We sort of pieced together that all the colleges were just starting to get T1 internet lines, so it actually had gone viral. But we had no idea. I know Comedy Central had no idea about this either.

Parker It was such a big hit that they were like, “We need more.”

Herzog There were times, rare times, going back to the old days when we were still kind of in it script by script. I remember in the first season a script shows up called “When an Elephant F—s a Pig,” and I went, “We can’t call it that … or maybe we could.” And it was a lot of how far can you push it and how far were you willing to go to defend it. And the truth is, I think we were overly careful in the beginning.

Garefino I remember Doug called me once — we finished the show last-minute, but we were always under the gun — only time Doug was angry, and he was like, “Did I just hear the word ‘shit’ on my network?!” We forgot to bleep it. We were burning it at both ends. Everyone was up all night finishing the show, and we dropped the ball on that one.

Herzog I remember, before the show went on the air and I had seen a few episodes, waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking: “Can I do this? Are we going to go to jail for this? Is this legal?” because it was just uncharted territory. But the truth is, [Parker and Stone] always pushed it in such a smart way that we could, in our minds, go, “Well, there was justification for it.” It was rarely gratuitous.

Stone We’d go down to the newsstand, and there’s a little Cartman on the corner of Rolling Stone , there’s a little South Park on the cover of Entertainment Weekly .

Parker We thought: “It’s not going to last. Take it while you can.” We really had the attitude of, “Let’s do this as long as we can, then we will go back to Colorado. I really think, up until four or five years ago, we really had the [mentality], “OK, when are we going to go back to Colorado?”

Stone We also decided to do Baseketball , the [ South Park ] movie, and a South Park album with Rick Rubin. We were like, “We’ll do it, we’ll do it” because we had been out here sleeping on couches for a few years, and when it hits, you take it.

Parker I remember at one point thinking, “Dude, I wonder if I’ll ever see someone walking around in a shirt that has Cartman on it? That would trip me out.” And then a month later, I remember exactly where I was in Westwood, we were walking to lunch and there was this kid walking, and I saw my first Cartman shirt and I was like, “Whoa!” I’d never experienced that before.

Herzog One of the things we noticed right away was the bootlegged merchandise. We would actually send people to the beach in Venice to go looking for bootleggers, and every Monday morning there would be a collection on my desk of crappy T-shirts and bad figurines. My favorite was all the marijuana-smoking paraphernalia; Cartman bongs and Kenny hash pipes.

Tommy Chong Actor and guest star.

Beavis and Butt-Head maybe was the first, but South Park was the perfect stoner cartoon for us stoners, without a doubt.

Steve Raizes Comedy Central senior vp enterprises.

The four boys have always been at the core of our consumer products lines. Over the past decade, Randy and Butters have also gotten a lot of love from the fans, and PC Principal became a major character just last season.

Natasha Henstridge The first celebrity guest star to utter actual lines on the show. Wary of copying Simpsons-style cameos, Parker and Stone usually insisted that guest stars make only animal sounds (Clooney barked as Stan’s dog; Jay Leno meowed as Cartman’s cat, Mr. Kitty, in episode 13), but Henstridge was a special case as substitute teacher Ms. Ellen.

I heard a rumor that they had a crush on me from Species and asked me to come in and do a voice [for episode 11] just because they wanted to say hi, which is pretty funny. But, you know, 20 years later people are still in awe of the fact that I did a voice on South Park . That comes up all the time with fans.

Other early guest stars included Chong and Ozzy Osborne, with the rocker appearing on “Chef Aid” during season two.

Osbourne It was soul-lifting.

Chong It was my son who turned me on to them, and I swear I’ve never laughed so hard. They reached out to us. Cheech [Marin] and I had broken up and got back together again for some part in [“Cherokee Hair Tampons”] where they decided to pay homage to Cheech and Chong. We were more than thrilled to be part of it.

Parker If you notice, seasons two and three are the only ones you’ll see other “written by” credits. We were doing the movie [in 1998] and the show at the same time, so we tried out other writers because we thought that’s what you do.

Stone [Dealing with the MPAA to get an R rating for the film], you had to wear them down. That’s what always pissed us off about the MPAA, that it’s a negotiation. It isn’t their standards — it’s a negotiation.

Parker It was resubmitted every week.

Stone You end up doing only one rim-job reference [because] some housewife in the Valley is like, “OK, one rim-job is OK.” And that was Saddam Hussein’s real penis, but then we made it a dildo, but it’s all the same joke.

Parker At one point [in spring 1999, after the Columbine massacre in Stone’s hometown of Littleton, Colo., sparked a national debate about the media’s role in stoking antisocial behavior in young people] we actually talked to the studio, like maybe we should push the date.

Stone We also wanted a little more time [to work on the film]. And the heads of the studio were like: “It’s a shooting, guys. People will get over it.” But when our movie came out, there was a temporary [increase] in the checking of IDs to go see R-rated movies. We sold a lot of Wild Wild West tickets.

Robin Williams rehearsing “Blame Canada” for the 2000 Academy Awards.

Parker But the Oscar nomination [for “Blame Canada” as best original song] was a really big validation of South Park . We learned so much from doing the movie about what South Park should and shouldn’t be.

Stone Some people were stoked when we showed up at the Oscars in those dresses. [Parker and Stone also admitted they were tripping on LSD.] Michael Caine being one. But I remember Gloria Estefan was super-pissed. It takes a lot of energy to be that rebellious. It took so much energy to get those dresses made and all that stuff. We were so, like, punk rock — you know, like, against all of that stuff. But Trey was nominated for [a best original song Oscar], and that’s cool. So how do you go but not go? How do you not be a part of it? Drugs.

Norman Lear The TV legend was invited into the writers room by Stone and Parker for a brainstorming session in 2003, just before the 100th episode. He ended up doing the voice of Benjamin Franklin in that episode.

They asked if I would sit in with them for a couple of days, then this role came along and they asked me to do that. There’s nothing like South Park anywhere. I never did anything like it. It’s all by itself. I look at South Park , and I am confident it is adding time to my life.

Stone The show got way better. It started hitting its stride in the sixth, seventh and eighth seasons — that’s when [the storylines] started to feel more modern.

Parker I used to look back at those first few seasons and be embarrassed.

South Park won its first Emmy in 2005. The show beat out The Simpsons, Family Guy, Samurai Jack and SpongeBob SquarePants for outstanding animated program.

Stone It’s cool to win. It’s like you don’t want to give a shit because you’re punk rock, but then you win and you’re like, “That’s cool.”

Parker It’s like, we don’t give a shit about winning, we just don’t like to lose. It’s like, “That show [won]?! F— that show!”

Also in 2003, Parker and Stone decided it was time to honor their favorite Colorado restaurant, Casa Bonita. For the seventh season episode “Casa Bonita,” the duo went out of their way to make sure all details were correct.

Mike Mason General manager of Casa Bonita.

I got a call from South Park studios wanting to talk about an episode they’d done. My first concern was that I’ve seen South Park before, so I know it is not always super kind to the topic it’s about. And they said, “No, they love Casa Bonita and it would be a nice representation of the restaurant.” So I signed the waiver, and the rest is history.

Parker Four years ago, it came up for sale and we had 10 minutes of like, “We should buy it,” because they do have a few things up there now where they’re like, this is the South Park Casa Bonita. There are people who go to Casa Bonita because of South Park .

South Park’s 2005 “Trapped in the Closet” episode depicting Tom Cruise.

Herzog I never heard from Tom Cruise’s camp [about the infamous 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closet,” in which the star is depicted hiding in an actual closet, refusing to get out], but we did our best to let everyone know that it was coming. I let the people over at Paramount [Comedy Central’s sister company that has Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise] know, gave them a heads up. But I think everyone understands Matt and Trey are going to do what they’re going to do.

Stone When we did the Scientology episode, [Isaac Hayes, who was a Scientologist] came over, and I sat with him. It was like a day or two after, and it was pretty obvious from the conversation that somebody had sent him to ask us to pull the episode. It had already gone on the air, and we didn’t tell him because we didn’t want him to be held accountable. Plausible deniability. [Four months after “Closet” aired, Hayes quit the show via a statement, supposedly in protest.]

Hayes III Isaac Hayes did not quit South Park ; someone quit South Park for him. What happened was that in January 2006 my dad had a stroke and lost the ability to speak. He really didn’t have that much comprehension, and he had to relearn to play the piano and a lot of different things. He was in no position to resign under his own knowledge. At the time, everybody around my father was involved in Scientology — his assistants, the core group of people. So someone quit South Park on Isaac Hayes’ behalf. We don’t know who.

Stone We sort of figured out the whole picture a bit later, but that’s totally what happened.

Hayes III My father was not that big of a hypocrite to be part of a show that would constantly poke fun at African-American people, Jewish people, gay people — and only quit when it comes to Scientology. He wouldn’t be that hypocritical.

Stone It really sucked, the whole thing. This statement put out that he was quitting, it kind of called us bigots.

Parker But we knew in our hearts there was something way more rotten going on.

Herzog We always have their backs. The few times where they might look back and say, “You didn’t really have our backs there,” that’s just a place where we’ll have to agree to disagree.

Parker What pissed me off about episodes 200 and 201 [the controversial 2010 shows in which South Park poked fun at the prophet Muhammad, prompting Comedy Central to black out the character and bleep his name, the first and only time an episode has been censored so heavily] was that I thought the episodes ended up being really good. [The episodes are not available for streaming.]

Vernon Chatman South Park producer who joined the show in 2001.

[After the Muhammad episode was censored in 2010] Trey bought a ticket to South Africa and showed it to the head of the network because [network star Dave] Chappelle had fled to Africa. So that was the threat. [Parker never actually went.]

Herzog We were protecting everyone who works here. That was the decision we needed to make.

Parker We were so exhausted by it all, we were like, “F— it, just get on to the next episode.” That was the hardest we’ve ever pushed back.

The Denver Broncos depicted in the first season of South Park in 1998.

It seemed everywhere Parker and Stone went, they were beloved by fans and the media — except for one place: Colorado. It wasn’t until 2008 that the pair felt as though the state was truly enthusiastic about their creation.

Parker For a long time, Coloradans were the people and reporters who did not like us. If you look back, reviews of the South Park movie are almost 95 percent positive; the negatives were The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News .

Stone But it turned around.

Parker I totally remember the year the Democratic National Convention was in Denver [2008] and at [Denver International Airport] they put up big things of “This is what Colorado is” that they were proud of and one of them was South Park . And I was seriously like, “Wow! They’ve never done anything like that. They’ve never taken any ownership and said they like us.”

John Hickenlooper Governor of Colorado.

Trey and Matt are a rare breed. How many artists consistently create smart, incisive and wickedly funny material? Let alone for 20 years straight? We think of journalism as the unofficial fourth branch of government — a free, independent press is crucial to the success of our democracy. Likewise, satire is key to keeping our culture honest. South Park keeps it real — and keeps us real — and we love it for that.

Gabby Lane Mayor of Fairplay, largest city in the South Park valley.

It definitely has brought people up here, a lot of tourists. There is no doubt about it. And it has kind of put Fairplay on the map in a positive way because people come up here for that, but then look around and say, “Wow, this place is really pretty.”

South Park’s weekly production often comes down to the wire. In fact, at least once every season, it appears as though an episode will not be completed in time for air. However, South Park has missed only a single deadline, which happened in 2013 during the 17th season. That episode, “Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers,” was delayed after a car accident in the area knocked power out to the studio. Parker and Stone say that it was serendipity.

Parker It was one deadline that we weren’t going make anyway. So it’s this really weird thing that happened when the power went out.

Stone Everyone was like, “Seriously, what did Trey do?” because we were that screwed on that show.

Frank Agnone South Park executive producer.

We can be changing lines at 6, 7 a.m. the day of air. Through the years, it’s a tenuous row to hoe in making sure the guys don’t feel too much creative pressure, but enough pressure that the reality of making air is always relevant being that we’re six days at a time, per episode. It’s not even hours here at South Park : We micromanage minutes to maximize what we can get out of every hour, every day.

Bill Hader The SNL veteran and occasional South Park writer who in 2015 contributed to the creation of South Park’s latest character, PC Principal.

I was telling a story [in the South Park writers room] about how I got yelled at [during a party] for saying something that wasn’t PC, and then Trey just started doing PC Principal — he just started doing it in the room. That’s when the best stuff happens — it springs out of Trey. It made me laugh so hard I fell out of my seat.

Parker I remember we were in the room [for the 19th season], and the big news was Caitlyn Jenner. And I was like: “Things have changed, dude. I don’t think we can do a Caitlyn Jenner show. I think we would get run out of town.” [They did anyway, portraying Jenner as the vice presidential running mate to Mr. Garrison, who wants to build a wall on the U.S.-Canada border.] We try to come in every season with a new attitude, like this is what makes this season different than last season. But at the end of the day our favorite shows are when Cartman is f—ing around with Butters.

Herzog The Daily Show and South Park were absolutely the one-two punch that ultimately put Comedy Central on the map. South Park broke first and biggest. So, to a certain degree, South Park , to this day, now 20 years on, remains a foundational part of Comedy Central and a huge part of Comedy Central’s history and Comedy Central’s rise and Comedy Central’s ultimate success. And, you know, it is the foundation on which the house of Comedy Central is ultimately built.

Lear As long as they don’t feel old and stale, [the show] won’t feel old and stale. I would guess they would quit before the network quits, if there’s quitting to be done.

A version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe .

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How Tom Cruise Helped Todd Field Defeat Harvey Weinstein

By Jordan Hoffman

Writer-director Todd Field is in the thick of an Oscar campaign right now, with his latest movie TÁR a strong bet for a slew of awards, including best picture and best actress for Cate Blanchett . (Indeed, in those two categories, TÁR won the hat trick from the three most important critics groups, the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics.) 

As such, The New Yorker just ran a lengthy profile with Field, in which he admitted that he’s a little rusty when it comes to promotion (it’s been a long while since his last project) and that he’s thrilled the conversation about the character Lydia Tár has been so robust. “It’s incredible ,” he remarked, about various fan theories about what’s real and what’s imagined in the picture, and just what lessons we’re to draw from Tár’s rise-and-fall. Even he’s eager to get into it, wondering if Lydia Tár truly did apprentice with Leonard Bernstein. (“If you look at the math—Lenny dies in what, 1990? When is she studying with Lenny Bernstein? I don’t think it happened.”)

Field was hesitant, at first, to get into just how Tár won her EGOT, though when pressed by interviewer Michael Schulman he (somewhat) confirmed some solid theories. He did, however, spin a yard from over 20 years ago about how he was able to evade Harvey Weinstein ’s notorious penchant for re-cutting movies.

It was 2001 and his first film as a director, In The Bedroom , starring Sissy Spacek , Tom Wilkinson , and Marisa Tomei , just debuted to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. But Field was miserable. His picture was bought by Miramax Films, and he knew that meant company head Harvey Weinstein (aka “ Harvey Scissorhands ”) would end up making substantial changes. Despondent, he called Tom Cruise .

Field and Cruise met during the lengthy production of Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut . (The writer-director, who began his career as an actor, played the part of nightclub pianist Nick Nightingale, who offers Cruise’s Dr. Harford his first peek into the weird, masked shadow society of whatever the hell is actually going on in Eyes Wide Shut .) Indeed, it was Cruise, with his power of positive speaking, that emboldened Field to get In The Bedroom up and running. “You’re just making excuses,” he said, as Field recalled the story of them meeting over dinner. “ Figure it out. ”

So when Field made that weepy call after Sundance and said, “something terrible happened,” Cruise mapped out a strategy like a football coach.

“This is how you’re going to play it. It’s going to take you six months, and you’ll beat him, but you have to do exactly what I’m going to tell you to do, step by step,” Field recalled. In essence, he was advised to be passive and then pounce—let Weinstein cut the movie with no pushback, then show it to test audiences. When the responses come back negative, Cruise suggested, that’s when you come in with documented evidence of the Sundance raves. 

By Savannah Walsh

By Chris Murphy

By Julie Miller

Field did as suggested (when Tom Cruise gives you orders, you follow them), and the scheme worked. The movie was a hit, earning 25 times its budget and landing five Academy Award nominations, including best picture. His next film, Little Children , which received three Academy Award nominations, was released by New Line Cinema. 

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Cinemaphile

Why did Tom Cruise age 20 years in the past year? He held on for so long, now he just looks his age.

He skipped his injections

FPIP (first post ignored post) This anon is correct

He literally just grew his hair out a little

and his skin

>He literally just grew his hair out a little

>and his skin

He's starting to look more like Norm

he's drinkin more

I didn’t even know he was sick

Norm biopic when

>tfw we'll never get "The man who owned a doghouse: the Norm McDonald story"

Just listen to him narrate his own "Based on a True Story". It's better than anything you'd ever get from a film. Even if Norm was still around to play himself, the man can't act.

>topps 1987 very nice, but for me, it was topps 1986, the patricians baseball card highlighting the singular year where western culture peaked

Thank God we got Top Gun Maverick when we did, could you imagine having to look at him like this and take it seriously?

That second photo was taken way before Top Gun Maverick you fricking moron

He's wearing that peewee herman neck tape when he's filming

Maybe he's hiding his cancer or something and still kept doing his stunts and living 100%. In which case, his legend status is just gaining more points.

Looks like the effects of a steroid regardless if it was for medical or body building reason. Doesn't need to be cancer related either as many diseases have medications with steroids in them. Prednisone for example is used to treat many different conditions

>when you stop decades of botox, fin and hair plugs abuse because your aging organs can't handle it anymore

Let this be a lesson to all looksmaxxing homosexual, you can run but you can't escape the toll time takes on you

It’s steroid bloat, look up Cushing’s Syndrome. I was on high dose prednisone when I was a kid for GI issues and it made me look 20lbs fatter in a month

No one in the thread realized that this was a 2 year old photo

He's sacrificing his beauty and youthfulness to provide us kino in the movie theaters

More reason to think that he has cancer. Norm looked like this too when he was starting treatment

probably a combination of off season (not filming so not working out and chubby) recovering from cosmetic surgery during said off season so face is puffy candid photo so no camera tricks or face tape tto look slimmer and younger just finally started to get old (he had a good run)

Norm McDonald is dead, please don't disrespect him like this.

This. He still looks 24. is just a jealous troony who needs to dilate

>He still looks 24 The frick kind of wrinkly ass 24 year olds are you talking to? Or are you just really gullible to older men? He looks inhumanly young for his age, but he doesn't look THAT young.

this is the curse of anyone that looks youthful for their age. you will look youthful for decades then experience a period of rapid aging when everything catches up to you. he had a good run but it's going to be bomb after bomb from here on out.

>this is the curse of anyone that looks youthful for their age The curse is that you look young and healthy until you're sixty, at which point you still look incredibly young and mog 99.99% of your peers? Which gypsy's kid do I need to run over to get this curse?

My boyfriend looks similar to that and says he's 23.

He does not look like a 24 year old.

24 with progeria

he looks like he's getting close to 60 i work with old people every day and healthy modern man dont look like grandpas anymore when they are 50+. he looks just like the people i sell hearing aids to every day

His hair looks nice. His face is puffy and he's getting Asian eyes

Should grow a moustache.

Richard Gere eyes.

He looks 70

Must have tried to go off cycle.

He's months away from officially being a senior citizen anon

The wall. Yes it happens to men too, just later than women

When you play the surgery game, every op is a roll of the dice. This time he got Madonna'd.

His thetan levels are off.

Hollywood is dying.

he used his life energy to kill jamie foxx after he fricked his ex wife

that was some masonic ritual.

But did t you hear about that sighting of Jamie waving on a boat from 500 feet away or that commercial he was in?

He literally uploaded a video on ig a few days ago

Jamie really did frick Katie Holmes?

They dated for several years

Time bruises every man, none can escape it forever

he took the vax

This. It rapidly accelerates aging. Everyone I know who took already looks 10 years older

>Everyone I know who took already looks 10 years older That's because COVID happened 10 years ago, anon.

No, Scientologists do not get vaccinations for religious reasons.

There is nothing in Scientology that is against vaccines.

It's not even a curse, it's a blessing. He got to live the majority of his life as an attractive movie star that everyone loved. If he's lucky, he can age gracefully like that old guy in Mulholland Drive.

The guy in the pic is the same age as Tom Cruise.

For me it's Sky du Mont in EWS

talking about Mullholland Drive

is that naomi watson? she still looked so cute in s3 of twin peaks....

what a vegan diet does to a mfer

>those mouth wrinkles granny soon

Sacrificing her children to Hollywood satanists didn't help, I see.

where does he stand on the bridge?

He was OT iii in '00s

really does look like royalty >thomas cruise mapother the fourth

you can't fight father time forever

I really thought this was some black R&B singer from the 90's who did the Sammy Sosa thing for a minute

her actual problem is that no one loves her enough to sit her down and explain how hair works

>I want to play a game

we all have a time limit and clock's ticking.

cant bruise the cruise

for the Boomers, yeah but for everyone younger, it's likely that GenX will be the last generation to mostly die of old age: the advances made in anti-senescence medical technology are nothing short of breathtaking... David Sinclair's lab at Harvard and its work on epigenetic editing in model organisms (mice) was pretty conclusive, and Aubrey DeGrey at the SENS Foundation (before he was booted because of now-proven false sexual harassment claims) were working in gerontology for a long time and spawned dozens of spinoff research groups. No one is ever gonna say they have enough money for research, but the progress being made is just generally according to the exponential curve that is so well known in computer science technologies. And that was before AI began to mature. Now that the protein folding problem has (mostly) been solved by AI models, shit's getting real... real fast.

Boomers will all die, though. And good riddance, frick them.

GenX mostly will die.

Millennials will suffer from the ravages of age before more mature rejuvenation technologies hit markets, but most of them will survive.

You won't have to die if you don't want to, just stay alive in the mean time. Using the (now outdated) model of the Wright Brothers --> Moon Landing, you could expect the 2060s... but since we're on a much sharper exponential curve these days, probably more like 2040s when first medications are on the market. Probably will be metformin or updated analogues of it (because it'll be easiest to get FDA approval for that indication).

Abolishing death would be the ultimate sin, literally satanic stuff, we should not mess with that. But don't worry, nature is course correcting and we won't make it past this decade. An immortal race? Hell on Earth. I WANT to die eventually, I want everyone to live a full life and then die, it's how it works.

Wanting to die like a cuck and not living forever and exploring this beautiful universe. Have fun dying homosexual.

>and exploring this beautiful universe You'll never leave this rock you dumb piece of shit. Real world isn't Star Wars

t. gonna die at 24

Bad thetans.

adrenochrome only prevents skin aging for so long, he'll live for another 60 years guaranteed though

Sean William Scott has been secretly stealing Toms life force

birthrates are down so foreskin supply is low

Aging accelerates in your late 50s. It's joever for him. He has like 1-3 projects left where he can be the lead make them count.

Still looks fine for age.

He went overboard on the filler. He's gonna be a ghoul in about five years.

>constantly under the glare of hot studio lights >also travelling to hot counties where he does multiple outdoor takes for his MI films >cruising gay beauty parlours and fricking guys in the suntan booths

It all adds up eventually

>73 years old

>also on an extremely strict diet and routine, copious amounts of T, and possibly even steroids I’m sure it’s worth it for some people to say “huh, he looks pretty decent for an old guy”

>look fine >feel fine >be 73 and alive >????? >profit

>copious amounts of T, and possibly even steroids T is a steroid anon.

You know what he menas you autist frick.

You'd be shocked at how many people don't think of it as a steroid simply because your body produces it naturally.

Anon we're at a point now where everyone knows about the different types of gear that are readily available even to normies. You're trying to be clever but you're missing obvious context clues in what you responded to. You're an autist frickwit. Clarifying what T is does no negate the fact that these guys are on a cycle of other wienertails.

Sounds more like you're just looking for a reason to act like a belligerent twat.

>You're trying to be clever Oh the irony.

There's no irony in that whatsoever, zoomie. Learn what the word means.

Its about feeling good to anon. That man is probably still mentally 30

I’ve listened to him do disc jockey schtick on satellite radio, Joe Biden is more coherent literally

The HGH is fricking with his skull shape, bros. No Cary Grant with this one, say bye bye.

Epstein's island and the underground adrenochrome harvesting facility there is no longer at their disposal

He still looks way younger than 67 or whatever he is

Tom Cruise is practically a stuntman. He has abused his body for decades to give us amazing movies which probably shortened his lifespan.

>now he just looks his age. I know OP is complete bait, but I'll take it anyway. Tom Cruise is in his 60's. I've seen people in their fricking 30's that look older. People use the term "genetic lottery" a lot, but Tom Cruise is a genetic miracle. No amount of fancy Hollywood treatments can do that shit alone. Man's an anomaly.

>Tom Cruise is 61

So edge of tomorrow was 10 years ago and he was 50 irl when he did the movie but only looked 30 in the movie meanwhile Emily Blunt was 30 irl when she did the movie and looked 30. Curious.

>only looked 30 in the movie he looked at least very late 30s to early 40s though

you're comparing how he looked to when he was actually 30 though he looks like he could be a normal attractive 30 yo guy who wasn't an extremely handsome 30 year old tom cruise I know people who are 25 that look older than how he appeared in that movie

People always used to tell me I looked super young for my age in my 20s and then boob bald at 29 and I started looking older than my age.

I was in the same situation, but I still have my hair, it just went grey and now people have no idea how old I am

I'm guessing he's drinking a lot or on some kind of steroid because he's old AF.

How did they go from this in 2014

to this in 2023

What the FRICK is with all these post wall hags taking up all the screen time?

The world is full of young cuties with sex appeal.

Is that Noah Schnapp?

Emily Blunt is a tragedy. Why do they do it? Just go cougar mode you dumb prostitute.

british genes, she's 26

that would make her 16 in edge of tomorrow i dont believe you

Nice try Jenna.

>pocket chain Really Halpert

>face is fricked >ass is still fat

She's looking alright for someone who's 40 and has had 2 kids.

>Why do they do it? Look at her timeline photos and you'll see that she's been having procedures done for her entire career. You just happened to like the previous ones so you ignored them.

He's literally 3 years away from being a senior as it's labelled in every country. Time to accept it bros, Tom Cruise is old. Not just old, but like grandpa or great grandpa old

bro that's 10 years apart it's not like when young people age from from 20-30 and look more or less the same if they take care of themselves you can age a lot in a short amount of time when you're actually old

why is Cinemaphile always surprised that people age?

because the vaccine has accelerated the process in top stars

is there anything that black magic israelite juice can't do?

protect you from catching and transmitting covid

>most people reporting adverse reactions are women BELIEVE WAMMEN

You look probably bit older than decade ago?

The vaccine accelerates aging.

film shots against red carpet shots, you literal moron.

>anon slowly realizing that a decade is a significant portion of ones life and that aging during that period will also tend to be significant what have you accomplished since 2014, anon?

friggin ell

The Tom Cruise dicksucking on this board has gone way past the point of acceptable contrarianism. Even if we all agree that he looks good for his age (I don't), there's no denying that he hasn't made anything interesting since the 2000s. All his films since then have been made to the same old action/SF blueprint with him running at the camera, and the stunts are just interchangeable promo videos. Tom jumping out of a plane in The Mummy is much the same as Tom jumping out of a plane in Mission Impossible 13, and no one cares to know in which of the two film it occurs. It doesn't matter anymore, it's the same old shit every time.

Dilate trannies, go back to reddot. I can't believe the autism in the Bruise Police. Frick off, can't Bruise the Cruise.

you sound like an auditor. How high is your thetan count?

I'd rather have straightforward, well done action movies than subversive shit. Don't fix what isn't broken.

>b-but muh stunts

>it's the same old shit every time I'll gladly take the same old shit thats entertaining as frick, over the cesspool dumpster fire movies hollywood have been releasing

Maverick was released last year but it was filmed like 5 years ago, when he was 56 or so. Five years can make a huge difference for old people after a certain limit.

He is slowly merging into James May

Because he obviously dies his hair, and his face looks way older than his hair colour.

>looks his age.

Entropy waits for no man. Hail Xenu!

turning into jeff bridges

He needs to stop trying to be young and just age gracefullt like Sean Connery. Grow a sexy old man beard. Stop getting surgery. Play more anti-hero/anti-villain roles.

Tom as the Illusive man for the Mass Effect movies would be Kino.

Gravity is a mf

It was bound to happen at some point. Some men look like they will never age, but when they do, it's always sudden.

uunironically from the vaxx. seems to age anyone who took it significantly

Checo Perez?

>tfw he genuinely looks a bit like me there Such is life as a chinlet. Cruise really has great bone structure

Okay. He needs to hit the gym.

I watched Vanilla Sky the other night and was shocked to find out that Tom was 38 when that movie was filmed. He could have passed for 28.

Can facelifts give you the bogged look? What is it that gives you the bogging? Is it botox? Plastic fillers? Why do Korean surgeries look more realistic? Is it because of asian makeup or something else? I've noticed that even Asian boob surgery looks better than the western ones.

>Is it because of asian makeup or something else? It's literally because you have, like most people, asian face blindness.

I rewatched the MI movies few days ago, noticed he aged a bit from Ghost Protocol to Rogue Nation.

>don't drink, smoke, or do drugs >eat healthy, exercise >take collagen supplements simple as

But I still went bald despite doing these instructions

You were supposed to take a vacation to Turkey because you like the weather but secretly for the hair transplant surgery .

Those are utterly irrelevant if you have bald genetics passed on to you.

If you can't resolve it, embrace it and improve in your other areas.

>collagen supplements they aren't absorbed by your skin, your body just shits them out.

The truth is that he secretly left Scientology and they stopped giving him the "stuff" to keep him young. Not even lying look it up

Would be pretty based if Tom's last goal in life would be to take down Scientology

In Hollywood you have a choice between the israelites, the homosexuals, and the Scientologist. I would choose the Scientology mafia every time.

Tom should take them all down before he dies. Redemption arc for his years spent as a scientologist.

His last movie didn't do so well, he finally got bruised so that affected him.

Guys, what if Tom Cruise had to stop drinking children's blood for adrenochrome because the sound of freedom is making everyone pay more attention to child trafficking?

He looks better than most 45 year old Floridians. He’s 87 years old, anon

You're just used to seeing him wear makeup. These guys all look like this when you take it off. They wear it when they go out to eat as much as on set because they know the paps will be filming them

i definitely wouldn't say he "looks his age". he's certainly not "young" looking but he definitely looks a good 10 years younger than he actually is. he's also in amazing shape physically for his age

8 months ago Reply Anonymous

He's got the same vibe now as Professor Falcon in Wargames. Not a bad archetype to age into.

he looks orange wtf

The price of blood went up and it's summer

>I will not eat a single morsel of food until August Walker is dead and buried

2bh I'd rather look my age must be weird and alienating being 60 with your 60-year old friends while you look 30-40 and its all anyone notices and points to as a conversation piece

These people were born long before Friends premiered. The concept of friends didn't exist during their formative years.

I give him 23 at most

He's looked old since Rogue Nation, he just at the point where it's impossible to hide anymore.

The problem is he's not embracing his age, like other old actors that still look good in their 65s+ Pierce Brosnan doesn't pretend to be 45 still.

curlbros our response?

What's going on with his abdomen there?

Why does his body look bad? Plenty of guys his age look better.

it looks the picture was taken while he was moving and he was twisting his torso, I don't think there's anything wrong with his body there

No its a thing everyone noticed in multiple pictures like 10+ years ago

what the frick is up with his stomach? it looks like the muscles are all stretched across and out f place, is he a shapeshifter?

Greta bruised this fruity little cultist and his 3rd world chud fanboys.

u just caught him between body replacements

He looks like James May

Too much sugar.

What happened to this guy? These photos are like a year apart.

Looks like Tom Myers

Took one too many bong hit transplants

Beards are make-up for men and he gave up on the combover and hair dye copes.

>hair dye >beard >different lens what a stupid question

What a stupid person you are.

It's called the makeup department.

The makeup dept can remove 50lbs? Gee wilickers...

You can't even see his body in the right image.

He looks fine for 60. Should probably lose some weight but that's it.

Why does he look like the dude from Sliders combined with Kurt Russell now?

are they smoothing his face out in the MI movies

MI was shot during the beginning of Covid

That's not an answer.

They've been deaging Cruise with CGI since at least the Mummy.

he looks good for his age

The lesbian haircut accentuates the rubbery old man face. He needs the fashy cut. If you're old, don't let your hair grow out or you will just look like an older lesbian (see also: Paul McCartney)

Paull McCartney has always looked like my aunt

Or you can just defeat aging altogether

This, so much this. Just like wholesome chungus man did.

Keanu is just asian enough to age well. He doesn't take care of himself like Leto.

beardmaxxing helps hide the wrinkly lesbian face.

Leto has somehow beaten it.

No he hasn't

What happened to his eyes why are they so close together now

Jamie Foxx fricking his wife was the straw that broke the camel's back. Tom's still a national treasure though.

And he was inviting Jada Pinkett Smith over to his house so it all works out.

>a national treasure reddit Black person detected.

his adrenochrome plug went underground because of the Epstein disclosures. Next question

Time is a cruel mistress.

Why does he have a grandma's body? I can understand his face failing him, but there's no excuse for not having a nice body

Tom's a nice guy.

The problem is the dyed hair

Why is everyone looking so old lately?

perhaps they aren't the only ones looking old, anon.

I know. Thats why I said everyone

Just look at the zoomer chicks who took it 2 years ago, 22-23 yo girls look like 35+ bogged hags

>22-23 yo girls look like 35+ bogged hags source?

Go on any dating apps

im dating a 16 year old so i should be straight for the next 8 years

the source is going outside (or checking social media) you absolute autist

>it was real in my mind! every time lol

>moron can't differentiate between things that happen outside of his room and inside his mind congrats ur autism

Since Hollywood hasn't promoted any young actors that are actually memorable or good people just focus on the old ones, and boy, they're old. Soon, there will be no more Hollywood stars left.

Its just different now. These stars goin and out of fashion while our older celebs remain untouchable and immortal, even if they are bad actors. Its prrtty cool imo, how society treats boomer and millennials like they are the definitive standard. Zoomers and beyond are going to live in some hyper corporate delusional world, yes were not entirely there yet despite our current situation.

>you havent heard of lil shots’C? >he played a character on how dark white can be. After that he went on to be a carpenter >you never heard pf shaliquantiz? She played the love interest in Bubble gum flavored racism. She works as an Only Fans model now >you havent heard of Tomicka Rodrigues?? She played the hispanic mom that was separated from her family at the boarder on the show Your roots are ours.

I mean its already like this tbh

I'm amazed how much change the daily use of moisterizers make. It always assumed it was all marketing but shit actually works somewhat.

I'm 37 and have used moisturizing lotion and sunblock every single day of life and people think in 20 years old. Nothing ages you faster than stress and sun damage, so if you manage the two you will age great (unless you just have unlucky shitty genetics).

I live in the American Gardens building on West 81st street. My name is Patrick Bateman. I'm 27 years old. I believe in taking care of myself, and a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine. In the morning, if my face is a little puffy, I'll put on an ice pack while doing my stomach crunches. I can do a thousand now. After I remove the ice pack, I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower, I use a water activated gel cleanser. Then a honey almond body scrub. And on the face, an exfoliating gel scrub. Then apply an herb mint facial mask, which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an aftershave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion. There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me. Only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our life styles are probably comparable, I simply am not there.

thetan levels are getting too high or too low

How did he go from that to this in just the past millisecond?

when a cartoon character gets hit with a frying pan

He's doing his best.

>covid and ukranian invasion causes major supply chain issues >celebrities start noticably aging

he had one too many plastic surgeries and it has caught up with him.

Meanwhile chronic smoker and lifelong drinker Chad Pitt looks like this at the same age

Not too bad.

His physically active and relatively stressful lifestyle accelerates his aging the older he gets. He also refuses to grow a beard to hide the sagginess and wrinkles that inevitably develop on the lower half of the face, which also makes the botox rebounds more apparent. The other thing is that he's short so he's more likely to bloat.

being physically active keeps you young

Being active keeps you looking young, dummy.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I was a little worried seeing this thread as I do worry about aging but seeing this support has alleviated some of my doubts. I hope to keep making movies for a very long time!

Cheers Tom Cruise

We love you Tom.

I read that his last few movies have used de-aging in it, like he specifically asked for it in his contract. So when we see him on the red carpet he looks so much older

being a scientologist, he was not given the saline placebo like the true elites were tick tock cruise tick tock

Thank god based Tom will be immortalized with CGI and digital de-aging. Cuise kino is on the menu forever boys

How do I make sure I look as young as possible for as long as possible? I already have wrinkles around my eyes. Do I take collagen supplements? Use tretinoin?

every actor who took the vaxx aged like 10 years instantly look how old this guy is now compared to the first film and they were filmed only 2 years apart

all you dumbasses forget that top gun 2 was filmed pre-pandemic so you all think 2022 tom cruise looked like 2019 tom cruise

/tv - Beauty routine and aging advice /

this place has always been about celebrity worship

>Don't smoke >Don't drink >Wear sunscreen daily >Moisturize daily >Sleep 8h a night >Apply a retinoid >1-2 IU of HGH per day >Supplement daily with bioavailable collagen Fountain of youth

>>Don't smoke >>Don't drink what do you do

I can see how a man takes pride in his health. But taking pride in postponing the aging process is for actors and incels. Actors have an excuse: their looks are their bread and butter.

Moisturizing for a guy can only mean one of three things:

You failed to bag a women during your window. You are insecure You want to provide your family with a goodlooking (largely unused) corpse to look at, during your funeral.

>I'm 40 but people tell me I look 38 Congratulations.

Better >don't wear sunscreen >get 30 min of high intensity sunlight per day, stay shaded or indoors the rest Even better >make sunscreen from potassium iodide, vitamin C, EGCG, NAC and cacao (although if you get EGCG powder I have a sneaking suspicion it will degrade into the ingredients you'd want from the cacao

Ultimate looksmaxing: >no porn >no caffeine >no inhaling with mouth >no sugar, no white flour >social interaction >having a pet dog/ 2 parrots >strategy and action-rpg vidya >reading new things, philosphy >writing a page for the daily journal >drumming, playing guitar, singing karaoke >whistling, improvising, creating new music >scetching common items in different positions >using pictures/ recalling images from memory >drawing emotional faces, shading 3d >empathy, teaching skills >truth, no negativity >water with ice >eggs, oats, nuts >sauerkraut/ pickles >hard cheese/ fish/ liver >onions, olive oil, parsley >potatoes/ brown rice/ beans >carrot/ tough apple after meal >fruits >gelatin jello with grug berry >long warm shower before bed >nettle shampoo, aloes honey body cream >deep pore cleanser/ exfoliating face scrub >herb mint facial mask, coconut conditioner >electric toothbrush, clean tongue and floss >not oily nivea cream on hands and feet >ceraVe's night cream with retinol on face >melatonine, eye cover mask for bedtime >growing mother-in-law's tongue next to bed >30 min meditation with wim hof breathing >no sleeping on belly, chest or face >7.5 hour sleep >spreading toes, sun and moon salute >hot to cold shower >single blade shave >sunscreen moisturizer

You guys are such insecure gays.

>needs 2 movies to finish his mission It's over.

OPERATION OVERROAST HAS BEEN A SUCCESS CRUISEPOSTING COMFIRMED FOR ULTIMATE WALLED bawd BUTTHURT

The trick to looking great in old age is to always look/act older than you are. stanley tucci is an old little man but young women think hes sexual dynamite.

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Tom Cruise Wants to Keep Making ‘Mission: Impossible’ Movies Until He’s 80, Just Like Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones: ‘I Hope to Still Be Going’

By Zack Sharf

Digital News Director

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Harrison Ford just wrapped up his tenure as Indiana Jones in the franchise’s fifth installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which opened in theaters just a few weeks before the actor’s 81st birthday. Tom Cruise hopes to have the same longevity when it comes to playing Ethan Hunt in Paramount’s long-running “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald at the Australian premiere of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Cruise said he wants to keep making “Mission: Impossible” movies until he is Ford’s age. Cruise just turned 61 years old on July 3, 2023.

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Although Ford has ended his run as Indiana Jones at 80, he has no plans to give up acting at this time. “I don’t do well when I don’t have work,” he said in June when announcing he will not retire from acting. “I love to work. I love to feel useful. It’s my jones. I want to be helpful… and it’s the people you get to work with. The intensity and the intimacy of collaboration.”

Cruise also weighed in on the viral photos of him holding up movie tickets to summer tentpoles “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” The actor admitted that hasn’t actually seen either tentpole just yet, but he is planning to do so on opening weekend.

“I grew up seeing movies on the big screen,” Cruise said. “That’s how I make them, and I like that experience; it’s immersive, and to have that as a community and an industry, it’s important. I still go the movies.”

“I want to see both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer,” he added. “I’ll see them opening weekend. Friday I’ll see ‘Oppenheimer’ first and then ‘Barbie’ on Saturday.”

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opens July 12 from Paramount.

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Home > 20 Pictures of Young Tom Cruise Throughout the Years

20 Pictures of Young Tom Cruise Throughout the Years

• UPDATED: June 15, 2023

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Tom Cruise is an established actor who is a household name. The man is inarguably one of the most good-looking actors in the industry. Many are mesmerized by how he never ages. Curious minds probably typed in search engines: “Tom Cruise young” because who would not want to know? 

He was born in Syracuse, New York, on July 3, 1962. Tom has numerous nominations from prestigious award-giving bodies like the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is also a successful film producer. The iconic “Mission Impossible” movies are part of his portfolio.

Tom is also an advocate of Scientology despite having a Catholic upbringing. As of date, he is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. Tom Cruise’s films put together will amount to billions of dollars. Making him one of the highest-grossing actors at the box office.

Tom Cruise Breaking into the Acting World:

Tom was only eighteen years old when he went to New York to pursue acting. In 1983, he got a part in the coming-of-age drama “The Outsiders.” It was followed by his breakout role in “Risky Business” during that same year. In 1986, he played the lead role of a fighter pilot in “Top Gun.” His acting prowess and good looks made him a mainstay in Hollywood.

Tom’s first Best Actor Academy Award nomination is for the film “Born on the fourth of July.” He convincing played a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran. The same film earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Another memorable film of Tom is “Interview with the Vampire” where he co-starred with other Hollywood A-listers like Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, and Christian Slater. Honestly, with Tom’s gorgeous features, it is no wonder people would think he is a vampire who never ages.

During the middle of the 1990s, Tom brought to life one of the best fictional superspies, Ethan Hunt. All of the “Mission: Impossible” films are highly anticipated and certified box hits. He also managed to win the hearts of women once again in his the movie “Jerry Maguire.” His line “You complete me” suddenly became an alternative way to say “I love you.” It moved the hearts of all hopeless romantics. Many would agree that he had us at “Hello.” 

Tom also challenged genres like science fiction in Minority Report, historical action drama in Last Samurai, political war thriller Valkyrie, musical comedy in Rock of Ages, and horror in The Mummy. The mentioned films are also fan favorites.

Tom Cruise as a Fashion Icon:

Tom has always adopted a modest clothing style. The talented actor is often seen wearing a simple black t-shirt, black pants, and a leather jacket during day-offs. He is fond of monochromatic outfits. However, in terms of hairstyles, he has been very experimental. He has switched from pulled back, spiked, bed head, short, shaggy, buzz cut, and tapered. He is also not afraid to change his hair color and have highlights. He has become everyman’s standard of a good hairstyle.

Check out the photos below and be amazed at how Tom Cruise managed to charm audiences of all ages.

1. A Cute Gradeschooler (1970)

2. Charming Highschooler in Glen Ridge (1980)

3. Together with Sean Penn (1981)

4. The Outsiders (1983)

5. Risky Business with Rebecca de Mornay (1983)

6. Top Gun Fighter Pilot (1986)

7. Side Profile During the Academy Awards (1989)

8. Long Hair with Beard and Moustache (1994)

9. Looking Sexy in Brown (1999)

10. Ageless and Handsome in a Tux (2001)

11. Wearing Adult Braces (2002)

12. Smiling with Katie (2005)

13. Intense Acting in Lions For Lambs (2007)

14. Promoting Rock of Ages (2012)

15. Shooting Oblivion in New York (2012)

16. Promoting Rogue Nation in Beijing (2015)

17. Attending BAFTA (2015)

18. Riding A BMW Motorcycle MI V (2017)

19. The Mummy Premiere in Spain (2017)

20. Enjoying Wimbledon Championships(2021)

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10 Marvel Characters Tom Cruise Would Be Perfect For After Losing Iron Man Role 18 Years Ago

• Tom Cruise could excel as Corsair in the MCU, a character tied to mutants and the cosmic side of Marvel.
• Cruise is the perfect for Superior Iron Man, an evil version of Tony Stark.
• Cruise could play a significant role as a hero or villain in the Multiverse Saga, showcasing his versatility.

Tom Cruise might not have played Iron Man; however, there are a few roles that could allow the actor to show the full scope of his talents in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Cruise has a history with Marvel despite never having played one of its characters. The actor was considered to play Tony Stark before 2008's Iron Man , with Cruise not playing Iron Man because of a pay issue , as 20th Century Fox — the studio who held Iron Man's film rights in 1998 — was not willing to pay his hefty salary for " an untested superhero property ."

In 2006, Robert Downey Jr. was officially cast as Iron Man, ending Tom Cruise's chances of playing the hero in his solo movie.

Cruise was still among the actors who could have played the role in Marvel Studios' Iron Man , though the role ultimately went to Robert Downey Jr. , who was part of most of the best entries in the MCU as Tony Stark. Cruise was also heavily rumored to play an Iron Man variant thanks to the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , which did not end up happening. While the actor has yet to join the MCU, there are many different roles in Marvel's slate of projects that are perfectly suited for Cruise.

10 Best Tom Cruise Movies, Ranked

The character is the father of a major x-men member.

While Cruise is often mentioned for major MCU roles, there could be a lot of fun to be had through the actor playing a smaller character who could let him truly cut loose. Among some possible future additions to the franchise is Corsair. The character is the father to none other than one of the X-Men's most famous members — and the team's field leader — Cyclops .

Corsair would be a fantastic addition to the MCU because he could connect with both the introduction of mutants to the franchise and help expand the MCU's cosmic corner. The character is the leader of the Starjammers , a team of space pirates. Like Cruise's Top Gun character, Maverick, Corsair is an ace pilot. The character is also adept at hand-to-hand fights, something Cruise has excelled in within a wide array of his action movie roles.

Silver Surfer

Tom cruise could make the character compelling.

Silver Surfer is rumored to show up in the MCU soon . While there have been few details revealed about the plot of Marvel's The Fantastic Four , one of the main rumors surrounding the movie is that it will not feature Doctor Doom as its main villain, but rather Galactus. If that is true, then the Silver Surfer's appearance is a strong possibility, as he is the most famous herald of Galactus.

Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer, is a character with an extremely tragic backstory . The character's story is one of loss, with both his mother and father having killed themselves for different reasons. In exchange for Galactus sparing his home world, Norrin Radd agreed to become his herald and was transformed into the Silver Surfer. Cruise has the dramatic chops to bring such a heartbreaking story to life on the big screen.

The Actor Might Have To Compete With Another Major Star

Different from most of the characters on the list, a Nova project is in development for the MCU . Nova will get to star in his own series if the project moves forward, though the slowdown of the MCU might mean that a definitive answer to that is still some time away. While confirming that Nova is in development, Marvel Studios' Head of Television, Streaming, and Animation, Brad Winderbaum teased which version of the hero will appear, saying, " I love Rich Rider, too ."

Ryan Gosling is heavily rumored to be the MCU's pick to play Nova.

Cruise would be a great pick for an older Richard Rider in the MCU . As there is a younger version of Nova in the comics — Sam Alexander — there is a chance that the MCU will move forward with both iterations of the hero at the same time. Cruise could then play the charming, confident leader that is Richard Rider, while a younger actor plays Sam.

We Already All Know The Perfect Casting For The MCU's Long-Awaited Nova

The beyonder, kang the conqueror could be replaced in the mcu.

With Jonathan Majors fired from the MCU as Kang the Conqueror , the Multiverse Saga does not currently have a main villain . Some options of characters who could replace Kang have been thrown around. Doctor Doom was even rumored to have been on Marvel's radar to replace Kang after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperformed. However, another Marvel Comics villain could be perfect both as a replacement for Kang and as the ideal role for Cruise to join the MCU.

As one of the most popular movie stars ever, Cruise is likely to have a major role in the franchise if he ever joins the MCU . The Beyonder could be that part, as Cruise could become integral to the Multiverse Saga while not having to sign on for several projects. The character could be the main villain of Avengers: Secret Wars , with his unpredictable nature being something Cruise has shown in previous roles that he is able to bring to life perfectly.

Multiple Man

The actor would be perfect to play multiple versions of the same character.

Jamie Madrox, aka Multiple Man, would be one of the most exciting roles Cruise could play in the MCU. While the character is not one of the most popular mutants from Marvel Comics, Multiple Man has the potential to be a fan-favorite character in live-action. As his name states, Multiple Man can create several duplicates of himself .

While the duplicates look exactly like him, each version of Multiple Man is their own person in a way, having their individual thoughts, feelings, and more . Every new duplicate of Madrox also normally follows one aspect of the original character's personality, heightening different parts of Madrox. Cruise could have a great time in the role, which would allow him to play multiple MCU characters within just one mutant. This way, he could serve as a hero or a villain, depending on which version of Multiple Man is in play.

James Franco was once attached to star in a Multiple Man movie , though the project would be canceled.

The Actor Can Make The Villain A Sympathetic Foe

While Cruise is normally known to play heroic roles , such as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible franchise or Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the Top Gun movies, the actor has great potential for villain roles. Through projects like Interview with the Vampire and Collateral , Cruise showed that he has an intensity within him to play magnetic evil characters on the big screen.

That particular set of skills allied to Cruise's long career as a bona fide hero makes him a compelling choice to give life to Magneto in the MCU. Magneto comes from a tragic backstory that serves to inform how he will never let the mutants suffer from what he went through during the Holocaust. Cruise could excel at the tenuous line the character threads between a villain and an anti-hero at times, making Magneto one of the MCU's most complex characters.

Doctor Doom

Tom cruise is extremely skilled in a must-have aspect for the character.

Doctor Doom is one of the MCU's most anticipated characters . The villain could potentially even take Kang the Conqueror's place and become the main threat of the Multiverse Saga now that Jonathan Majors has been fired by Marvel. Given Doom's prominent role in different versions of the story that will be adapted in Avengers: Secret Wars , the character's MCU debut should be watched closely, as he could become a foe to all heroes sooner rather than later.

With Marvel's The Fantastic Four set to arrive in 2025, Doctor Doom should join the MCU next year. As the team's most famous villain and the one who has appeared in all movies for the Fantastic Four , it is hard to imagine Victor von Doom not having at least a cameo. Cruise's experience with intelligent, dark characters and ability to convey emotion with his body language is perfect for the masked villain.

Norman Osborn

The actor could play both sides of the character.

Norman Osborn is one of the most popular villains in Marvel Comics . Thanks to Willem Dafoe's genius performances as Norman and his Green Goblin side, the character has also become one of the best live-action villains Marvel has ever had, both in the MCU and not. While Dafoe appeared as his version of Osborn in a major way in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the character hailed from the universe of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man.

The MCU has yet to cast actors for its versions of Harry and Norman Osborn. Cruise could excel in the role, with the actor being able to play both the suave businessman and his deranged alter ego with ease. If Marvel Studios ever uses Norman Osborn again, he could be turned into his Iron Patriot hero persona from the comics to differentiate the MCU's Osborn from Dafoe , and Cruise would also be a great fit for a heroic Norman Osborn, as his career shows.

Mister Sinister

The character is on marvel studios' radar.

Magneto, Apocalypse, and other recognizable X-Men villains have already appeared in the team's live-action movies. With the MCU set to debut its version of the beloved mutants from Marvel Comics in the future, it would make sense for the shared universe to focus on villains who have not yet had their time to shine in live-action. Based on that, Mister Terrific could have his time to shine in the MCU .

Cruise would excel as the character who is unabashedly evil and delights in his nefarious actions . The actor could really cut loose as Mister Sinister in a way that his heroic roles have not really let him. Marvel Studios has Mister Sinister on its radar, as the villain recently showed up in a major way in the first project for the X-Men produced by Marvel Studios — but not part of the MCU — the animated X-Men '97 .

Marvel Just Proved How Incredible An X-Men Villain Can Be In The MCU 38 Years After His Debut

Superior iron man, tom cruise would still be great as tony stark.

Finally, the best character Cruise could play in the MCU is a variant of RDJ's Tony Stark , with Cruise being perfect for Superior Iron Man. The character would allow Cruise to come full circle after the actor almost played the MCU hero long ago. Superior Iron Man is also the specific variant of the character that Cruise was rumored to play in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but never did. Cruise playing the Tony Stark variant would finally make good on the potential he has for Superior Iron Man.

In the comics, that version of Tony Stark is not a hero like the main version of the character. Superior Iron Man is a villain who was created during the "Axis" event in the comics, which switched the character's morality from good to evil, allowing him to pretend to be a hero before showing himself as a major villain. Tom Cruise 's Superior Iron Man would retain the best parts of RDJ's and add that intensity the actor is known for to become an MCU villain for the ages.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

Key Release Dates

Deadpool & wolverine, marvel's thunderbolts, marvel's fantastic four, blade (2025), avengers: the kang dynasty, avengers: secret wars.

Tom Cruise Reportedly Lost A Fortune From His First Marriage

Before Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise was married to "Austin Powers" actor, Mimi Rogers. However, their union was short-lived — and Cruise is said to have lost a whopping $4 million in the divorce settlement. However, that settlement wasn't without a catch. 

The former couple started dating in the mid-1980s. Marriage was soon to follow, with Cruise and Rogers secretly wedding  in 1987. However, in 1990, they split. As for the reason  why Cruise and Rogers divorced , there are a few theories. In one interview with Talk magazine, Cruise was quoted as saying that they'd merely grown apart. "It was just two people who weren't meant to work and it wasn't what I wanted for my life," he mused (via "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography" ). However, there's another possibility, too. Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2012, a former top-ranking Scientologist claimed that the organization's leader, David Miscavige had something to do with their divorce (and Cruise's subsequent split from Kidman). Without going into much detail, Marty Rathbun shared, "Both women got cold on Miscavige. He was integral to the breakup of the marriages."

Whatever the cause, the  Evening Standard reported that Rogers walked away from the marriage $4 million richer. A fortune for most, to be sure. That said, we're not sure Cruise lost much sleep over it in the long run. As for the short term, well, let's just say the "Mission: Impossible" actor seems to have had an insurance policy in place.

Mimi Rogers' settlement came with Ts and Cs

News of how much Tom Cruise paid Mimi Rogers in their divorce settlement only broke because the latter had made a joke about it. It wasn't just any joke, though — this particular quip could have seen her lose the $4 million, stat. 

To refresh, in March 1993, Rogers appeared in Playboy . In her interview with the magazine, she made a few allusions to the divorce, none of which mentioned David Miscavige. For starters, she hinted that she'd got a pretty good payout, even if seeing it being dissected in the press was tough. "Finances aside, divorce just sucks," she said. Rogers also joked that the marriage had ended over Cruise wanting to become a monk and practice celibacy. "He thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument. Therefore, it became obvious that we had to split," she said. Almost immediately after the interview was published, she backtracked, telling "The Tonight Show" that she had been joking (via the  Evening Standard ). The real kicker? Sources told the Evening Standard that she had been told that speaking about the relationship would compromise the $4 million settlement, and that was why she was so determined to set the record straight. 

Unsurprisingly, Cruise has never addressed the issue, so it's not clear if Rogers did end up losing the settlement. However, Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Cruise's first ex-wife is worth $10 million today, so we'd say she's doing alright either way. 

The settlement didn't put a dent in Tom's net worth

Here's hoping Mimi Rogers' divorce settlement wasn't compromised by her comments, because while $4 million is a lot of money (and, in today's terms, it would translate to a whopping $9.1 million), it's a drop in the ocean for the "Top Gun" actor. Let's just say, Tom Cruise is a very rich man , with Celebrity Net Worth estimating his net worth at a staggering $600 million. Pause for reaction. 

Of course, that net worth didn't just happen overnight, and at the time of his divorce from Rogers, Cruise was earning substantially less for his projects. Prior to the divorce, the highest pay he had received for a film was $3 million, which he'd earned for 1988's "Rain Man" and "Cocktail." The year of his and Rogers' split, he more than doubled that, raking in a staggering $9 million for "Days of Thunder." And, of course, that was just the beginning. He would go on to amass major earnings from the "Mission: Impossible" series, and Celebrity Net Worth has estimated that he could make as much as $200 million from "Top Gun: Maverick." 

In light of all that, Cruise's first divorce settlement kind of looks like spare change. Even so, based on the 1993 Evening Standard report, he was willing to fight for it at the time. 

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Tom Cruise Seen Sprinting Down Street in London as He Shoots Next Mission: Impossible Movie

The eighth 'Mission: Impossible' film, which does not yet have a title, is expected in theaters May 23, 2025

Mega / Dean - Click News And Media / SplashNews.com

Tom Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down in the next Mission: Impossible movie.

On Sunday, Cruise, 61, was seen sprinting down a street in London while filming a scene for the upcoming eighth film in his signature action franchise. The actor could be seen wearing a black suit with a white shirt opened at the top, with fake blood drenched over his chest while filming the sequence.

Cruise most recently appeared as his Mission: Impossible character Ethan Hunt in last year's Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning , which made $172 million at the  domestic box office . Dead Reckoning also earned the franchise its first-ever Academy Award nominations when it received nods for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound at the recent 96th Oscars ceremony.

A title for the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie has not yet been announced. The next film was originally set for release on June 28, but production delays related to 2023's SAG-AFTRA strike forced the film to restart production in the fall and delay its release until May 23, 2025, as Deadline reported back in October.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Dead Reckoning left Cruise's character Ethan Hunt and series regulars Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) at odds with villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) and forging new alliances with characters like Grace (Hayley Atwell) over a battle for control over a sentient artificial intelligence.

James Gourley/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

The eighth Mission: Impossible film is just one movie among a number of projects Cruise has in development. In February, PEOPLE confirmed Cruise will star in the next movie from The Revenant filmmaker  Alejandro G. Iñárritu , while The Hollywood Reporter  reported in January that Paramount is developing Top Gun 3 as a sequel to Cruise's major 2022 success Top Gun: Maverick .

Cruise, known for his penchant for performing his own stunts, was recently seen climbing the iconic Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills on March 16 accompanied by a film crew. A representative for Cruise did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Monday. While it's unclear what Cruise was filming on Saturday, the stunt did not appear related to the next Mission: Impossible film.

Mission: Impossible 8 is expected in theaters May 23, 2025.

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Brooke Shields says she's glad Tom Cruise publicly criticized her antidepressant use — he accidentally brought awareness to under-discussed mental health struggles

• In 2005, Tom Cruise criticized Brooke Shields' use of antidepressants for postpartum depression.
• At the 2024 PHM HealthFront, Brooke Shields said his comments "backfired."
• She said the controversy brought more mainstream awareness around postpartum and mental health.

In one of the most controversial moments of Tom Cruise's career , the actor criticized Brooke Shields for talking about her use of antidepressants to treat postpartum depression.

Almost 20 years later, Shields says Cruise accidentally raised awareness around the issue and drove people to fight for better treatment.

In 2005, Shields had just published her memoir "Down Came the Rain," in which she described taking Paxil, an SSRI, after the birth of her first daughter, Rowan . "I was deadened, and it terrified me because I wanted to have a baby so badly," Shields, 58, said on Wednesday at the 2024 PHM HealthFront, a two-day event for healthcare marketers and health media. "I went through IVF seven times, and so the journey was such a fraught one."

Cruise initially called Brooke Shields "irresponsible" for using antidepressants in a 2005 "Access Hollywood" interview . When he was asked to elaborate on these comments in a 2005 interview on "The Today Show," Cruise told Matt Lauer that "psychiatry is a pseudo-science" and that "drugs aren't the answer."

Promoting Scientology, Cruise opposed taking any "mind-altering antipsychotic drugs," as it goes against the religion .

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He slammed Shields for spreading "misinformation" and said "she doesn't understand the history of psychiatry" when it came to using medication.

Shields said Cruise's comments angered a lot of women

Looking back on the incident, Shields said that Cruise's comments ended up helping the cause.

"You gave women in particular — they were so angry — you gave them a reason to fight for something they didn't even know they wanted to fight for," Shields said at PHM, noting that women weren't just sticking up for her but also for themselves.

"So it actually, ironically, helped the platform because everybody was talking about it," Shields said. "It sort of backfired. Way to put it into pop culture."

Cruise later apologized to Shields

A year after his comments, Shields said, Cruise delivered a "heartfelt" apology to Shields at her house and even mailed her an annual Christmas cake for many years.

Nearly 20 years later, the conversations around postpartum and depression treatments have changed dramatically. Shields is far from the only celebrity to be open about her PPD , though she played a crucial role in advocating for more awareness around the condition.

In 2007, she testified in Congress for a bill that would require postpartum pre-screening for new mothers.

"I'm not an expert," Shields said at PHM. "I'm just a woman who's gone through that and wanted to help other women get the help that they deserve."

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A cruise turned into a nightmare for people aboard Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas when a young man jumped overboard shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday.

The 18-story ship was sailing between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the as-yet-unidentified man jumped off one of the decks.

According to onlookers, his father and brother watched helplessly as he leaped over the side.

Some passengers said it appeared to be an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision. 

“I had hung out with him and his brother in the hot tub until 3:30,” passenger Bryan Sims tells The Post. ” It was standing room only. He sat right beside me the whole time.”

“He was pretty drunk,” Sims continues.

“As we were walking from the hot tub back to the elevators, his dad and brother were walking towards us. His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess.” “When we got to them, he said to his dad, ‘I’ll fix this right now.’ And he jumped out the window in front of us all.” 

“There was a lot of yelling, and the crew was alerted immediately,” another passenger,  Deborah Morrison, told The Post.

“His family was horrified. Just beside themselves. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.”

“It was insane,” says Sims. “It was just surreal.” 

In a statement to The Post, Royal Caribbean said its crew immediately sprang into action following the incident.

“The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard, who has taken over the search,” the statement reads.

“Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”

News of the apparent suicide attempt quickly spread among the guests — and many of them tried to help in any way they could.

“The early morning was definitely somber as so many people came out of their cabins to stare at the sea, hoping to be able to aid in finding the person,” said Amy Phelps Fouse, a passenger on the ship.

“Royal Caribbean has been excellent at communicating updates throughout the day,” Fouse continued. “They have asked that people act with compassion in light of the tragic situation.”

Overboard incidents on cruise ships are rare.

According to the Washington Post , about 386 people were reported to have gone overboard on the major cruise lines between 2000 to 2020.

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The incidents, whether accidental or intentional, are often deadly.

In the past few years, most cruise lines have enacted onboard safety measures and surveillance systems to help reduce the risk of overboard deaths.

The Coast Guard confirmed to The Post it is still conducting a search and rescue operation in the waters off Cuba. The man has not yet been found.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to  SuicidePreventionLifeline.org .

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