Tom Cruise is one of the best-known action stars to come out of the 1980s, with hit franchises such as Mission Impossible and Top Gun.
No matter how many decades of acting Cruise has gone through, he barely seems to age and is still known for his handsome looks.
Not only is this Hollywood star handsome and athletic, but he is also an extremely profitable actor and has sold billions of dollars worth of movie tickets.
How Tall Is Tom Cruise?
Tom Cruise is 5’7” and is known for using a variety of tricks to alter his height when performing with taller actresses.
Not only does Cruise use these height-altering tricks on set, but he has been known to have broken them out in public as well.
This action star’s height was called into question when the actor stood nearly eye-to-eye with Kate Middleton, who is 5’9”.
At the time, the Duchess of Cambridge was also wearing three-inch Prada stiletto heels, raising her total height to an even 6’0”.
Tom Cruise was wearing patent leather shoes with a stacked heel that added anywhere from 1.5 inches to two inches to his height.
Inside his fancy dress shoes, Cruise was also wearing elevating insoles to add anywhere from 1.5 inches to three inches.
When posing for scenes or photos, Cruise uses poses that help make his frame look longer.
He also wears clothing designed to help extend the look of his legs and torso.
Despite his mastery of the art of adding inches to his height, Cruise had a difficult time hiding his height difference from his ex-wife Nicole Kidman.
The actress is 5’10” and has always preferred wearing a small heel.
When the pair would take photos together, Kidman would have to bend her head on top of Cruise’s to ensure their heads were in the same part of the frame.
One of the best-known photos of this pose is from October 22nd of 1992 when they visited the opening of the Herb Ritts Exhibition.
In the photo, Kidman is wearing a small kitten heel while Cruise is wearing a thick Cuban heel.
Even while wearing taller heels than his ex-wife, Tom Cruise’s real height would frequently shine through his illusions.
How Old Is Tom Cruise?
Tom Cruise turned 60 years old in the same year that Top Gun: Maverick hit theaters, having released the original Top Gun 36 years prior when he was only 24 years old.
Longtime fans of the actor appreciated how Cruise was still his wild, fun-loving self even after decades of doing wild action sequences.
With co-stars who were decades younger than him, Tom Cruise could still look like the hero with something to prove.
Although many of his co-stars were in their 20s and 30s, 60-year-old Cruise had no problem taking his shirt off and playing some dogfight football alongside the rest of the gang.
It was actually his younger cast mates who were much more self-conscious about their performance.
Glen Powell felt that dogfight football was confusing and chaotic, despite having played football in his younger years.
Dogfight football has two footballs in play, which means that players have to think both defensively and offensively.
It also means that touchdowns are scored much more often.
When people have asked him how he prepared for his scenes in Top Gun: Maverick, he would simply shrug and tell them, “I just did it.”
While Cruise is old enough to accept senior discounts, he is looking as good as ever.
Despite being 60 years old, Tom Cruise has no plans to reduce how many films he’s taking on or any of the scenes in his movies.
With Top Gun: Maverick, Cruise has proven that he is still able to play the same characters with the same level of physical skill and agility as ever.
This 1980s actor is bringing back the Mission Impossible franchise with Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Pt. 1, releasing on July 14th of 2023, followed a year later by Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Pt. 2, on June 28th of 2024.
Is Tom Cruise Married?
Tom Cruise is not married, but he has been divorced three times.
His former wives include Nicole Kidman, Katie Holmes, and Mimi Rogers.
Mimi Rogers and Tom Cruise first began dating in 1987 and were married shortly afterward.
According to Cruise, Rogers was his “best friend,” and he cared about her “more than anything.”
However, Rogers hated the way that her entire identity became just “Tom Cruise’s wife.”
Mimi Rogers valued her individuality too much to just sit back and let Cruise consume her life.
Shortly after his divorce from Rogers, Cruise went on to date Nicole Kidman in 1990.
The pair had met on the set of Days of Thunder, Cruise has stated that his first reaction to meeting her was “pure lust.”
At the start of their relationship, things were mostly physical and served as excellent inspiration for their chemistry in Eyes Wide Shut.
After the couple married, they decided to adopt two children.
However, the pair were divorced in 2001 due to “difficulties inherent in divergent careers.”
Tom Cruise immediately went on to date Penelope Cruz from 2001 until 2004, but they broke up because of their conflicting work schedules.
In 2005, Cruise met Katie Holmes and was very public about their relationship.
The pair were later married and had their child, Suri, living happily in a cabin-styled mansion until they decided to get divorced in 2012.
Tom Cruise has also been known to date some of the biggest stars from the 1980s and 1990s.
Back in 1985, Cruise dated Cher after meeting her at Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding.
Although their relationship only lasted about a year, Cher publicly stated that Tom Cruise is one of her top five lovers during an interview on Watch What Happens Live.
Does Tom Cruise See His Children?
Yes, Tom Cruise reportedly interacts with most of his children, with the exception being his daughter Suri, who he had with his ex-wife Katie Holmes.
Cruise is allowed to see his daughter 10 days out of the month, but he has chosen to not see her anymore because she is no longer a part of the Church of Scientology.
The Church of Scientology has strict rules about members and ex-members interacting with each other, and Cruise has decided that his religion is more important than seeing one of his children.
Cruise is so serious about his religion that anyone who wants to interview him must attend a four-hour crash course in Scientology.
Since Suri has chosen to stay connected with Katie Holmes, Cruise felt the need to leave.
Despite not interacting with Suri anymore, Cruise keeps in contact with his other children because they are members of his church.
Tom Cruise is incredibly close with adopted children Isabella and Connor.
Cruise and Kidman first adopted Isabella in 1992 and then adopted Connor in 1995.
When Cruise and Kidman split from each other, Isabella and Connor decided to stay with their father after being raised in the Church of Scientology.
Nowadays, Connor likes to post about his fishing adventures in Florida.
Isabella works in London where she owns a company called Bella Kidman Cruise.
In 2016, Bella Cruise was asked if she still spoke to both of her parents.
She was taken aback by the question and replied, “Of course, we talk. They’re my parents,” adding that anyone saying otherwise was lying.
Connor Cruise has followed in his father’s footsteps to become an action star.
The father-son duo can often be found going to basketball games as they were seen doing in October of 2021.
Is Tom Cruise A Pilot In Real Life?
Yes, Tom Cruise has had his pilot license since 1994 and was eager to fly all the jets he could when filming Top Gun: Maverick.
To promote his hit sequel film, Cruise took host James Corden for a ride in his World War II-era P-51.
While filming Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise asked the United States Navy if he could fly one of their F-18s, and he was denied the opportunity.
Any jet at the Navy’s disposal costs at least $70 million and modern fighter jets are vastly more complicated.
It takes years of training to fly jets like the F-18 around and would cause a public relations nightmare if Tom Cruise were to get hurt or hurt anyone else.
Even if the Navy had allowed Cruise to fly the jet, there’s no saying that the film studio’s insurance company would ever allow a non-military pilot to fly a multimillion-dollar jet meant for war.
After the release of Top Gun: Maverick, real fighter pilots took to social media to sing their praises about the realism that Cruise brought to the pilot experience.
Between the way he struggles to the sheer amount of sweat in the film, Cruise’s CGI scenes were given a round of applause from pilots.
In order to get the necessary F-18 scenes, Paramount Studios had to rent out the stationary aircraft for $11,374 per hour.
Without clearance from the Pentagon’s media entertainment office, Top Gun: Maverick may have never been made.
When Tom Cruise is not soaring through the skies in one of his fighter jets, he has a Gulfstream IV G4 jet.
This private jet cost nearly $20 million, is capable of transporting up to 19 people at a time, has a movie screening room, and even has its own jacuzzi.
Is Tom Cruise The New Iron Man?
No, Tom Cruise is not going to be the new Iron Man.
This rumor comes from the fact that Cruise turned down the role because he didn’t have enough control over the project and felt that there was something slightly off about the character for him.
Despite how much the Iron Man franchise has become worth, Cruise doesn’t regret having turned down the role and feels that things worked out for the best when Marvel Studio instead took the project to Robert Downey Jr.
Like the majority of Iron Man fans, Cruise couldn’t imagine anyone in the role of Tony Stark other than Robert Downey Jr.
Although Cruise may not be the next Iron Man or Marvel Comics hero, he isn’t opposed to doing a superhero movie.
If a studio is looking to lock Cruise into a superhero role, the most important part for the actor is the story and whether that story catches his interest.
Cruise wants to do films that are unlike any that came before.
In a modern age where high-budget superhero movies are plentiful, it makes sense that Cruise isn’t jumping aboard the bandwagon and taking on a superhero of his own.
Unless the superhero movie industry becomes less saturated or someone makes a notable innovation to the genre, don’t expect Cruise to join Team Marvel or Team DC.
Although fans may never get their Tom Cruise Iron Man movie, this hasn’t stopped them from creating a concept trailer for a Cruise-centric Iron Man film.
After this fan-made concept trailer was released, rumors of Cruise becoming Iron Man in one form or another began to arise again.
With Dr. Strange’s ability to cross universes within Marvel Comics canon, having a Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. pair of Iron Men is a possibility.
Does Tom Cruise Run In All Of His Movies?
No, but Tom Cruise does run in to save the day in 44 of 52 of his movies.
Running to save the day has become such a common trope for the actor that he pokes fun at it in his social media bios, which read, “Actor, producer, running in movies since 1981.”
The first movie where Cruise’s running trope was used was Endless Love in 1981.
According to four-time NCAA champion coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, Cruise’s running skills have slowly gotten better for his decades of running onscreen.
After watching all of Tom Cruise’s running scenes, Gilbert found that Cruise became a better runner by Collateral.
Gilbert believes that Cruise must have received training or begun jogging frequently in his free time in order to reach that level of improvement.
With Tom Cruise being 5’7”, he is the perfect height to be a professional runner.
The majority of professional runners are between 5’3” and 6’3”.
After Mission: Impossible’s running scene, audiences began to question Cruise’s seemingly strange style of running.
In the scene, he is running with his hands flying through the air like a nutcracker playing Fruit Ninja.
Although this running technique may look strange, it is more like the way professional runners move.
Even though Tom Cruise’s running skills have improved, his form is still slightly lacking.
He tends to be incredibly tense and upright when he runs, but he needs to run with a bit more of a forward lean if he wants to maximize his speed.
However, Tom Cruise may have someone behind the camera asking him to run like this in order to have proper lighting and a good look at his face.
Even with his slightly tense on-screen running style, Cruise has an estimated running speed between 15.3 and 17 miles per hour.
Does Tom Cruise Do His Own Stunts?
Yes, Tom Cruise has always been incredibly adamant about doing his own stunts and continues to stand by this idea even at 60 years old.
Throughout his career, Cruise has acted even while doing some of the wildest stunts in Hollywood’s history.
When Cruise was in the 2014 science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow, he was acting while wearing a suit that weighed up to 130 pounds.
The suit did have a lighter model, but it was 85 pounds.
The scene in The Mummy from 2017 where Cruise’s character was stuck in a crashing cargo ship was performed inside a NASA plane that is used to train astronauts.
In order to be allowed to fly the helicopter from Fallout, Cruise trained for 16 hours per day until he could reach 2,000 hours.
Being a seasoned jet pilot and a new helicopter pilot, Cruise was able to pull off a corkscrew dive which is normally a challenge even for veteran players.
