The secret of Tom Cruise's longevity in Hollywood

Tom Cruise in Stockholm for the 'Jack Reacher' movie premiere in December 2012. (Photo: Frankie Fouganthin via Wikimedia Commons 4.0)

Tom Cruise has done it. In just a week, his latest bravura outing Top Gun: Maverick earned a slamming US$320 million worldwide (more recent data put the film's earnings close to $400 million now). This makes it, a sequel to the 1986 blockbuster that first elevated the actor to stardom, the biggest earner of Cruise’s career.

This is no small feat, considering Cruise’s long, hyper-successful run in Hollywood – with no end in sight. More so as under the shadow of the pandemic, both audiences and creators had been side-stepping the big screen experience to meet again on the streaming platform. But for Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick, they came out.

This isn’t new for Tom Cruise, who remains one of the few actors in Hollywood who can guarantee big bucks for the studios that collaborate with him. With the exception of Adam Shankman’s 2012 musical comedy Rock of Ages, every single one of Tom Cruise’s 40 films since his breakout performance in Risky Business has turned a profit. 

It’s not all action flicks and franchises either, though the Mission Impossible franchise has been particularly rewarding. Tom Cruise has acted in every genre of film: Romance (Cocktail), historical drama (Valkyrie, The Last Samurai), science fiction (Oblivion, War of the Worlds), political drama (Lions for Lambs), even a teen-sex comedy (Losin’ It). He has worked with some of Hollywood’s most prestigious filmmakers, from Steven Spielberg to Stanley Kubrick. Not all of these could be considered well-written, well-acted movies. Fewer still have aged well, some would say including the original Tony Scott-helmed Top Gun. But every single one of them paid off. 

A widely-circulated AFP report from Cannes mentions that together, these 39 movies before Maverick “have pulled in just shy of $8.5 billion worldwide”. Add to that Top Gun: Maverick’s $200 million from the US alone, in just one week – and the numbers call it. Tom Cruise is a star in the true, 20th-century sense of the word, the kind who can pull crowds on the back of simply being in a film. He may be the last one left. 

As IndieWire put it, Tom Cruise is "the last Hollywood movie star of his kind - short as ever but still larger-than-life in an age where most famous actors are only as big as their action figures." The wild appeal of Top Gun: Maverick around the world, which has further spiked anticipation around the next two installations of Mission Impossible, begs the question: What is the secret to Tom Cruise’s longevity? There’s the obvious answer. His good looks and instant on-screen charm mean he was born to rule the film world. Plus, who isn’t curious to watch a 59-year-old man pull his own stunts?

Somewhat less obvious is the immense hard work Tom Cruise puts into, well, running like a machine. When asked about his fitness regimen, he said, “Sea-kayaking, caving... fencing, treadmill, weights... rock-climbing, hiking... I jog... I do so many different activities.” Lately, he seems to be following David Beckham’s 1200 calorie diet, including a lot of grilled food and cutting back on carbs. It’s why, as an astute fan noted on Twitter, Cruise’s mid-life crisis is probably going to hit when he’s 80. 

Then there’s Tom Cruise: The Brand. An in-depth analysis on HighSnobiety observes that “he has run his career as a business, and understands that he is the product.” Cruise is believed to pay immense attention to detail when choosing which projects to be a part of, and going all in for the roles he chooses to play. He’s also known to exact great control and get his way. There’s the infamous incident of Cruise fighting tooth-and-nail to keep his part as Ethan Hunt – a character built from the ground-up for him, with his deep involvement – when the producers wanted to swap him with Jeremy Renner (now best known for playing Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe).   

Tom Cruise was among the first actors of his generation to launch his own production studio – a path that is now increasingly common for actors, whether it is Reese Witherspoon’s Type A Company (Big Little Lies) or Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment (Moonlight). United Artists’ first movie was Mission Impossible, and in its golden era, it made billions of dollars for its owners, Cruise and co-founder Paula Wagner, who used to be his talent agent. 

It takes a village to keep a star from falling off his pedestal, and when that star is Tom Cruise, make that an entire industry. The scientology debacle, a rocky personal life, that time he jumped on Oprah’s couch: He has survived it all. And Cruise and his PR machinery have learnt a lot along the way too, as HighSnobiety details. Those paying attention will note the artful timeliness of spreads, articles, photos, leaks about Tom Cruise’s stunts, legacy, fan service, his approachability and his utter niceness. The fact that no #MeToo or such unsavoury cases have come to light probably add to his wholesome image. 

But all of this would seem par for the course for any leading man, anywhere in the world, then or now. Shah Rukh Khan follows much the same code and model, as does Allu Arjun. In Hollywood, what might really set Tom Cruise apart at this moment of flux – with the franchises and streaming platforms taking over, changing storytelling from the inside out – is his purported dedication to cinema in all its thrilling, Dolby-enhanced, big-screen glory. 

For Top Gun: Maverick, along with doing his own stunts, Tom Cruise insisted all the actors playing pilots also undergo an intensive flight training programme. The jets and know-how came straight from the US Navy. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One looks to be more of the same; even as Tom Cruise begins preparing for an actual space flight movie, courtesy Elon Musk. Authenticity may as well be his middle name.

This right here is a rare combination of imagination, zeal and audacity – growing rarer still in a time of CGI superheroes – all built to save cinema as we knew it. And there’s some poetic irony to Tom Cruise’s real-life heroism – a classic underdog story rolled up with some reel-life saviour complex. It’s spectacular, and you can’t look away.