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Tom Cruise’s 7 Closest Hollywood Friends (And 6 Celebs He Avoids)

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'Mission Impossible': The Cast Ranked From Richest To Poorest

The uncredited role that put tom cruise's career back on the map, how close are larry david and jerry seinfeld today, key takeaways.

• Tom Cruise has a polarizing reputation in Hollywood due to his support of Scientology and controversial opinions, but he also has a tight circle of friends.
• Cruise's closest friends include David Beckham and Jerry Seinfeld, with whom he has had strong bonds and long-lasting friendships.
• On the other hand, Cruise has feuded with individuals like Brad Pitt, and he has a contentious relationship with Leah Remini due to her criticism of Scientology and him personally.

There are many sides to Tom Cruise . He's one of the highest-grossing actors of all time and has starred in a string of classic movies, such as Top Gun, A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire. He is also known for his role as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise.

However, Cruise is one of the most polarizing celebs in Hollywood. He has been vocal about his support of Scientology, and he sometimes shares controversial opinions. Cruise has a tight circle of friends, but he is always looking to expose more people to his world. At the same time, he has a few enemies that he's feuded with over the years. It's time to take a closer look at Cruise's buddies and rivals.

Led by Tom Cruise's charismatic performance as Ethan Hunt, the Mission Impossible franchise has had some huge stars join on since its inception.

Updated on October 2nd, 2023 by Abigail Thomas: Tom Cruise has continued to be a very polarizing actor. While some recent co-workers, like Miles Teller, have nothing but positive things to say about Cruise, others want nothing to do with the Top Gun: Maverick star. Rumors have also circulated that Cruise has stepped away from Scientology , which is surprising considering his previous commitment to the religion.

13 Tom Cruise Is Friends With Soccer Star David Beckham

The iconic soccer player David Beckham can genuinely do it all. He's a talented athlete and world-famous celeb, and he is hugely popular among both his fans and other celebrities. Beckham and Tom Cruise are good friends with a tight bond. They've often gone on late-night motorcycles rides together through the streets of Los Angeles. Cruise even attempted to convince Beckham to join Scientology. However, David and Victoria Beckham decided that it wasn't a good fit for them. Regardless, Beckham and Cruise remain the best of friends.

12 Brad Pitt And Tom Cruise Are Top-Tier Frenemies

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are natural enemies. Cruise dominated the 80s, while Pitt was the man of the 90s. Regardless, rumors suggest these two megastars have been secretly feuding for over 25 years .

These Tom Cruise Movies Have Grossed Over $100 Million At The Box Office

Tom Cruise has been in the acting game since the early 1980s. He's made his mark in the industry countless times, but these are his biggest movies.

Reportedly, the feud started when they worked together on the 1994 horror film Interview with a Vampire. Pitt admitted to feeling "miserable" during filming. He also found Cruise to be a bit annoying. There's a great deal of professional jealously and competition between them, as their films sometimes go head-to-head in the theaters. They both enjoy gloating when their movie wins at the box office.

11 Tom Cruise Has A Close Friendship With Fellow Actor Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise have a very close friendship and have been friends for years. At one point, Stiller and his then-wife Christine Taylor would go on family outings with Cruise and his then-wife Katie Holmes . Stiller and Cruise remain friends even after all these years, and they've supported each other through difficult times. Cruise also made a surprise appearance in Stiller's film Tropic Thunder. Cruise and Stiller's friendship is tight and unbreakable, which is rare in Hollywood.

Tom Cruise’s career almost ended in 2006, but a small role in this Ben Stiller movie put him right back on track.

10 Tom Cruise Tries To Avoid Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields and Tom Cruise had a very public feud that they eventually put behind them. Regardless, Cruise avoids running into Shields when he can. In 2005, Cruise criticized Shields for going on anti-depressants to help with her postpartum depression . Shields didn't back down and responded with some harsh words towards Cruise. They continued to feud for several months until Cruise apologized privately. Shields called the apology "heartfelt" and accepted it. Later, Shields attended Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding.

9 Simon Pegg And Tom Cruise Have An Interesting Friendship

Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise's friendship is like no other in Hollywood. Of course, they appear to have nothing in common. Tom Cruise is predominantly an action star, while Pegg gained fame for his roles in several comedy movies. But Cruise and Pegg became close friends while working on the Mission: Impossible films. Cruise is the star of each film, but Pegg is prominent in the series and feels that the media misunderstands his good friend.

8 Tom Cruise Does Not Think Highly Of Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber and Tom Cruise have one of the strangest feuds in Hollywood, and the dispute's pretty one-sided. In 2019, Bieber sent out a tweet challenging Cruise to a fight in the Octagon. Bieber's sudden feud with Cruise seemed to come out of nowhere.

There was never any confrontation or behind -the-scenes drama. Bieber mocked Cruise and was confident that any company would want to sponsor the fight. Of course, Cruise ignored Bieber, and the feud died down. Later, Bieber claimed it was a prank, although he re-issued the challenge in 2020.

7 Tom Cruise Has Been Friends With Dakota Fanning For Most Of Her Life

In 2005, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning starred in the sci-fi film War of the Worlds. At the time, Fanning was a child actor that was on the rise in Hollywood. Cruise and Fanning formed a tight friendship that continues to this day. Since Fanning's 11th birthday, Cruise has sent her a gift every year. Fanning admits that he usually sends her a new pair of shoes, but she is amazed he continues the tradition.

6 John Travolta And Tom Cruise Have A Rocky History

Tom Cruise and John Travolta have been both friends and enemies. They're two of Scientology's most famous celebs, however rumors suggest that Travolta and Cruise are bitter enemies . Former Scientology members claim Travolta and Cruise have been battling for the top spot in the church.

Travolta is jealous of Cruise being the church's favorite. According to sources, Travolta was furious when Cruise won the Freedom Medal of Valor . Travolta feels that he should be getting the same level of recognition as Cruise.

5 Comedian And Actor Jerry Seinfeld Is Friends With Tom Cruise

Iconic comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Cruise have been good friends for years and they have a lot in common. They're both two of the wealthiest and most famous Hollywood stars. Seinfeld also admitted that he had some brief interest in Scientology in the 70s. The two Hollywood megastars have hung out in New York and Los Angeles. They're so close that they've even spent time with each other's families. Of course, they also make sure they have a lot of bro time, just the two of them.

Comedians Larry David, and Jerry Seinfeld have been friends for over three decades.

4 Why Does Tom Cruise Have A Feud With Leah Remini?

Leah Remini was once a proud member of The Church of Scientology but is now an outspoken critic. She wrote a book and produced a series based on her experiences. Of course, Remini singled out several members, most notably Tom Cruise. She claims that Cruise is the most powerful member of the church and is fully aware of the abuses, though Cruise and the church deny all of Remini's claims.

Regardless, their feud continues to intensify. Remini even encouraged Katie Holmes to come forward and expose Cruise. It's safe to assume that Cruise and Remini won't be going out to dinner anytime soon.

3 Miles Teller Loves His 'Top Gun: Maverick' Co-Star Tom Cruise

Top Gun fans were over the moon when they learned that a sequel was finally in the works. The film of course starred Tom Cruise, and it also brought in actor Miles Teller. Though Teller had to be convinced by Cruise to join the film, Teller adored working with Cruise and has nothing but praise to say about the actor .

"I've said when I've been talking about Tom's performance in this film," Teller said of Cruise to Associated Press . "We give actors so much credit in movies for performing skills, for playing instruments or singing or gaining weight and losing weight. And the skills that Tom is putting on display in Top Gun and so many of his movies, that's a product of thousands of hours practice."

2 Tom Cruise Makes Shakira Uncomfortable

Tom Cruise and Shakira made headlines in May 2023 when they both attended the F1 Grand Prix in Miami, Florida. They were pictured spending time together, and it was clear that Cruise was mesmerized by the singer.

The feeling was sadly not mutual. Though Cruise spoke with his friends about the connection they had , Shakira did not feel a connection. Cruise reportedly sent Shakira flowers after the race, but she was not interested in pursuing a relationship with him. Shakira was begging for Cruise to stop flirting with her, as she had no interest.

1 Mark Wahlberg Is Not A Fan Of Tom Cruise

Mark Wahlberg made it clear to fans that despite being in the same business, he does not appreciate Tom Cruise. After Cruise made a comment comparing his job to "fighting in Afghanistan" in 2013, Wahlberg had quite a bit to say about how disrespectful the statement was.

"I don't give a f*ck what you did. You don't do what these guys did. For somebody to sit there and say my job was as difficult as somebody in the military's. How f*cking dare you. While you sit in a makeup chair for two hours."

Sources: usatoday.com, usmagazine.com, businessinsider.com

15 Celebs Who Are Friends With Tom Cruise (And 10 Who Keep Their Distance)

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Deadpool 3: Will Deadpool & Wolverine Mint Billions At The Box Office?

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Tom Cruise has been a central player in Hollywood for the last three decades, ranking up more classic Hollywood titles than most of us have time to watch! As an actor, Cruise was once seen as the Hollywood every-man; the diverse roles in his longstanding career help portray him as one of the nicest men in Hollywood. For some, the news of Mr. Cruise being Mr. Hollywood-Nice-Guy might appear to be a bit surprising, considering his status as one of the most frequent tabloid fixtures of the last fifteen years!

With the wall-to-wall coverage of Tom Cruise's personal life, it can be difficult to figure out a consistent snapshot of Tom's actual personality. Before Tom was known as a tabloid fixture, he held a Hollywood reputation as one of the nicest men in Hollywood, and many of these accounts of Tom's positive personality come from fellow members of Hollywood elite. If your Tom Cruise reading material comes from supermarket tabloids portraying Tom as being unhinged and only having a single word known as " glib " in his vocabulary, it can be slightly jarring to comprehend Tom Cruise is an actual human being, who has worked hard to build a positive Hollywood every-man akin to many of his film roles.

However, it is an impossible mission to be the most well-liked celebrity in Hollywood. While Tom might have a close cast of characters in his celebrity friend repertoire, some members of the Hollywood elite don't feel the warm and fuzzy feelings reminiscent of Jerry MaGuire, toward Tom; some celebrities have had encounters with Tom, which could be found in the pages of gossip magazines. Tom Cruise arguably had some famous faces at hello, but others have made their way to the exit from the Tom train!

The film where High School Musical's Troy Bolton receives constant kind advice from his crime-fighting father with a huge heart would be a box office hit! While we wait for someone to pen the screenplay, we can tide ourselves over with the news Zac Efron and Tom Cruise are good friends in real life!

Vulture gave details of Zac and Tom's relationship, and we're waiting for a basketball game to go down between the two friends. According to the article, Tom "asked him if he knew how to write a motorcycle." Zac was so moved by the encounter. He told Details, "I don't know. I don't even want to know" in response to why he believed Tom would do such a nice favor for the young actor.

It's like a tragic tale of the Hollywood elite; two decade-defining actors aren't able to find space alongside each other on the same legendary actor couch. John Travolta and Tom Cruise won't be hanging out at any Hollywood reunions anytime soon!

For nearly two decades, Tom Cruise has made countless magazine covers for his devotion to the church of Scientology. Travolta, too, is an active member and is outspoken about his relationship to the church. The two actors have been known to be competitive for elite titles within the church.

The Daily Beast wrote a comprehensive outlook on the actors' relationship. A former member of the church spoke out about their rivalry; there was reported jealously from Travolta for not having as solid of a relationship with the head of the church, David Miscavige. The interviewee stated, "Cruise is the only celeb with a direct line to Miscavige. Travolta didn’t have that. Travolta doesn’t get anything free, no one is giving him absurd gifts like an airplane hangar, custom-made bikes, or over-the-top favors."

Wondering about the legitimacy of Hollywood friendships is normal. They are often played out to mind-numbing detail on the covers of magazines, it only makes sense! If you have had the desire to follow a celebrity friendship which could be described as a breath of fresh air and knocks out all of the tired speculations about celebrity relationships, indulge yourself in the story of the friendship between Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise!

Dakota and Tom met on the set of War of the Worlds, and the actor marks their friendship every year with a super sweet gift. Tom takes time to gift Dakota something special every year for her birthday! Fanning revealed in an interview, "He has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old. Beautiful gifts!"

Kirstie Alley has held a place in popular culture since the Eighties. She starred on the legendary show Cheers, delighted an entire generation in the Olsen twin classic It Takes Two, and she is currently a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother! If you prefer to peruse the pages of magazines, you may know Kirstie from the pages of tabloids for her complicated relationship with Tom Cruise.

Like Tom, Kirstie is a member of the Church of Scientology. The celebrity followers of the controversial religion seem like they're participating in their own elite sub-club; former Scientologist,  Leah Remini , revealed many bits of information in her memoir, surrounding fellow celebrity Scientologists. According to News.au, Leah revealed, "I had heard Tom didn't like them [Alley, and John Travolta]."

Cameron Crowe , film director, and friend to famous figures across the board in entertainment has Tom Cruise to thank for a motivational boost after a career slump!

Crowe and Cruise collaborated together on the blockbuster hit of the '90s, Jerry MacGuire, and maintained a solid relationship for twenty-two years. According to The Atlantic, Cruise displayed goal worthy levels of friendship when he actively encouraged his director friend to continue perfecting his craft.

Tom Cruise pumped Cameron Crowe up with an important pep talk. He created a brilliant plan where he introduced Crowe to fellow director Judd Apatow, who happens to be a hardcore fan of Crowe's early film Say Anything; following their introduction, Crowe said , "Cruise sidles up to me and goes: ‘See? Get out of your house, man, it’s fun, and that’s when it felt like, yeah, it’s time to direct again.'"

Perhaps one of the most intense celebrity feuds of all time belongs to the nonexistent relationship between Leah Remini and Tom Cruise. For the last few years, Leah Remini has spent a significant amount of time revealing to the world the intricacies of Tom Cruise and his antics with the Church of Scientology. It's difficult to narrow down the exact reason why Leah and Tom do not get along, but Leah has provided us with an endless string of clues along the way.

Remini publicly left the church in 2013, and famously documented her time in her memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, and included many stories about Cruise. Two years after its publication, she still finds it important to let the world know about his shortcomings. In a Us Weekly article from last year, she referred to Cruise as "diabolical" and "not a good person."

We'll save our fantasy hug-and-make-up scenarios for another pair of feuding celebrities!

Every piece of information involving Jonathan Lipnicki seems to be flat-out cute. You might remember him playing many iconic "cute kid" roles in the Nineties, including 1996's Jerry MacGuire, where he memorably played Tom Cruise's son!

Lipnicki has chosen to live life largely outside of the spotlight, but he is reportedly attempting a return to Hollywood! According to People, one of Jonathan's closest confidants happens to be his grown-up mentor, Tom Cruise. He sat down for an interview where he revealed Tom is still a valuable contact.

Lipnicki said, "I went over to his house because I actually — I cold-called his office at United Artists and asked for advice and, you know, he got back to me and I went over,” he explained. “A big part of his success he attributes to being on time and being polite to people and knowing people’s names and it was incredible to sit down with one of your favorite actors and have an hour-long conversation about acting."

The relationship between Tom Cruise and Will Smith varies, depending on who you ask. The gossip-filled sources enjoy pitting the legendary Hollywood actors against each other, considering Smith's involvement with the troubling Church of Scientology.

The duo seems to be foes for the sake of tabloids. Smith recently shared a throwback photo of the friends posing alongside Smith's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star, Alfonso Riberito!

The guys are seen posing together rocking straw hats, which implies Tom Cruise has a sense of humor for sure. Judging by the beauty of the awesome throwback, Will Smith and Tom Cruise seem to be brothers for life!

The third Google search result for Renee Zellweger is "Renee Zellweger and Tom Cruise." Two decades after the actors memorably starred together in the legendary romantic comedy Jerry MacGuire, we're still trying to figure out the extent of their chemistry; it was so memorable, so who can blame us?

Renee Zellweger still holds similar fuzzy feelings about her co-star, which propelled the romantic comedy buff inside of me rejoice! She told the Daily Mail, "He's a really good person. He's a very, very good person."

Hearing Zellweger's commentary about her old friend is refreshing for his reputation, and it also works for the rom-com enthusiasts of the world!

Unfortunately, Tom Cruise's list of Hollywood fights could warrant its own spreadsheet, and Brooke Shields ' column could take up the whole document. In one of the most memorable popular culture feuds of all time, Brooke Shields and Tom Cruise were reunited years after they co-starred in the film Endless Love, for some unfortunate reasons. Shields was very public with her battles with postpartum depression following the birth of her first child.

Cruise famously did not approve of Shields' personal decision to use medication to treat her depression. He ranted very famously, on an episode of the Today show, to which Shields responded , "I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression."

In the years since the debacle, Tom has apologized, but the two celebrities continue to be put against each other in entertainment outlets. There doesn't seem to be a reconciliation in their future understandably, but it would be a quality conclusion to a Hollywood feud tale!

In a beautiful tale of a longstanding bromance, Tom Cruise knows how to reach out and keep in touch with his older friends, who also happen to be legendary actors!

George Clooney has long been a symbol of the ideal Hollywood man; he has a long-standing career of Blockbuster films and holds a reputation for being one of the nicest men in Hollywood. One of the other famous Hollywood men who reportedly resides in the "nice guy camp" is Tom Cruise, and he and George have bonded, after starring together in ER in the '90s.

Recently, Clooney was involved in an unfortunate motorcycle accident. Cruise provided a note of support to his pal, saying, "He's great on a motorcycle and I hope he's okay. I really, George, I didn't know until I was here but I hope you're okay buddy."

In a celebrity photograph for the ages, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt pose together in all of their '90s glory at a premiere. Both men are featured donning awesomely long-haired manes, appropriate for the era in heavy support for a fashion free-for-all, and the film the actors co-starred in together, Interview With A Vampire.

In the decades since the film's release, the two actors don't seem as chummy as they appear to be in the photo. Brad has since been interviewed speaking about the negative experience he had making the film. Pitt reportedly had a difficult time with the harsh London climate while filming on location.

He told EW as per an article in NOLA, "I'm telling you, one day it broke me. It was like, 'Life's too short for this quality of life.' I called David Geffen, who was a good friend. He was a producer, and he'd just come to visit. I said, 'David, I can't do this anymore. I can't do it. What will it cost me to get out?' And he goes, very calmly, 'Forty million dollars.' And I go, 'Okay, thank you.' It actually took the anxiety off of me. I was like, 'I've got to man up and ride this through, and that's what I'm going to do.'"

Imagine an example of a Hollywood love triangle for the modern age, starring Tom Cruise, except it's not fiction! In recent months, Cruise's ex-wife Katie Holmes has been linked to the actor Jamie Foxx , whom Cruise starred alongside in the 2004 film, Collateral.

The news of a relationship between Holmes and Foxx comes alongside reports stating Holmes isn't allowed to date anyone until the fifth anniversary of her divorce from Cruise, due to Scientology rules. According to Radar Online , "The 37-year old's divorce agreement states she cannot publicly date anyone until five years have passed following her divorce from Tom Cruise."

Tom reportedly  knows about their relationship, and it seems a little unclear if their friendship will survive what Hollywood Life calls "a bro-code violation!"

When discovering someone takes part in a unique organization or has something unusual in common with someone, you might wonder if the two people know one another. For Australian singer and fellow member of the Church of Scientology, Kate Ceberano has nothing to do with that theory, and she wishes you would stop asking.

The singer told the Sydney Morning Herald she and Tom were not friends. She said, "It's like [saying] every Catholic is good friends with the Pope."

The public attention toward Scientology due to Cruise's celebrity status has no appeal to Ceberano. She goes on to add, "I don't mention it, and for the most part I don't go there," when asked about her practice of the religion.

Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer were both big stars during their day, co-starring in the legendary Eighties film Top Gun together, and the pair will be reunited as they film the sequel to Top Gun three decades after the first film hit theaters!

With two legendary names in show business, the curiosity to whether the pair got along was understandably an interesting topic for fans. Kilmer and Cruise were close while filming Top Gun, and remain so to this day! Tom recently gave an endearing update to fans surrounding Val's battle with cancer.

Knowing the pair remain close will be a sweet bonus for those who are looking forward to more Maverick action!

Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham 's relationship status with Tom Cruise seems to be unclear, especially since her husband 's friendship with Tom has been well documented.

The Beckhams had been spotted in public multiple times with Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Katie Holmes, enjoying dinner dates, but the dates seemed to have stopped seemingly for good reason! Some outlets have reported Victoria was a source of comfort for Katie Holmes in the wake of their divorce, and other reports have mentioned rumors of a rift between Victoria and David over his ongoing friendship with Tom.

There is also speculation of a Spice Girls reunion, but it's probably fair to assume Tom Cruise won't have front row seats to any of their concerts!

The second Beckham to appear in Tom's inner circle of friends would be soccer star David Beckham! David and his wife, former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, were constant dinner date companions, the couple received coveted invitations to Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes, and David and Tom reportedly spent "hours together on the phone," as David would go to Tom for advice on "trying to make up his mind on whether to join The Galaxy [soccer team]", according to The Guardian.

The two have always been photographed in a friendly manner, enjoying each other's company!

The scoop behind Tom Cruise's relationship with the actress Nazanin Boniadi is incredibly outrageous, much like a lot of Tom's public image. Whether the Scientology related reports surrounding the state of their relationship are true, they are straight out of a Hollywood film script!

Business Insider reported Nazanin was forced to take part in an awkward role, brought on by rules from the Church of Scientology. An HBO Documentary focusing on the church detailed "Tom was in Spain. They were opening a Scientology church in Madrid, and he was overheard complaining he needed a new girlfriend."

Nazanin was the chosen candidate. She was forced to undergo a make-over and was told "her makeover was part of the church's humanitarian mission, because she had to look her best for conferences with world leaders." In reality, her transformation was due to her eligibility to be a suitable girlfriend for Cruise!

The relationship between the two didn't end very well. After reportedly insulting the leader of the Church, their relationship was called off.

Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise were co-stars on the set of the Mission Impossible franchise, and they have been known to get into fun antics on the set. More importantly, Tom Cruise was a legitimate friend for Simon Pegg, and their friendship has stood the test of Hollywood speculation!

Simon told The Guardian , "I have never discussed his beliefs with him, for example,” Pegg says. “Everyone always asks: ‘Did he try and convert you? Is it all Scientology?’ But I’ve never seen that. I have glimpsed it a little bit — people from the church have been on set now and again, but he doesn’t proselytize about it."

One of the biggest key players in Tom Cruise's elaborate stage show is David Miscavige, the controversial leader of The Church of Scientology, to which Cruise has been extremely loyal to for decades, and has shaped his public image and public perception of his career for many. Tom's relationship with David Miscavige has had its ups and downs, seeming to correlate with whether Tom's public image has been positive or not.

David's father Ronald could be potentially to blame for David's fall out with Tom. In Ronald's memoir, he recalled a story where his son worked hard to get Tom to join the church, planning an elaborate party. Ronald apparently David "hit the roof when Cruise arrived four hours late and went to bed without dinner."

By 1986, only three years after Tom Cruise's break through film Risky Business, he was starring alongside veteran actors like Paul Newman ! The two co-starred in the film, The Color Of Money.

The two actors reportedly got along very well on set. When Newman and Cruise first met, Newman exerted his professionalism and referred to Cruise by " using his last name " every time they were on set together!

The Color Of Money set wasn't the first place the two had met; Newman greeted him with a "hey killer" when they were introduced in Newman's office after he had seen Cruise act in the film, Taps, as per a retrospective in MentalFloss.

It's probably a well-known fact that guys in Hollywood with a reputation for being labeled as "the nice guy" all know each other, but it's always pretty cool to find out it may be true! Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller have known each other for years on film sets, even starring together in Tropic Thunder.

The Cruise and Stiller friendship is reportedly so tight, they are passing it through the generations! According to The Observer, Tom's daughter Suri and Ben's daughter, Ella, met up for a playdate when their parents were in town together in 2008. No word on whether the girls are still friends a decade later, but a multi-generation friendship is always sweet!

In a story made bittersweet by time and circumstance, Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise's friendship began with the onscreen adaptation of male friendship where the two met on the set of The Outsiders, a classic coming-of-age film released in 1983.

Tom was reportedly in awe of Patrick on set of the film. When their co-star Rob Lowe recalled some behind the scenes stories about the cast, he wrote for Vanity Fair, "Lowe remembers hanging out with Cruise and the other actors in a gymnasium on set, when Patrick Swayze — who, Lowe writes, “makes Tom Cruise look lobotomized” — “begins to teach us a standing backflip, Cruise, not surprisingly, is all over it."

Sadly, Swayze and Cruise were never able to work together again, as Swayze passed away from cancer in 2009, but their performance in The Outsiders will always reflect the admiration Tom had for his friend, Patrick.

Matt Damon seems to be the quintessential best guy friend in Hollywood. He's known for his decades-long friendship with Ben Affleck, and he's also friends with another Hollywood veteran of the '90s; Tom Cruise!

Damon and Cruise are like all of our dude friends we know; they have lunch together and compare their cool talents. In the case of two Hollywood actors, they compare their ability to perform Hollywood worthy stunts.

According to USA Today , Tom and Matt met over lunch because Matt "just had to know about the spectacular Burj stunt featured in Mission." The Burj refers to an extremely tall building in Dubai, where Cruise jumped off of, for the third Mission Impossible film!

In a career move only many could dream of, celebrity deejay to the stars, Mark Ronson , deejayed one of the most lavish weddings of the century so far; the 2006 nuptials of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes . Of course, 2006 was a long time away from Ronson's immense success with songs like the huge hit Uptown Funk, so playing tunes for the 'TomKat' wedding had to do as the most admirable career move for Ronson, for a little while.

References:  Today ,  Vulture ,  The Daily Beast ,  Time ,  The Atlantic ,  Us Weekly ,  People ,  Today ,  Daily Beast ,  Daily Mail ,  Today ,  Hello ,  NOLA ,  Radar 

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Top Gun: Maverick 's Val Kilmer says he's still Tom Cruise's wingman

Thirty-six years on, Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise are still the best of pals (or, if they're anything like their Top Gun duo, frenemies — but probably not…) 

On Instagram last week, Kilmer shared a short n' sweet tribute to his Top Gun co-star. “[Thirty-six] years later… I'm still your wingman," the 62-year-old wrote. Kilmer has a cameo part in the latest Top Gun flick, Maverick , returning as the titular pilot's one-time flight school adversary Iceman, now ascendant to the status of admiral — and, perhaps more importantly, keeping Mav veritably employed after the hot-headed aviator loses his wings.

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It'd be a sweet carry-over at the best of times, but Iceman's fleeting return carries special emotional weight owing to Kilmer's real-life swathe of recent health issues. Throat cancer, for one, has snatched away his ability to speak; so, in the movie, Iceman communicates almost wholly by text. That he delivers a couple of lines (put together with an AI programme as Kilmer can't speak at all IRL) is a frisson-inducing act of defiance. Movie stars might not actually be invincible, but even facing the brink, they're tough as can be.

In a recent LA Times interview, Kilmer wrote that he gets “hundreds of fan letters every week,” describing the response to his appearance in Maverick as “very humbling”. Director Joseph Kosinski says Cruise and Kilmer, the two Hollywood vets, had “tears in their eyes" as they shot Iceman's farewell. “Tom and I get along really well,” Kilmer writes. “We giggled like little kids in school between takes. I consider him a real friend. We shared intimate stories and challenges about our different lifestyles!” Ah, dudes being dudes.

Beyond what anyone could've imagined — aside from Cruise himself, perhaps — Top Gun: Maverick continues to soar at the global box office, set to break the billion-dollar barrier sooner than a hypersonic jet can hit Mach 10. Even Pixar's latest kid-friendly picture to hit cinemas, the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear , failed to ground the Mav, with just Jurassic World sequel Dominion able to take a chunk out of the high-flying throwback. 

Those afterburners have plenty of life in them yet…

Top Gun: Maverick is Tom Cruise's biggest hit ever

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How Tom Cruise created Top Gun: Maverick 's bittersweet Val Kilmer cameo

Are Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise Friends? Was the Maverick/Iceman Feud Real?

Published Aug. 6 2021, 5:54 p.m. ET

In the world of entertainment, career trajectories can go in wildly different directions at different points in time in an actor's career. Sometimes there are lulls, and sometimes actors are the hottest thing in Hollywood and every major studio, network, and director wants to work with them. For a very long time in Hollywood, Val Kilmer was where it was at, and he was the lead in a number of massive productions.

One of his more memorable roles was in the 1986 Tom Cruise –led Top Gun , where Val played rival fighter pilot Iceman. The tension between the two men was palpable on camera, but as often is the case in movies and TV shows, that on-screen "bad blood" doesn't necessarily translate off camera. So are Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise friends in real life? Or was there some authenticity to their Maverick/Iceman feud?

Are Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise friends?

Kilmer's new documentary that delineates his battle with throat cancer has viewers interested more than ever in the Hollywood actor's career. His turn as Doc Holliday in 1993's Tombstone as a devoted friend dying of tuberculosis who just so happened to be one of the fastest guns in the West is a great cinematic performance. 1995's Heat was another iconic role; standing out in a cast that featured Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino was no easy feat either.

But there are stories about Val not getting along with fellow cast members, like Tom Sizemore on the set of Red Planet , which was a box-office flop costing $80 million to make and raking in only $33.5 million. The movie is credited as "end[ing] Val Kilmer's acting career" as a huge star, but a little-known fight behind the scenes only adds to the legend of the film's failure.

According to Sizemore's 2013 memoir (via the Daily News ), Sizemore says that a tiff over an elliptical machine he requested be brought to set is what set off the physical altercation between him and Kilmer. Val reportedly didn't like the idea that Sizemore was having exercise equipment shipped in, and the Saint actor told Sizemore, "I'm making ten million on this; you're only making two."

Nice to see my old pal @thekevinryder in the new Val Kilmer documentary! pic.twitter.com/zz44NH0DJ9 — ralphgarman (@RalphGarman) August 6, 2021

Sizemore then threw a 50-lb weight at Val but missed him. The fight between the two got so bad that a producer asked Tom to not hit Val in the face, so Tom instead punched him in the chest, knocking him down.

And although Val and Tom didn't fight one another on the set of Top Gun , there was a certain faction between actors and crew members that formed while filming the Tony Scott film.

Val wrote in his 2020 memoir (per the Daily Beast ) that his group consisted of "party boys" which was the exact opposite of Cruise's "laser-like" focus: "Tom refrained from our revelry, with good reason … From day one, he was laser-focused on a singular goal: to become the greatest action hero in the history of film. He was up nights learning lines; he spent every waking hour perfecting his stunts. His dedication was admirable. Of course, even more, admirable is the fact that he achieved his goal."

From planes to Batsuits to Mark Twain and back again, Val Kilmer has had one of the most fascinating careers in Hollywood. Learn all about his incredible journey in VAL, an intimate look at an amazing actor, now streaming. pic.twitter.com/sFeNxjmhCA — Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) August 6, 2021

Val also reportedly played a prank on Tom on set: "My favorite moment between us was a small prank in which I gave him an extremely expensive bottle of champagne but placed it in the middle of a giant field and made him follow scavenger-hunt-style clues to find it. I hid behind a bleacher and watched him lug the giant crate to his motorcycle. He never did thank me for the Iceman-style bit. I thought it would break the ice, but I guess the ice was just right."

Val's current opinion of Tom appears to be very positive, stating that the star was "cool" when Val basically "begged" to be a part of 2021's Top Gun: Maverick: "Forget the fact that thirty years had passed since I’d seen the ghost of Iceman’s dad. I remembered it like it was yesterday… The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn’t have been cooler. And the next thing I knew I was back, as the Beatles said, where I ‘once belonged,'" Val wrote in his memoir (per Yahoo ).

“He Uses Art As A Way Of Surviving”: ‘Val’ Offers Intimate, Autobiographical Portrait Of Val Kilmer https://t.co/6OUriAWgt1 — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) August 4, 2021

You can watch the documentary Val on Amazon Prime , free with your subscription to the service. If you're not a Prime member, please don't ask me for my login info because I will feel bad and will most certainly cave.

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Inside Tom Cruise's Inner Circle of Friends Including Will Smith, Val Kilmer and More

Tom cruise's inner circle includes famous friends and celebrity collaborators, ‘90 day fiancé: chidi tells the shocking story of how he became blind, adele gets emotional as she announces ‘incredibly long break’ from music, jennifer lopez seemingly breaks silence on filing for divorce from ben affleck, nhl star johnny gaudreau, 31, and his brother, 29, killed in bike accident ahead of sister's wedding, doctor charged in matthew perry’s death agrees to plead guilty, tim walz emotionally reacts to son gus stealing the spotlight at dnc, leah remini files for divorce just after bestie jennifer lopez, first look at kevin costner in ‘yellowstone’ season 5, ‘the marley brothers: legacy tour’: 5 of bob marley’s sons performing together again after 2 decades, jessica biel enjoys rare outing with her and justin timberlake's 9-year-old son silas, nikki garcia asks for ‘privacy’ after artem chigvintsev arrest as past allegations resurface, george and amal clooney stun at venice film festival for ‘wolfs’ movie, prince harry and prince william avoid each other at uncle’s funeral, angelina jolie explains why she doesn't really have friends and wants to leave hollywood, 'big brother's tucker on if he regrets saving quinn, volunteering to be a pawn and losing $5,000, artem chigvintsev arrest: listen to police dispatch call, et vault unlocked: george clooney | inside his journey to global superstar, leah remini announces divorce from angelo pagán after 21 years of marriage, 'futurama': cara delevingne needs professor farnsworth's help (exclusive), patrick mahomes says taylor swift's ‘drawing up plays’ for the chiefs upcoming season, cruise has quite the a-list crew..

Tom Cruise  is celebrating his birthday with fans!

The  Mission Impossible  actor rang in the big 6-1 at the  Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One  premiere in Sydney, Australia, with some of the film's stars and a bevy of excited Australian fans by his side.

"It was great to spend my birthday with fans today. Thanks for coming out to the premiere!" Cruise captioned the tweet on Monday, which featured photos from the red carpet, a fireworks show and pics of the actor signing autographs for fans.

While it's no secret that Cruise has a mega fanbase, ET is helping celebrate his 61st birthday by looking at the action star's inner circle, which includes the likes of other A-list actors such as  Will Smith , Val Kimer and more.

Cruise and Smith's friendship dates back to the early aughts, with Cruise even surprising Smith at this hand and footprint ceremony at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theater in 2007.

"He's truly an exceptional, exceptional human being," Cruise told ET of the  King Richard  actor.

"Wherever Will Smith is, that's where the party is," he added. "Everybody knows that. When I was doing  Born   on the Fourth of July , his music got me through that picture."

The pair has even engaged in some friendly competition over the years, with Smith noting in Mark Manson's book,  Boom , "I started quietly monitoring all of Tom's global promotional activities, and I vowed to do two hours more than whatever he did in every country."

They've worked together as well, with Cruise doing some uncredited work on the Smith-led  I am Legend  that same year.

"He's read five drafts of the script, sent me notes. We are committed to helping each other be able to be the best that we can be," Smith told ET at the time.

Jerry Bruckheimer

In addition to working together on  Top Gun , Cruise has a close relationship with the famed producer. First collaborating on the original film in 1986, the pair teamed up again 36 years later for the Oscar-winning sequel, Top Gun: Maverick .

"Great actor. Great partner. If you're in a foxhole, you want Tom Cruise next to," Bruckheimer told ET 2016.

The award-winning producer said of Cruise's character, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, "It's an iconic character that he helped create."

As for what took the film so long? Both Bruckheimer and Cruise said that it had to be "perfect" before bringing back the beloved story to fans.

"He's the hardest working actor I've ever worked with," Bruckheimer added in 2021.

Cruise and Kilmer developed their friendship on the  Top Gun  set, with Kilmer starring as Tom Kazansky, a top naval aviator and Mitchell's rival turned friend in the film. Their friendship stood the test of time, with Cruise including Kilmer in the sequel amid ongoing issues with his voice following a battle with throat cancer. The reunion was an emotional one, with the producers using AI to help bring Kilmer's voice back for the short cameo.

"You see that scene, it's very special," Cruise told ET during the film's premiere in 2022. "The first one, I really rallied hard for him. I was like, 'Val, you gotta make this movie. You're gonna be amazing.'"

As for Kilmer, he told ET back in 2020 that his memories with Cruise were "filled with laughter," adding that while filming the original, the pair "laughed all day long."

Dakota Fanning

Cruise remained close with his  War of the Worlds  daughter after he and Dakota Fanning starred in the film together in 2005. 

"He has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old. It's usually shoes," Fanning said on a  Watch What Happens Live  appearance. 

He also has kept a relationship with the film's director, Steven Spielberg , who had some kind words for the actor during the Oscars luncheon in February.

"You saved Hollywood, and you might have saved theatrical distribution," the Academy Award-winning director said of Cruise getting fans back to movie theaters following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other members of Cruise's circle include Tom Hanks , Kirsten Dunst, Jimmy Fallon and Rosie O'Donnell, who have all been recipients of the actor's famed white chocolate-covered coconut Bundt cake.

His  Mission Impossible  co-stars have gotten a taste of it too, with Henry Cavill telling ET, "It was the most decadent, the most amazing cake."

Angela Bassett  added, "I literally ate the entire cake except for one slice."

As for Simon Pegg, he said the cake was so good he couldn't wait for a fork, eating it with his fist instead.

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Val Kilmer explains his ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ return and ‘authentic friendship’ with Tom Cruise

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The Iceman cometh again, this time as a friend. And as Val Kilmer tells The Times, “I can’t believe how kind the whole world has been. ... It’s very humbling.”

The box-office standout of the summer season so far, “ Top Gun: Maverick ” has already become Tom Cruise’s biggest domestic grosser and blown audiences away with its aerial action sequences . But perhaps the most memorable — almost certainly the most moving — scene in the film is the quiet reunion of onetime rivals , now closest of comrades: Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) and Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Kilmer).

The moment is informed by years of friendship both in the script and in real life — and by Kilmer’s real-life health struggles .

Iceman, who has throat cancer in a reflection of Kilmer’s own diagnosis, communicates with Maverick via typed words on a screen. When that’s no longer enough, he uses his struggling voice to connect with his friend of 3½ decades.

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“Very personal and moving” are the words Kilmer used to describe how playing that moment felt to him.

Kilmer answered emailed questions from The Times about the scene, his relationship with Cruise and how he’s doing after years of cancer treatment and surgeries. He said the onscreen reunion had been in the works for years but no reunion was necessary offscreen, as the two actors had remained friends since meeting on the original “Top Gun” (1986) .

“We talked quite a bit about what was best for the story and I think they got it right at the end,” wrote Kilmer of Cruise. “We are in touch and exchange Xmas gifts every year!”

As to the scene itself, Kilmer acknowledges he was the one typing the words on the computer screen as Iceman “talked” to Maverick.

“We actually shot it twice,” he said via email. “First time was in San Diego. They wanted to make a wardrobe change and we ended up with the scene you see in the movie with the computer.”

After one of the takes (we only did a few) I noticed that both Tom and Val had tears in their eyes. It felt like a genuine moment between two old friends.

— Joseph Kosinski, director, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Being mostly unable to use his voice is a huge adjustment, of course, for one of Hollywood’s more expressive actors. Vocal transformations have highlighted his appearances in such films as “ The Doors ” (in the deep baritone of frontman Jim Morrison), “ Tombstone ” (in the aristocratic drawl of Doc Holliday) or “ The Saint ” (in a host of guises of varying nationalities ). The key component to that “Maverick” scene, then, had to be that other, less heralded acting skill: listening.

“That’s exactly what acting is, reacting,” Kilmer wrote. “Being in the moment.”

When asked what help he appreciated most during the scene, though, the answer wasn’t technical or about extra time: “A couple of dear friends came by set!”

Also by email, director Joseph Kosinski said, “[Kilmer] is completely present in the scene and able to convey so much emotion without saying a word. I remember noticing that with his introduction in ‘Heat’ — so much said with just one look.

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“When working with an actor of that caliber, you try to create a space for them to do their best work, then get out of the way and let them create.”

Kosinski agreed with the perception that Kilmer and Cruise raised each other’s game: “You’ve got two masters at the top of their game playing the most iconic characters of their careers. I think there is a lot of Maverick in Tom, and Iceman in Val, so what you are seeing onscreen is an authentic friendship that has lasted over 36 years.

“After one of the takes (we only did a few) I noticed that both Tom and Val had tears in their eyes. It felt like a genuine moment between two old friends.”

It wasn’t all heavy, though:

“When we weren’t shooting, they were sharing funny stories with [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer] about making the original film,” said Kosinski. “I think at the time they were a bit competitive with each other, but now it’s something they can just laugh about.”

Kilmer wrote, “Tom and I get along really well. We giggled like little kids in school between takes. I consider him a real friend. We shared intimate stories and challenges about our different lifestyles!!”

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Since the film has come out, apart from its box-office laurels and generally enthusiastic reception, Kilmer’s cameo has been one of its most universally praised elements. Justin Chang’s review in The Times voices a typical response: “In one fictional moment, he gives us something unmistakably, irreducibly real, partly by puncturing the fantasy of human invincibility that his co-star has never stopped trying to sell.”

Kilmer says the flood of affection has been surprising: “I can’t believe how kind the whole world has been. I get hundreds of fan letters every week. It’s very humbling.”

The 62-year-old actor says he’s nowhere near done. “I’m so great,” he writes of his physical and emotional wellbeing. “Feeling stronger everyday. My dream is to play Frankenstein with Werner Herzog directing. Right now we are in a conflict because he wants to modernize it and I want to keep it classic! Also working on an exciting project that gives artists a place to learn and share their creative talents called Kamp Kilmer .”

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Inside Tom Cruise's celebrity friendships in tight-knit circle - from Will Smith to Val Kilmer

Although Tom Cruise recently spent his birthday with fans, the Hollywood actor has a tight-knit circle of celebrity friends, including Will Smith, fellow co-star Val Kilmer and many more

• 08:00, 9 Jul 2023

Tom Cruise recently revealed that he spent with 61st birthday with fans as he promoted his latest Mission Impossible film.

He took to his Twitter account to thank the fans he spent the special day with, writing: "It was great to spend my birthday with fans today. Thanks for coming out to the premiere!"

Despite seemingly enjoying his day on the red carpet and surrounded by those who admire him, Tom could've spent it with his small circle of celebrity pals. The iconic actor is said to have a close-knit circle in the world of showbiz from which to pick from. Let's take a look at some of his close pals.

Tom and Will Smith 's friendship goes way back to the early noughties, with Tom surprising Will at his hand and footprint ceremony at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theater in 2007. "He's truly an exceptional, exceptional human being," Tom previously told Entertainment tonight of Will.

"Wherever Will Smith is, that's where the party is, everybody knows that. When I was doing Born on the Fourth of July, his music got me through that picture."

Despite some friendly competition between the pair in Hollywood films, the pair have worked together, with Tom going uncredited for his work on Will's hit movie I Am Legend. "He's read five drafts of the script, sent me notes. We are committed to helping each other be able to be the best that we can be," Will said at the time.

Val Kilmer and Tom famously worked together on the 1980s film Tom Gun and developed a life-long friendship. Tom ensured Val be included in the recent sequel, which Val accepted despite issues with his voice following a battle with throat cancer.

Speaking of the scene where Val and Tom's characters reunite, Tom said at the premiere: "You see that scene, it's very special. The first one, I really rallied hard for him. I was like, 'Val, you gotta make this movie. You're gonna be amazing.'"

Producers used AI to help bring Kilmer's voice back for the short cameo.

Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom also got close on the set of Top Gun and Jerry has only ever had kind words for the actor. "Great actor. Great partner," he said in 2016.

"If you're in a foxhole, you want Tom Cruise next to," Bruckheimer told ET 2016. Jerry also said that Tom's character in the film is "an iconic character that he helped create" before adding: "He's the hardest working actor I've ever worked with."

Dakota Fanning

Tom remained close with his War of the Worlds on-screen daughter, Dakota Fanning , after they worked together in 2005. As she took to Watch What Happens Live, Dakota told audiences that Tom had sent her birthday gifts every year since she was 11.

"He has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old. It's usually shoes," she said.

Tom once told Oprah of Dakota: "She's ten, eleven... she's incredibly bright. You know what, I told her, 'You're a great actress, and so I'm here if you need anything.'"

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Tom Cruise Was Rivals With This Co-Star: "It Was Fun to Play Up The Conflict"

Top gun 's maverick and iceman were at odds onscreen and in real life..

Onscreen, they were rivals who became friends. Off-screen, they were friends who became rivals. Well, sort of. In the original Top Gun , Tom Cruise starred as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, while Val Kilmer played his flight school rival Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. The two actors are on good terms today—and appear together in the new sequel Top Gun: Maverick —but when they were making the first movie back in the '80s, they brought their contentious fictional relationship into real life.

In his 2021 documentary, Val , Kilmer explained that he purposely kept Cruise at arm's length while they were making the 1986 film as a way to make his character more realistic. The actor has also shared how Cruise didn't fit in with the rest of the "party boys" on set. Read on to find out more about the relationship between the real life Iceman and Maverick.

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Kilmer stoked a rivalry with Cruise.

In Val , Kilmer admitted that he altered his real friendship with Cruise while making Top Gun  as a way to connect to Iceman.

"On the page, there was very little to the character Iceman," Kilmer explained ( via CinemaBlend ). "So I attempted to make him real. I manifested a backstory for him, where he had a father who ignored him, and as a result, was driven by the need to be perfect in every way. This obsession with perfection is what made him so arrogant."

The actor continued, "I would purposely play up the rivalry between Tom’s character and mine off screen as well. And what ended up happening is the actors, in true Method fashion, split into two distinct camps. You’d have Maverick and Goose ( Anthony Edwards ) on one side, and Slider ( Rick Rossovich ), Hollywood ( Whip Hubley ), Wolfman ( Barry Tubb ), and me, Iceman, on the other. It was fun to play up the conflict between our characters, but in reality, I’ve always thought of Tom as a friend, and we’ve always supported each other."

Cruise kept his distance from the rest of the cast.

In his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir , Kilmer shared that he and his friends from set would go out and get rowdy when they weren't working, and Cruise wasn't part of the group.

"We were the party boys,” Kilmer writes ( via The Daily Beast ). “Every night we’d hit the San Diego nightlife. Once we were stuck at an intersection where all four lights were red. I peeled out, spinning and burning rubber in a perfect circle, showing off. Until we cozied right up to a cop car. He looked at me like, ‘Really, dude?’”

Kilmer continues of Cruise, "Tom refrained from our revelry, with good reason. From day one, he was laser-focused on a singular goal: to become the greatest action hero in the history of film. He was up nights learning lines; he spent every waking hour perfecting his stunts. His dedication was admirable. Of course even more admirable is the fact that he achieved his goal ... Tom is a comrade I respect and admire, though as creatures we hail from galaxies far, far away from one another."

Kilmer pranked Cruise on the set.

In I'm Your Huckleberry , Kilmer also tells a story about pranking Cruise while they were making the movie. As pranks go, it was a pretty nice one, though.

"My favorite moment between us was a small prank in which I gave him an extremely expensive bottle of champagne but placed it in the middle of a giant field and made him follow scavenger-hunt-style clues to find it," Kilmer writes. "I hid behind a bleacher and watched him lug the giant crate to his motorcycle. He never did thank me for the Iceman-style bit. I thought it would break the ice, but I guess the ice was just right."

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The actors—and characters—just reunited.

Kilmer appears in the recently released sequel Top Gun: Maverick alongside Cruise, but it wasn't a given. Kilmer has suffered from throat cancer in recent years, and treatments damaged his voice . He also has to eat through a feeding tube. But, the actor was able to make an appearance in the film, bringing Iceman to big screens once again.

“You know in the first one, I really rallied hard for him to make the movie," Cruise told Entertainment Tonight of Kilmer. He added of Iceman and Maverick's scene in the sequel, "The kind of talent that he has, and you see that scene, it’s very special. It’s just very special.”

Kilmer also talked opened up about being able to reunite .

"I was very moved the first time I saw it. Almost 40 years is a long time for a reunion," he told USA Today . "We laughed all day. Tom is great and surprisingly funny!!" He added, "It is nice to see Iceman reach such success in the career he loved. It's a good story arc. And it was very exciting to be back at it with Tom ... I love Tom. We’ve always gotten along great."

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Inside Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek's Years-Long Friendship, from Ask the Dust to the Eras Tour

The pair first worked together in 2006 and have been spotted out several times in the years since

Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek are old pals!

To celebrate the Top Gun star’s 62nd birthday on Wednesday, July 3, Hayek posted a sweet shot of the two of them dressed to the nines at Victoria Beckham’s birthday party earlier this year.

But Hayek and Cruise have known each other for years, first working together on the 2006 film Ask the Dust . The movie — which stars Hayek, 57, alongside fellow Hollywood A-listers Colin Farrell , Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel — was produced by Cruise and released in between his more well-known roles in War of the Worlds and Mission: Impossible III . 

After their collaboration, Cruise and Hayek clearly stayed in touch, becoming semi-regular dinner partners over the next two decades.

Salma Hayek/Instagram

In February 2015, the actors turned heads when they were spotted out to dinner in London alongside Cruise’s ex, Penélope Cruz — specifically because he donned a bright-red lipstick stain on his cheek as he stepped out of the restaurant. (Hayek and Cruz, 50, also go way back, starring together in the 2006 film Bandidas .)

Fast forward to July 2022, and Cruise was again spotted out to dinner with Hayek , this time joined by the Frida actress’s husband, François-Henri Pinault .

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In between bites, the stars even made time to take photos with fans — footage of which Hayek posted on her Instagram with the caption, “When you take your friend Tom out to dinner.”

But that wouldn’t be the last time Cruise would hear from Pinault, whose investment company, Artémis, acquired a majority stake in Creative Artists — the talent agency that represents Cruise among other big names — for a reported $7 billion in September 2023, per the Los Angeles Times .

Most recently, Cruise and Hayek rubbed shoulders at Taylor Swift ’s global smash Eras Tour during a London show in June. The two stars were both spotted in the VIP tent among throngs of other celebrities in attendance at Wembley Stadium.

And clearly Hayek wanted to keep the good vibes going, sending warm birthday wishes to her fellow actor on social media.

"Happy birthday dear @tomcruise 🥳🥳🥳," she wrote alongside a photo of the pair posted to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday.

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All about the life and career of the ageless actor Tom Cruise.

• Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer: A Friendship That Goes Beyond the Screen

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise have been friends for a long time, and their on-screen reunion has caught the attention of fans. Despite the fact that their characters in Top Gun had a rocky start, in real life, the two actors have always been supportive of each other.

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise have been friends for a long time, and their on-screen reunion has caught the attention of fans. Despite the fact that their characters in Top Gun had a rocky start, in real life, the two actors have always been supportive of each other. Kilmer has stated that he considers Cruise a true friend, and that they share intimate stories and challenges about their different lifestyles. Cruise has also proven to be a great support for Kilmer during his courageous battle with cancer in recent years.

Kilmer has said that it was fun to portray the conflict between their characters, but that there are no bad feelings between them. He also mentioned that they were like school children on set, and that he always thought of Cruise as a friend. It's clear that the friendship between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer goes beyond the screen. They have been friends for a long time, and their bond is strong enough to overcome any challenge.

Their friendship is an example of how two people can come together despite their differences and support each other in times of need.

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Top Gun: Maverick's Val Kilmer Discusses His Long-Standing Friendship With Tom Cruise

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Val Kilmer recently commented that on-set camaraderie was a big part of working on Top Gun back in 1986, and while it is clear that Top Gun: Maverick has captured some of the same vibes, Kilmer revealed that his close friendship with Tom Cruise is not confined to the movie. Speaking to the LA Times via email, Kilmer was asked about his appearance in the movie, which it seems was built on the friendship between Kilmer and Cruise in the script and real life.

The on-screen reunion of Cruise’s Maverick and Kilmer’s Iceman is one of the quietest but instantly iconic moments of Top Gun: Maverick . Away from the aerial acrobatics and action sequences, the short scene between the two is the highlight of the movie for many, including director Joseph Kosinski, who noted that after just a few takes, both actors were tearing up and felt like he was witnessing “a genuine moment between two old friends.” This, it seems, is pretty much the truth of what it was.

In Top Gun: Maverick , Iceman is suffering the same throat cancer as Kilmer received treatment for in real life, which led to the loss of his voice. While he has recently been able to find a voice using AI software, similar use of technology made his single line in the movie possible. When it comes to the way the scene seems so personal, Kilmer puts that down to his long-time friendship with Cruise off-screen. He wrote of the reunion:

“We talked quite a bit about what was best for the story and I think they got it right at the end. We are in touch and exchange Xmas gifts every year! Tom and I get along really well. We giggled like little kids in school between takes. I consider him a real friend. We shared intimate stories and challenges about our different lifestyles!!”

Related: Top Gun: Maverick Director Says Tom Cruise & Val Kilmer's Reunion Was 'Very Emotional'

Top Gun: Maverick Director Heaped Praise on Cruise and Kilmer

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski has no doubt created a masterpiece of a movie, one of those rare times in cinema when the reviews of critics and audiences are unanimously positive and the box office results align, but he admits that one of the biggest successes of the movie is how Cruise and Kilmer brought out the best in each other. He commented:

“You’ve got two masters at the top of their game playing the most iconic characters of their careers. I think there is a lot of Maverick in Tom, and Iceman in Val, so what you are seeing onscreen is an authentic friendship that has lasted over 36 years. When we weren’t shooting, they were sharing funny stories with [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer] about making the original film. I think at the time they were a bit competitive with each other, but now it’s something they can just laugh about.”

Top Gun: Maverick is currently the second highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide but is only around $50 million behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . Having taken over $40 million this weekend , there are not many who would bet against Maverick performing magic of his own to overtake the Marvel sorcerer very soon.

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23 Unsettlingly Nice Tom Cruise Stories

This post originally ran after the release of The Mummy . Because Tom Cruise has continued to be a nice guy ( unless COVID-19 protocols are being broken ), we have continued to update this post to include more unsettlingly nice stories.

First things first: We get it. There’s an awful lot of unsettling Scientology stuff ( a whole lot of stuff ) around Tom Cruise. But pay no attention to that: Cruise has a new movie out , which means it’s time for the latest round of absolutely gushing stories about Tom Cruise. They’re kind of like Prince stories — always unique and surprising, often exceedingly delightful, if you can ignore the odd feeling in the back of your spine. On a Hollywood press tour, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that Tom Cruise is a super-nice dude.

He taught Zac Efron how to ride a motorcycle. In 2010, a young Zac Efron sat down with the now-defunct Details magazine for a cover shoot. He was in his post– High School Musical phase, trying to break out of the teen-star shell. Somewhere along the line, Tom Cruise asked him if he knew how to ride a motorcycle. “You wanna learn how?” Cruise asked , inviting young Efron to his house. According to Details , Cruise “taught him how a motorcycle engine works, showed him the hangar with his dozens of pristine bikes — including the Triumphs he rode in the Mission: Impossible movies.” When Details asked him why he thought Tom Cruise would do such a nice thing, he had no idea. “I don’t know. I don’t even want to know,” he said. “It’s just so cool that he gave a shit, the fact that he cared at all. No one else did that.”

He helped Mummy co-star Jake Johnson get in shape. “Here’s a story that is very anti-Hollywood, but very Tom,” Johnson told Thrillist recently . “He wanted me to work out with him and get in shape for the movie. People have told me in the past, including New Girl , that I need to lose weight and stay in shape. But they don’t tell me how. It’s like, ‘Hey tubbo, fit into these slacks!’” Instead Tom Cruise invited Johnson to his gym (the “ Pain Cave ”). “He said, ‘You’ll be training with me and my trainers. If you want I’ll put you on a food plan with my chef. The food is great,’” Johnson recalled. When someone on Mummy set insisted that Johnson wait until after Cruise was done working out so the star could have the gym alone, Cruise was furious. “Let me make something crystal clear: I don’t care what anybody on the crew says to you, they don’t know what I’m saying to you,” Johnson remembered him saying. “And I’m saying to you that you are always welcome. I don’t care what I’m doing in there. You’re not other. You’re my castmate. Come in.”

He stayed in touch with the kid who dropped out of Jerry Maguire . Before Jonathan Lipnicki, there was another kid set to steal the show on the Jerry Maguire set. He spent a few weeks filming, but after a certain point, he “ran out of gas,” Cameron Crowe told Deadline , and wanted to leave the production. The role was recast — Lipnicki stepped in — but Crowe got a call from the mother of the boy who almost took the role. “Weeks later, the mother of the first kid calls the office. I got on the phone and she says, ‘Will you please tell Tom Cruise thank you for the way he has kept in touch with my son, sent him letters and gifts, and just let him know all is well?’ I thought, wow, I had no idea Tom Cruise was doing that,” he said. Crowe continued:

“She said, ‘It really helped my son. He’s over it now, he’s fine, and Tom did a beautiful job helping him transition back to his life.’ I went to Tom, later, and said, you quietly helped this kid through what could have been a terrible transition. Thank you, but why did you never tell any of us? Tom said, ‘I just didn’t want that first actor to go to the movies, look at the screen and think he’d failed. I wanted him to love movies, his entire life.’ That is the quiet way Tom Cruise conducts his professional life.”

He gave Kanye West advice on his fledgling comedy career, but declined a role in Kanye’s HBO pilot. Once upon a time, Kanye made a comedy pilot for HBO. When Vulture saw the pilot , Wyatt Cenac revealed overhearing a conversation between Kanye and Cruise: “Kanye had been trying to get Tom Cruise to be in the pilot. And he had asked him because they were friendly. And we’re shooting a scene [in the Escalade] and at one point Kanye’s like, ‘Shut the fuck up, it’s Tom Cruise,’ and because he couldn’t get out of the car, he had to take the phone call smashed between people,” Cenac said. “You can hear Tom Cruise laughing [ does a Tom Cruise laugh ] as Kanye goes, ‘Yeah, man, I’ve been working on the improv stuff, you know, all your suggestions were great.’ [ Does another Tom Cruise laugh. ] That went on for like 15 minutes. Tom Cruise never did the show and we had to hire a Tom Cruise look-alike that was like five-feet taller than Cruise.”

He’s a good sport on set. “I think there’s something very right with him in that he cares so much about the audience experience,” his Mission: Impossible co-star Simon Pegg told Jimmy Fallon. “It’s like he’s obsessive with giving people an authentic experience.” Actor-director Todd Field, who acted with Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut , said something similar of working with Cruise and Stanley Kubrick: “You’ve never seen [an actor] more completely subservient and prostrate themselves at the feet of a director.”

He convinced the Black Eyed Peas to do a song for Knight and Day. Tom Cruise, a self-described “big fan of the Peas,” was almost done with filming Knight and Day when he, co-star Cameron Diaz, and ex-wife Katie Holmes saw them play over Super Bowl weekend. He was struck with a brilliant idea : “As we were watching, it occurred to me that this is the perfect time, so I called up Will [i.am], and he doesn’t have any time, but I asked, ‘Are you interested [in doing a song for the film]?’” They were, so they did.

He totally did not get mad at Cuba Gooding Jr.’s dad when he asked about his sexuality. During the filming of Jerry Maguire , Cuba Gooding Sr. impolitely inquired about Tom Cruise’s sexuality. “He gave Tom Cruise a hug and said, ‘I love you, man. Now seriously, are you gay or not?’” Gooding Jr. recalled , years later. “I almost fainted. And thought, Please, lord, let me disappear .” Cruise was so chill dealing with the prying parent: “Tom just laughed and said ‘No,’” his co-star reported.

He gave Kevin Pollock a $500 pen (and then a second pen). During rehearsals for A Few Good Men , Kevin Pollock noticed Tom Cruise making notes in his script with a ridiculously huge pen. At first, they joked about it. Then, Cruise convinced Pollock to try writing with it. “It’s like an angel wing floating on a cloud. It was a magical pen,” Pollock recalled to the Chive . Even Demi Moore agreed the pen was a total joy to use. When Pollock learned the pen cost $500, he was crestfallen. Later, Cruise’s assistant showed up with a gift: the luxury writing utensil itself. When Pollock admitted to his co-star that he hadn’t used the pen because he felt it deserved a special spot on his mantle, Cruise bought him a second $500 pen — one for the mantle, and one for Pollock’s pocket.

He personally arranged for Bill Hader to leave a set and get home to New York after an attempted bombing in Times Square. As Bill Hader and Tom Cruise were in Los Angeles filming promos for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, word reached the set that a car bomb had just gone off in Times Square. Hader was a new dad at the time, concerned about his wife and infant daughter in New York. Cruise noticed Hader’s concern, and asked when he’d get to go home to check on them. Hader wasn’t due back to the city for two more days, and so, Tom Cruise took over the set and got Bill Hader home by 8 a.m. the next morning. As Hader recalled:

“He thinks for a second. ‘No,’ he says. ‘We’ll get you home tonight.’ And in that moment, Tom Cruise, as Les Grossman, in a karate gi, began to direct all my coverage,” Hader recalled. “All my footage, all my close-ups. Boom! We do three perfect takes. Boom, boom, boom. Everyone’s chest-butting each other, some people are chest-butting themselves, people are going insane.” Two days’ worth of work, Hader said, “and he got it done in 45 minutes.” Then Katie Holmes came up to him and handed him a piece of paper with his new flight information. “You’re on the red eye tonight,” she told him. “I’m like, ‘What?!’” Hader said. Because Cruise got him out of work and on a plane that night, he was able to surprise his wife and daughter by 7:45 the next morning and check in on them in person. “So that’s what it’s like to work with Tom Cruise,” Hader said.

He rescued a family from their burning sailboat. While vacationing with then-wife Nicole Kidman and their kids on their luxury yacht in 1997, Tom Cruise spotted a sailboat going up in flames. The actor sent the yacht’s skiff to rescue the people aboard — French “paper tycoon” Jacques Lejeune, 68, his wife, Bernadette, 42, daughter Eugénie, 7, and two crew members — according to People .

He helped rescue a victim of a hit-and-run, and paid her medical bills. The year before the sailboat rescue, Tom Cruise was driving down Wilshire Boulevard on a rainy night when he watched Heloisa Vinhas, a 23-year-old aspiring actress, get hit by a car. Cruise commanded someone to call for help and accompanied her to UCLA Medical Center, according to People . He even picked up the $7,000 medical bill for her broken left leg and bruised ribs when he found out she wasn’t insured. “If he’s not Superman, he can be Batman — Batman doesn’t have superpowers,” Vinhas told the mag.

He saved a pair of his littlest fans during a crowded red carpet. At Mission: Impossible ’s West End premiere, Tom Cruise spotted preteen fans Laurence Sadler, 7, and Christos “Chris” Tzanetis, 13. As he and Kidman made their way through the crowd, he eyed Sadler being pinned against a steel bar. Cruise rescued both young fans from being crushed, and called for a police officer’s help. “Every night I say good-night to him when I pass his poster in my room,” Sadler told People at the time.

He never forgets Dakota Fanning’s birthday. “He has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old,” Fanning told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live . “I always think, Oh, when I’m 18, he’ll probably stop. Oh, 21, he’ll stop. But every year. It’s really kind.” Fanning says he usually gifts her shoes.

He bought his publicist’s daughter so many wedding gifts. Pat Kingsley and Tom Cruise had one of the closest talent-publicist relationships. They met after he’d finished work on A Few Good Men , and often talked every day. They parted ways, she later said, over a disagreement over The Last Samauri ’s press tour: He wanted to talk more openly about Scientology; she thought it wasn’t a good talking point during the press tour. But before that, she said, “We talked constantly,” telling The Hollywood Reporter that they shared 11 p.m. calls almost nightly. “He was an insomniac. I liked the fact that he was so much fun. And he was so thoughtful. He remembered birthdays, my daughter’s birthday. He came to her wedding; she was registered somewhere for the china, and he bought out everything. They’ve got things they haven’t even opened yet, and they’ve been together 15 years!”

He sends Kirsten Dunst (and Jimmy Kimmel) a cake every year. Kirsten Dunst acted with Cruise in 1994’s Interview With a Vampire . “I ran into Tom like five years ago, and now I get this cake every that’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. It’s from Dylan’s Bakery in Thousand Oaks,” she explained to Jimmy Kimmel in 2015. “We call it the ‘Cruise cake’ at my family’s house. We’re like, ‘Cruise cake’s here!’ And it’s gone within a day.” Kimmel agrees that the cake is good, and that he receives one regularly, too.

He gifted his lawyer a rare book of English history. When Cruise’s longtime lawyer Bert Fields turned 86, the actor got him an especially thoughtful gift. Fields received a customized Cruise cake and “an extremely rare edition of [Raphael] Holinshed’s history of England,” Fields told THR . “He knows I write about English history, and this is a fantastic prize.”

He’s maintained a friendship with Billy Wilder in the director’s last years. Cameron Crowe really wanted the legendary director to take the role of Jerry’s mentor, Dicky Fox. Crowe was inspired by The Apartment , and set a meeting with Wilder to offer him the role. When he arrived to Wilder’s office, the director started chatting about his old movies, mistaking him for a messenger. When Crowe offered him the role, he declined, finally saying yes after a long courtship.

When filming began, Wilder apologized and dropped out. Crowe told Cruise. “Cruise says, let’s go talk him into it. We drive to Billy Wilder’s office. Billy is there, and he lights up when he sees that it’s Tom Cruise. He invites us in,” Crowe recalled to Deadline . “He tells Tom these stories about Cary Grant, and Sunset Boulevard . He’s just magnificent. And I realize he is in full Hollywood director, getting-ready-to-make-another-picture-as-soon-as-possible mode, and he’s got Tom Cruise in his office. And I’m virtually invisible at this point, as that romance is happening.” Eventually, Wilder finally declined and the role was recast. Crowe told Deadline Wilder and Cruise remained friends until the director’s death. “He loved Billy Wilder and we talked about him, constantly. Tom wrote notes to Billy, and they developed a little bit of a friendship. When Billy passed away, Tom came to the memorial and really let everybody know how much he loved Billy. I think Tom got a big kick out of Wilder. How could you not?”

He got Cameron Crowe back into directing. After the failure of Elizabethtown , Cameron Crowe wasn’t sure about directing another movie. Then Tom Cruise took him for a drive, and the two of them ended up on the set of Knocked Up . “Mr. Cruise introduced Mr. Crowe to Mr. Apatow, who joked that he’d been stealing for years from Say Anything , the sharp-witted teen comedy that first established Mr. Crowe as a director in 1989,” the New York Times reported. “Cruise sidles up to me and goes: ‘See? Get out of your house, man, it’s fun,’” Crowe recalled to the Times . “And that’s when it felt like, yeah, it’s time to direct again.”

He released Jessica Chastain from her Oblivion contract so she could star in Zero Dark Thirty. Jessica Chastain was set to co-star with Tom Cruise in the dystopian action movie Oblivion when she got a call from Kathryn Bigelow, who wanted Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty . Before even reading the script, Chastain told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, she agreed to star. Cruise came to Chastain’s rescue: “I was excited to do [ Oblivion ]. But when [ Zero Dark Thirty ] came my way, I realized I had to do this. And the person who made it possible for me to do this movie is Tom Cruise. Someone contacted him from my agency and said, ‘Listen, she wants to work with you. And she would love to, but there is this other film, and it’s so important.’ And he said, ‘OK, we’re going to let you out of your contract.’” Olga Kurylenko eventually signed on to Oblivion in Chastain’s place.

He always takes his kids calls, even in the middle of a scene. “There were times that I was about ready to say ‘Action; and the phone rang,” Steven Spielberg told People in 2002 about working with Tom Cruise in Minority Report . “If it was Tom’s kids, everything stopped for that. Just when he was preparing for probably the hardest scene he has in the whole movie, the phone rang. Anybody else would have looked up with anger in their eyes, but he immediately broke character and walked off and took the call.” Spielberg was impressed by his star’s attention to his kids even when it came to minor emergencies: “Connor or Isabella had stuck an eraser in their eye or something like that. It was not serious, but Dad came to the rescue. I thought it was amazing. I have been known to say, ‘I’ll call them back after the shot.’”

He bought W. Earl Brown Elton John–Billy Joel tickets after a rehearsal ran late. While shooting Vanilla Sky , a rehearsal ran late and Cruise’s scene partner W. Earl Brown ( Deadwood , Preacher ) missed an Elton John–Billy Joel concert he had tickets to in L.A. Once Tom Cruise found out, according to People , he made it up to Brown: “You didn’t give your tickets away? Why didn’t somebody tell me?” he reportedly asked. When Elton John and Billy Joel played in L.A. a few nights later, Cruise got Brown two tickets to the show, fourth-row center.

He danced to Yung Joc on BET. Technically, this isn’t a nice thing Tom Cruise did for any one person in particular, but rather one very nice thing he did for the internet as a whole. For a short period of time, the Yung Joc motorcycle dance was the most important dance you could do. And Cruise, in an appearance on BET, did the dance. He sold it, committed completely. So here you have it: Tom Cruise dancing on 106 & Park during Mission: Impossible III ’s press tour.

He helped Jennifer Connelly face her fear of flying. Turns out Tom Cruise can help someone without even knowing he’s doing it. Jennifer Connelly told Graham Norton that she suffered from a “really crippling fear of flying” for years before she filmed Top Gun: Maverick. She didn’t realize her character had a scene in the air. But even though he was unaware of her phobia, Cruise gave her a reassuring heads-up from the cockpit: “He’s like, ‘It’s going to be very graceful, very elegant, just some very elegant rolls, you know. It’s going to be nice and easy.’”

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Top Gun's Kelly McGillis Confirms What We Suspected About Tom Cruise's On-Set Behavior

Fans are eagerly awaiting Tom Cruise's fighter to kick the tires and light the fires in the long-awaited sequel  "Top Gun: Maverick,"  which,  after many delays , is finally set to hit theaters in May. Cruise is indisputably one of Hollywood's biggest stars and, at times, a polarizing figure due to his personal life. The three-time Oscar nominee has starred in over 50 movies and is also a successful producer (via  IMDb ).

Cruise is known for his work in well-known films like "Risky Business," "The Outsiders," "Legend," and "All the Right Moves," but his performance as daredevil Navy aviator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 1986's "Top Gun" is remembered as the one that made him a full-fledged movie star. The action flick, directed by the late Tony Scott, also stars Anthony Edwards,  Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer, and Meg Ryan. In this year's "Top Gun: Maverick," Cruise is poised to return to the Naval Fighter Weapons School as an instructor who will train the latest crop of hotshot pilots.

McGillis, who played Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood in the original film, revealed to  Entertainment Tonight  in 2019 that she wasn't asked to reprise her role in the "Top Gun" sequel. Instead, Cruise's character has a new lady in his life, Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly ("A Beautiful Mind"). According to  CinemaBlend , Benjamin owns a bar near the famous flight school. 

Due to some high-profile off-screen hijinks and a long association with the controversial Church of Scientology, Cruise has earned a bit of a mixed public reputation. With that in mind, you might expect that his on-set behavior matches his eccentric tabloid headlines. Not so, reports McGillis, who has only nice things to say about her former on-screen love interest, confirming our long-held belief that Cruise might be a little more down-to-Earth than his reputation suggests.

Kelly McGillis called her Top Gun co-star 'wonderful'

In a 2013 interview with the  Los Angeles Times , Kelly McGillis recalled that, except for Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, the "Top Gun" cast stayed at the same hotel during the shoot and had a lot of time to bond. "There was definitely a big ensemble group camaraderie," she said.

She went on to say that Cruise was "incredibly respectful, polite, and very honest." Similarly, she had nothing but good things to say about the actor in a 2013 interview with Yahoo! Movies . "I think Tom is terrific. He's the sweetest guy," said McGillis. "He is very genuine and sincere and respectful. And I just loved working with Tom. I think he is wonderful."

Although the upcoming sequel has thrust McGillis back into the spotlight, the actress doesn't appear much interested in fame these days. In 2019, McGillis told ET, "To me, my relationships to other people became far more important than my relationship to fame."

McGillis also admitted that she hasn't kept in touch with her former co-stars, and at the time, she hadn't seen the trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick" and appeared somewhat ambivalent about watching the finished product.

Notably, "Top Gun: Maverick" actress Jennifer Connelly appears to share her predecessor's high opinion of Cruise , particularly when it comes to his professionalism and unparalleled work ethic on set.

"I've never seen anyone work harder, be more committed to his work," Connelly told  CinemaBlend  in 2020. "Every moment is an opportunity to do all that he can do to deliver the best thing that he can possibly deliver."

McGillis compared filming Top Gun to being at summer camp

In addition to enjoying her time working alongside Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis told Yahoo! Movies that the entire "Top Gun" cast was close. She recalled that, after shooting, they would throw parties and play sports to unwind.

"We just had a good time. We all hung out and we would play tennis and basketball and it was just fun," she told the outlet. McGillis went on to say that it was like being at a summer camp where everyone worked together and played together afterward.

In 2019, she told ET that movies create unique relationships because they bring people so close for brief moments in their lives. "I think I've spoken to a couple of people occasionally, but the truth is, movies are very odd work situations because you have a lot of people who come together from all different parts of the world," she said.

Despite her positive memories of being on set and her appreciation for the life-changing role, McGillis has been honest about why she wasn't brought back for a sequel. Back in 2013, she speculated that she wouldn't be invited back because of her age and appearance.

"You hear women of my age talk about this all the time," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I think this industry is not particularly kind to women who are over 50. I am not into the coloring of my hair, doing the Botox and getting a facelift."

While she isn't involved with the upcoming sequel, McGill told ET that she's happy for Connelly to have the part.

"Top Gun: Maverick" begins playing in theaters on May 27.

Here's why Tom Cruise 'literally has no friends' despite his amiable public persona

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Although Tom Cruise loves to portray himself as Mr Friendly, a reliable source within his company team recently revealed that the 'Mission Impossible' star has very few, if any, genuine friends.

Moreover, Cruise usually has long workdays (sometimes 16 hours) and doesn't have much time left to give to friends.

Tom Cruise is a man with few true pals, claims source

According to people close to the Hollywood icon, Cruise does not allocate much time to genuine relationships because of his tremendous emphasis on his job.

Cruise, 62, remains nearly totally engrossed in his business, continuously working on new projects even when he is meant to be having a vacation.

An insider, who has significant experience working directly with the actor claimed that Cruise's unwavering work ethic has made him stand out because nobody can match his enthusiasm or commitment.

"Let’s be real here, Tom lives for the business of being a global movie star, and it’s not exactly ‘work’ for him because he goes at it like a 24/7 lifestyle choice," the insider told In Touch Weekly .

The insider added that Cruise leads a largely solitary existence and that his closest friends are influential businessmen rather than intimate friends.

Cruise barely has time for anything else because his entire existence is centered around his next spectacular stunt or movie idea.

"He literally has no friends who can keep pace with him, and that’s all been exacerbated this summer as he finally puts Mission: Impossible 8 to bed and can move onto other projects," the source said.

The source added: "He only socializes with the moguls and other A-listers to further his movie ambitions, and it’s pretty clear when you spend any stretch of time with him that he’s a lonely guy and would rather be off shooting a mega stunt than pretending he likes his downtime."

According to a second source close to the 'Top Gun' star, his successful career has been fueled by his exceptional work ethic, and he has no plans to retire anytime soon.

Tom Cruise reportedly possesses impressive work ethic

The 'Top Gun' actor has an amazing work ethic; since breaking through, he has acted in over 50 movies. The insider claimed that Cruise continues to remain strong and shows no signs of slowing down, let alone retiring anytime soon.

Cruise has been relentlessly working since his early 1980s Hollywood acting debut in minor roles. In 1983, he gained popularity as a member of the group cast of 'The Outsiders' and went on to star in 'All the Right Moves' and 'Risky Business' that same year.

The superstar, who was already famous by 1996, landed a role in the first 'Mission: Impossible' film and went on to feature in six more installments of the franchise in the following thirty years.

Cruise, who continues to keep working, is now filming 'Mission: Impossible 8.'

"He never even takes vacations without pasting on some kind of work function to it, like a location scout or just a box full of scripts to read and movies to watch," the source said.

"You want to tell the guy, ‘get a life!’ but with a person as strong willed as Tom, that would never work."

Though Cruise has sustained multiple injuries during his career as an action actor, including fractured ribs, a broken ankle, and a near-decapitation from artificial horses while filming 'The Last Samurai,' he is eager to execute as many of his own stunts as possible.

Those closest to the celebrity are concerned for his safety as he ages but he hasn't been troubled by it yet. "He will slow down and act normal only as a last resort and only when he’s a very old man, that’s my prediction," the person said.

They added, "He loves his lifestyle but he’s becoming a one man band at this point and he keeps saying that he lives for the grind of working – as long as he can be in charge!"

Despite the agony, the stunting Hollywood icon has so far managed to survive, and he has no intention of stopping his own life-defying performances.

The Real Truth About Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Break-Up

There's no end to news about Tom Cruise. Some of it's great, like the fact that "Top Gun: Maverick" was his first movie to gross over $100 million on its opening weekend . Nicely done. And some of the news is a little more exciting and sometimes bizarre. Some of the more disturbing things about Cruise's life have to do with his involvement in the Church of Scientology. He's also not a bit shy to take on studio executives if he feels he has a better way of doing things. For example, when Paramount proposed a release plan for "Maverick" that would bring it to a streaming platform after only 45 days in theaters, Cruise allegedly showed up with a lawyer and insisted on a three-month theater showing.

On a more badass level, Cruise can freak out his family and friends with his insistence on doing his own stunts , some of which are outright dangerous. In 2021, when Cruise was filming "Mission: Impossible 8," fans got footage of him strapped to a 1941 Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane, The Sun reports, and the plane flipped and nosedived while Cruise was on the wing. Clearly, there are no stuntmen required for these projects!

But perhaps most exciting of all is Cruise's relationship history and, as far as we know, no stuntmen were hired for these gigs either. He's certainly made an impression because all of his exes had things to say about time spent dating him. But of all of these exes, Katie Holmes might have the most to say.

The strange selection process for Tom Cruise's girlfriends

Before Katie Holmes came onto the scene, Tom Cruise had an unusual way of finding love. As Maureen Orth reported for Vanity Fair in 2012, the Church of Scientology had a way of vetting women to fill the role of Cruise's girlfriend. Apparently, Cruise's adherence to the church was a source of tension in two of his previous relationships with Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman. "There were allegations and counter-allegations about fidelity, but the central problem was Nicole did not want to deal with Scientology," a source told Vanity Fair.

Allegedly, A-listers like Sofia Vergara had been scouted but turned down the offer. Brendan Tighe, a former Scientologist, said on " Megyn Kelly Today " that Scarlet Johansson had apparently tried out for the role, a comment that garnered a response from the actor herself.

"The very idea of any person auditioning to be in a relationship is so demeaning," Johansson said in a statement, per a later publication by Vanity Fair . "I refuse for anyone to spread the idea that I lack the integrity to choose my own relationships. Only a man, a.k.a. Brendan Tighe, would come up with a crazy story like that." Orth reported on the experience of actor and activist Nazanin Boniadi as she was scouted and molded by Scientology, which included the encumbrances of being constantly accompanied by handlers. Boniadi was also never allowed to criticize the church. It didn't last, but it sure gave a heads up for what Katie Holmes was in for.

How an article for Seventeen changed everything

Of all things, it was an interview that set things in motion between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. In 2004, Holmes was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, after playing Joey Potter on "Dawson's Creek" and engaged to actor Chris Klein, per HuffPost . She was interviewed by Deb Baer for "Seventeen" magazine and was, naturally, being asked about upcoming wedding plans. Holmes quite innocently said, "I think every little girl dreams about (her wedding). I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise," (via The Hollywood Reporter ).

The behind-the-scenes workings of the Church of Scientology are unknown, but sure enough, six months after the article hit the press, Holmes and Klein broke off their engagement. Shortly after, Homes was introduced to Cruise on the pretext that there might be a part for her in "Mission: Impossible 3." However it happened, Holmes' admission of her childhood crush on that fateful day set the wheels in motion.

Baer later lamented her interview with Holmes in an op-ed for HuffPost, where she admitted that Holmes struck her as overly trusting and far too idealistic to see a relationship with Cruise for what it really was. "She was ridiculously easy prey," Baer wrote, noting that Holmes was young enough that she was still easily "starstruck" and lonely. "Once Katie was firmly in Tom's clutches, sometimes I'd lay awake at night, tossing and turning realizing that the quote I'd gotten from her at the first interview probably ruined the poor girl's life," Baer ominously wrote.

The couch-jumping episode

It's not every relationship that gets a defining moment that involves Oprah Winfrey. Maybe Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are one of the few other couples who can compete with such an illustrious milestone. For Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, it came via the infamous couch episode. It was in 2005 and Cruise was wild in the interview, throwing around power poses, fit pumps, and athletic arm swings. "Something happened to you, something happened to you," Winfrey repeated. "I'm in love," Cruise told the audience with a radiant smile, followed by the actor taking a knee and giving another low fist pump.

"We've never seen you behave this way before," Winfrey said. It was after this comment that Cruise jumped on the couch. Hey, we've always known he's done his own stunts. It was as erratic and enthusiastic as anyone could imagine but Winfrey, being the pro she is, took it in stride. Cruise then ran backstage to get Holmes, who was 26 at the time, and brought her out in front of the audience. She continued to hug Cruise and looked charmingly shy.

Cruise was supposed to be promoting his 2005 film "War of the Worlds," directed by Stephen Spielberg and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Needless to say, the production company wasn't overly pleased,  The New York Times noted, when any talk of the upcoming film was completely derailed by Cruise's antics. No one remembered a movie after that.

Suri Cruise was born in silence

Tom Cruise didn't get down on one knee when he proposed to Katie Holmes in Paris in June 2005. The two dined at one of the restaurants in the Eiffel Tower, The Hollywood Reporter notes, and it was here that Cruise asked her. While Holmes didn't get a traditional, kneeling proposal, she did get a five-carat yellow diamond ring by famed jeweler Fred Leighton.

In October 2005, the couple broke the news that they were expecting a baby. In an interview with Barbara Walters for her special "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005," he admitted that he made a big, baby-related purchase. "I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise said, (via People). "I am gonna donate it to a hospital when we are done," he added, admitting that he was going to perform the sonograms himself. The news was worrying to many doctors, a later article by NBC News noted, stating that such procedures should be performed by a trained professional.

Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch and daughter Suri was born on April 18, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. But there was one unusual detail. Holmes had to deliver Suri in silence. The unusual requirement hailed from Cruise's belief in Scientology, where founder L. Ron Hubbard stated that words and sounds created by pain were harmful to both the mother and the baby, Today notes. We wonder what Holmes thought of this belief.

Katie's parents were upset about the relationship

While Tom Cruise was jumping on Oprah Winfrey's couch, Katie Holmes' parents were allegedly a lot more skeptical about the budding relationship. When it came to Holmes and Cruise's 2006 wedding at the Odescalchi Castle in Italy, the Mirror notes, it was rumored that her parents were going to skip the wedding because they were so disappointed in the pending nuptials. They may have been worried about Cruise himself but they were also upset about Holmes' religious shift. She had been Catholic but dipped into the waters of Scientology, since it was a must in becoming Cruise's leading lady. As Catholics, they felt they could not attend a Scientology wedding.

Her father, lawyer Marty Holmes, wasn't one to have his leadership contested. "Marty is very rigid — it's his way or the highway," an insider told People . However, whatever differences her parents felt, they put it aside, at least for her rehearsal dinner. "It didn't take much time before I realized this Tom guy was a special guy — that he loved Katie, that he cared for her and supported her," Holmes' father said in a speech, per People. "Tom expressed his love many different ways — I like that. I respect men who are not afraid to show their feelings. I respect Tom for the commitment he has made to provide happiness and love to Katie." While they might not have loved her choice in partner, they at least stood by their daughter for part of the ostentatious events.

Why there were red flags at their wedding

Despite the fact that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had a $3.5 million dollar wedding at the Odescalchi Castle in Lazio, Italy, there were some unusual moments about their big day. With all of the guests assembled and Cruise waiting at the front, Holmes kept everyone waiting for an uncomfortably long time. Leah Rimini, a Scientologist at the time, later wrote in her book "Troublemaker," that Cruise stood there smiling "for the next twenty minutes (but what seemed like an eternity)." Rimini also wrote that Holmes and Cruise asked her to invite Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to the wedding, since Rimini was friends with them, per Vulture .

The wedding was, unsurprisingly, a ceremony of Scientology and, as the Mirror reports, some of the vows were a little unusual. "Girls need clothes and food, tender happiness and frills, a pan, a comb, a cat," Cruise allegedly said to Holmes as part of his vows in a way of promising to provide for her during their marriage.

Besides some of the more unusual moments, the wedding was also lavish and magical. Giorgio Armani designed both of Holmes' dresses for the day, as well as Suri's dress, per People . When asked who was responsible for the whimsy of the evening, a guest said, "It was all Katie. It was the wedding every little girl dreams of." It definitely sounds like it was unreal. "It was so beyond what your mind could compute," Remini said.

People noticed that Katie started acting robotic

While Katie Holmes looked blissed out at her wedding, people started to notice a change in her during her marriage to Tom Cruise. No doubt, the stringent requirements of a life in Scientology meant that Holmes was constantly monitored. As Maureen Orth reported for Vanity Fair , Cruise and Holmes were always surrounded by handlers, even in their own home. On top of that, Holmes had to re-start her own life so it would fit in Cruise's world. "Holmes disappeared for a couple weeks after she and Cruise met, and she distanced herself from old friends," Orth wrote. Orth also noted that in 2010, she sat with Holmes and Cruise at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where the couple was bombarded by fans throughout the entire meal. "My goodness," Orth addressed Holmes, "if this is what you go through here, what must it be like when you go outside?" Holmes replied, "Oh, we don't go outside very much."

Deb Baer, who interviewed Holmes for that famous "Seventeen" article that started it all later wrote of what she observed in Holmes throughout her marriage to Cruise. "I'd see her on Letterman or Leno, robotically calling Tom amazing for the 400th time and think, that is NOT the down-to-earth girl I met," Baer wrote for the HuffPost .

Jenna Miscavige Hill, daughter to Scientology powerhouse David Miscavige, later wrote in support of Holmes by sharing her own experience, per The Hollywood Reporter . "My experience in growing up in Scientology is that it is both mentally and at times physically abusive," she wrote.

If you or someone you know is dealing with spiritual abuse , you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website .

Tom Cruise didn't see their divorce coming

On June 29, 2012, Katie Holmes filed for divorce from Tom Cruise after five years of marriage, a move that allegedly blindsided Cruise, according to The Hollywood Reporter . "I didn't expect it," Cruise admitted to the German network ProSieben (via CBS News ). "Life is a tragicomedy. You need to have a sense of humor," he added. News of the divorce landed right before Cruise's 50th birthday. "To be 50 and to have experiences and to think, you have a grip on everything, and then it hits you: This is it, what life can do to you," Cruise added.

Despite Cruise's brave attitude, TMZ reported that both Cruise and Holmes were seen wearing their wedding rings after the divorce filing. Allegedly, Cruise's two children, whom he adopted with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, Connor Cruise and Isabella Cruise, stayed close by his side during the experience. "Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy to work this out," a rep for Cruise stated.

Meanwhile, Holmes' attorney, Jonathan Wolfe, released a statement as well, according to People . "This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family," Wolfe said. "Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest." Despite the big changes to come to both of their lives, reports aired that Holmes was photographed in New York looking happy and relieved.

Why Scientology factored into their split

After the news broke about Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's divorce, Cruise admitted that a major reason for their divorce was Scientology. Radar  got access to Cruise's deposition, which was eye opening when it came to the actor's religion and the impact it had. Lawyers asked Cruise if Holmes left in order to protect their daughter, Suri, from Scientology. "Listen, I find that question offensive," Cruise heatedly responded. "I find it, those statements offensive. Like with any relationship, there are many different levels to it. You know, I, I find it very offensive. There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion."

Cruise relinquished a little during the deposition. A lawyer asked him, "And Ms. Holmes has never indicated in any way that was one of the reasons she left you? ...To protect Suri from Scientology?" Cruise replied, "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes." When asked if Suri was currently practicing Scientology, Cruise said that she wasn't.

Jenna Miscavige Hill, a former Scientologist, told The Hollywood Reporter that she understood Holmes' decision to protect Suri. "As a mother myself, I offer my support to Katie and wish for her all the strength she will need to do what is best for her and her daughter," Miscavige Hill said in a statement. Holmes asked for sole custody of their daughter, so clearly she wanted to make sure that she was in charge of parenting.

Finances after their divorce

It was very advantageous for Katie Holmes that her father, Marty Holmes, was a lawyer and one who really went to bat for his daughter when she divorced Tom Cruise. Marty, of course, wasn't the only lawyer on Holmes' side, but he was a key one. In fact, he had brought his legal talent to his daughter's aid even before her wedding. He had negotiated her prenup with Cruise, a document that "reportedly filled five bankers' boxes," Vanity Fair notes. It was shrewd planning on his part. "Because of it, when Katie Holmes made her bombshell announcement late last June that she was divorcing Tom Cruise, the case was able to be resolved in a mere 11 days," the outlet noted.

Interestingly though, Holmes didn't make out with as much money as one might have expected, considering Cruise's net worth of $600 million, per Celebrity Net Worth . Cruise only gave Homes $400,000 a year for child support, which will end when Suri turns 18, according to TMZ , totaling $4.8 million. Cruise was also made responsible for any other expenses, including medical costs, related to Suri.

There was considerable speculation as to why Holmes settled for so little. As CafeMom hypothesized, Holmes was able to maintain more autonomy in how she chose to raise Suri, including schools, because it would give Cruise less control over. Had Holmes gotten more money from Cruise, he would have had more say, which might have included an education in Scientology for Suri.

How Katie started to thrive after her divorce

There was something remarkable about watching Katie Holmes after her divorce from Tom Cruise. She moved to New York City with her daughter, Suri, and friends told InStyle that Holmes was a resurrected woman, up for all that the city had to offer and eager for new adventures. "I feel like I can be more creative and have more time, have my voice," Holmes told InStyle. "It's sort of, like, just put your stuff out there and be yourself. It takes a while to be comfortable, though." Holmes admitted that she's never felt so creative and so peaceful at the same time. "You can get consumed by what people think, but suddenly you just decide to do things on your own terms," Holmes added. "I feel like I'm finally figuring that out. I'm getting the projects I want made and just relaxing a little."

Holmes found love again too with actor Jamie Foxx. The only problem was that Holmes had, as Radar  reported, signed an agreement in her divorce settlement that she wouldn't date anyone publicly for five years after her split from Cruise. On top of that, Holmes was forbidden to introduce any new love interests to Suri. Foxx and Holmes began dating in 2013 but ended up splitting after six years, People notes. However, the relationship was an emotional breakthrough for Holmes. "I don't have any fear now, I don't have a lot of rules for myself, and I don't take myself that seriously," she told People in 2014.

Tom Cruise's relationship with his children today

Tom Cruise shares two children with ex Nicole Kidman. The couple adopted Connor and Isabella Cruise, whom he remains connected to still. Isabella, who goes by Bella, is an artist and social media shy, though she does have an Instagram account where she showcases her art. Bella is still a member of Scientology and married Max Parker in London, according to the Daily Mail . Neither Cruise nor Kidman attended her wedding, which naturally led to speculation that her relationship had frayed with her parents. But she later cleared the air. "Of course [we talk], they're my parents," Bella told the Daily Mail. "Anyone who says otherwise is full of s**t."

Conner, who was born in 1995, has a few film credits under his belt and works as a DJ but, like his sister, he's media shy and rarely posts photos with his parents. However, in 2019, Conner and Cruise were photographed together in London, according to People , where they bonded over a private helicopter. Cruise learned how to fly choppers for "Mission: Impossible" because... of course he did.

As far as Cruise's relationship goes with daughter Suri, whom he shares with Katie Holmes, there's less evidence of a bond. In fact, as Hollywood Life notes, Cruise and Suri haven't been photographed together since 2012. "As challenging as things have become for him and his daughter, he still loves her," a source told the outlet in 2019 and added that Cruise hopes to rekindle the relationship.

Who else they've dated since their divorce

Tom Cruise started dating British actor Hayley Atwell in 2020 when they met on the set of "Mission: Impossible 7," where they filmed together in London and Rome. An insider on production told The Sun that they were a great pair. "Tom and Hayley hit it off from day one," the source said. "They've been meeting up after hours, and she's been to his London pad. They get on brilliantly, and both seem very happy." Atwell was even at the premiere for Cruise's next film, "Top Gun: Maverick."

However, things got rocky between the two and they split once, reconciled, got back together, and split again. In June 2022, they had called it quits, a later publication by The Sun reports. There was no evidence that Scientology was a factor in their breakup.

Meanwhile, Katie Holmes found love after Jamie Foxx with chef Emilio Vitolo but after eight months, they split in May 2021, per Us Weekly . Holmes then began dating musician Bobby Wooten III, who is ten years her junior, Page Six notes. They seem to have quite the New York romance and have been photographed smooching in Central Park and walked the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022 for Holme's film "Alone Together." Their relationship continues to be a delightful hit and Holmes looks happy. She's come a long way since that Seventeen article.

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• 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• July 3 , 1962
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• Trivia His acting idol is Paul Newman . Much to the delight of Cruise, they became good friends during work on The Color of Money (1986) . Newman got him into racing, and Cruise ultimately raced on his team.
• Quotes The thing about filmmaking is I give it everything, that's why I work so hard. I always tell young actors to take charge. It's not that hard. Sign your own checks, be responsible.
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'The Outsiders' Cast Then and Now: See Where They Are Today

In 1983, a group of unknown actors starred in the Francis Ford Coppola film, The Outsiders , a movie based on the 1967 book by author S.E. Hinton. The cast quickly became teenage heartthrobs. Set in a small town in Oklahoma in 1964, the film centers on a bitter rivalry between two different groups of friends, the Greasers, who come from broken homes on the poor side of the tracks, and the Socs, who are born into wealth and privilege. Shot in Tulsa, The Outsiders was a low-budget film that became a box office success, thanks in large part to a cast of charismatic actors who soon became household names.

The Outsiders continues to be a timeless classic as schools across the country have put the book on its required reading list. The book and movie's lessons about acceptance, the impact of hatred and anger, and the significance of staying true to yourself remain just as relevant today as they were when the film was released 40 years ago. Here's a look back at the unforgettable cast of the powerful coming-of-age story.

Tom Cruise as Steve Randle

Although Tom Cruise got bit by the acting bug in high school, he briefly diverted onto a different path when he enrolled in seminary school to become a Catholic priest. After reportedly getting kicked out, Cruise jetted off to New York and then Los Angeles to pursue a career in show business where he landed small roles in the movies Taps and Endless Love before getting his big break as Steve Randle in The Outsiders .

That performance (and his good looks) lead to bigger roles in Risky Business and All the Right Moves. In 1986, Cruise starred in the blockbuster Top Gun as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and then went on to headline the Mission Impossible movie series in the '90s. He was also in The Color of Money with Paul Newman , A Few Good Men with Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson, and Jerry Maguire with Cuba Gooding Jr. In 2022 Cruise produced and starred in the Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick , which made over $1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of his long career.

Like his Top Gun persona, Cruise is also a real-life pilot and got his license to fly in 1994. Now 61, he's long been one of the world's highest-paid actors, and he's kept a devoted fanbase despite his often-tumultuous personal life.

Matt Dillon as Dallas "Dally" Winston

Who knew cutting class in school could be the lucky ticket to stardom? That just so happens to be how Matt Dillon was discovered. After making his big-screen debut at 14, in the 1979 film Over the Edge , Dillon was cast in back-to-back roles, first as Kristy McNichols on-screen love interest in the film Little Darlings and then as a bully in My Bodyguard .

In 1982, Dillon went on to star in the first of three movies based on books by S.E. Hilton, Tex, Rumble Fish and then The Outsiders . Other Hollywood films quickly followed including The Flamingo Kid, Drugstore Cowboy, Singles, There’s Something About Mary, and You, Me and Dupree . In 2006, he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as an LA police officer in the powerful drama Crash .

Now 59, Dillon has branched into directing. In 2002, he directed and starred in The City of Ghosts and in 2020 he directed a documentary about musician Francisco Fellove. Most recently, in 2023, Dillon had a recurring role in the Apple+ series, High Desert with Patricia Arquette, and appeared in the movie Asteroid City , from acclaimed director Wes Anderson.

Emilio Estevez as Keith "Two-Bit" Matthews

Emilio Estevez might have struck the Hollywood lottery by being the son of actor Martin Sheen and the brother of Charlie Sheen, but he was determined to make it on his own, and used the last name Estevez (his famous father's legal last name) to establish his own identity in the industry.

Estevez appeared with Dillon in the 1982 film Tex , and then reunited with him as Two-Bit Matthews in The Outsiders . The actor’s winning streak continued with era-defining '80s classics like The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire and quirkier fare from the decade like Repo Man , Stakeout , and Young Guns .

In the '90s, Estevez found success starring in sequels for Young Guns and Stakeout . He also was in Men at Work and The Mighty Ducks . Despite his many on-camera achievements, Estevez always hoped to be a director. He directed his first film, Wisdom , in which he starred with his then-girlfriend Demi Moore.

Estevez continued to direct movies and TV shows into the '90s and '00s . Now 61, he directed The Public , starring Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater, in 2018, and he reportedly has a new movie in pre-production.

Leif Garrett as Bob Sheldon

Best-known as a '70s teen musical idol, Leif Garrett also has a number of acting credits under his belt. As a child actor Garrett appeared on popular TV shows The Odd Couple and Gunsmoke and movies like  Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Walking Tall .

In 1977, Garrett dropped his first single off his self-titled album and one year later released a second album, with a track called, “I Was Made for Dancin',” that reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. After starring in a TV special called Leif with Marie Osmond, Brooke Shields and Bob Hope, Garrett was tapped to play a bad-boy Soc named Bob in The Outsiders .

By the '90s, Garrett began to shy away from acting and focus more on his music. He hosted the VH1 series 8-Track Flashback from 1995 to 1996. In 2005, he competed on the reality series Celebrity Fear Factor , where he won $50,000. In 2010 he appeared on the fourth season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, where he spoke openly about his past drug use and several brushes with the law for DWI and drug possession. Now 61, Garrett is still kicking, and in 2020, he told  Closer Weekly  that he was sober and  working on a screenplay and book , as well as trying to get more film and TV work.

C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy Curtis

C. Thomas Howell ’s original plan was to become a Hollywood stuntman like his father but after getting a few small acting jobs, including a part in TV commercial, Howell was picked to play actor Robert McNaughton’s buddy Tyler in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster hit, E.T. (Click through to read about the E.T cast reunion in 2022).

The following year, Tinseltown came calling again and Howell landed the central role of Ponyboy Curtis in The Outsiders . Since then, the now 56-year-old actor has been in films like Red Dawn, Gettysburg, The Hitcher, Soul Man, The Hitchhiker, Dangerous Indiscretion and Because We’re Family . On the small screen, Howell has been a recurring guest character on the shows Stitchers, The Terror, Criminal Minds and The Walking Dead . Howell has also directed the low-budget films The Day the Earth Stopped, The Land That Time Forgot and War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave.

Diane Lane as Sherrie "Cherry" Valance

Diane Lane 's career began at just 14 years old, when she was cast alongside Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance. Other roles quickly followed, but The Outsiders provided her breakout. As Cherry Valance, Garrett’s on-screen girlfriend who befriends Ponyboy against her beau’s wishes, she was one of only women in the film. That same year, Lane reunited with Coppola, Hinton, and Dillon to star in the adaptation of Rumble Fish . Lane’s talents also earned her roles in Streets of Fire, The Cotton Club, The Big Town, The Setting Sun, Chaplin, Judge Dredd, A Walk on the Moon, My Dog Skip, The Perfect Storm, and Hardball .

In 2002 she was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Unfaithful . In this steamy thriller, she played a woman who becomes enthralled in a hot love affair with a New York City book dealer. Lane’s other buzzworthy credits include Under the Tuscan Sun, Must Love Dogs, Hollywoodland, Man of Steele, and Let Him Go. Now 58, Lane will soon be starring as midcentury socialite Slim Keith in anthology series Feud .

Rob Lowe as Sodapop Curtis

Rob Lowe got his first taste of Hollywood when he was cast on the ABC series A New Kind of Family at 15. Although the show was short-lived, he was soon on a roll, and became one of the biggest heartthrobs of the '80s. After being cast as the middle Curtis brother, Sodapop, in The Outsiders , Lowe went on to star in Class with Andrew McCarthy, The Hotel New Hampshire with Jodie Foster, Oxford Blues with Ally Sheedy and St. Elmo’s Fire with former co-stars and '80s icons, Sheedy, Estevez, McCarthy, and future co-star Demi Moore, whom Lowe acted alongside in one year later in About Last Night .

Lowe rode the wave of success as a member of the so-called "Brat Pack" of the era, alongside Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy and Robert Downey Jr. By the '90s, Lowe decided to switch things up and head back to his TV roots where he starred on the NBC series, The West Wing alongside Martin Sheen (Estevez’s real-life father) . Lowe then starred in the drama Brothers and Sisters and the sitcom Parks and Recreation . Now 59, Lowe currently stars in the procedural series, 9-1-1: Lone Star and stays busy as a brand spokesman and podcaster.

Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade

Before he became The Karate Kid , Ralph Macchio , was a tap dance kid! Macchio spent much of his childhood as a talented dancer, and was discovered by a talent agent while performing in a recital. After appearing in a few commercials, Macchio landed a recurring role on ABC’s hit series, Eight Is Enough . Smaller roles followed until casting for The Outsiders began and Macchio scored the role of Johnny Cade.

In 1984, Macchio starred as Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid , and he reprised the role in the film’s two sequels, in 1986 and 1989. He also had a notable role in My Cousin Vinny , alongside Joe Pesci and Marissa Tomei. Now 61, Macchio continued to appear in film and TV in the '90s and '00s, and starting in 2018, he once again played Daniel LaRusso in the Netflix series, Cobra Kai , a continuation of The Karate Kid that's brought him a new generation of fans. The show was recently renewed for its sixth and final season.

Patrick Swayze as Darrel "Darry" Curtis

Nobody puts Swayze in the corner. Before landing on the big screen in the 1979 film Skatetown U.S.A ., Patrick Swayze was studying ballet before being picked as Danny Zuko in the replacement cast of Grease on Broadway. In 1983, Swayze played Darrel, the eldest of the three Curtis brothers in The Outsiders . He was also tapped for six episodes on the TV series, The Renegades . In 1984, Swayze went on to star in the movie Red Dawn opposite his future Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey.

In 1987, Swayze and Grey found themselves together again in the romantic drama, Dirty Dancing , where Swayze not only showed off his killer moves but also sang the film’s hit single, “She’s Like the Wind,” which climbed to number three on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Following the success of Dirty Dancing, Swayze went on to star in the romantic drama Ghost , alongside Demi Moore. He also acted in cult movies like Road House , Point Break and Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. In 1991, People named Swayze “The Sexiest Man Alive.” Sadly, in 2009 Swayze died of cancer at just 57 years old, and his charming screen presence is missed by many.

Click through for more about your favorite '80s screen stars:

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Mark Harmon Young: A Look Back at How the Handsome ‘NCIS’ Star Got His Start

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