There are legends and legends in Hollywood. Tom Cruise is part of the select group at the top. Completing 60 years of life on July 3, the actor is one of the biggest stars in cinema, perhaps the last in similar proportion. With a career spanning over 40 years, Tom has starred in some of the biggest box office hits of all time, and while he hasn’t yet won an Oscar, he’s been nominated three times. Particularly in 2022, it’s reviving popularity that hasn’t been seen in a long time, especially for someone Tom’s size, at least figuratively.

Dedicated, intense, focused, obsessed. There are many definitions for Tom Cruise, but perhaps being constantly in love with what he does is the fairest of them all. Of his 60 years of life, 41 years were dedicated to cinema. Moreover, for at least 43 years he has lived as a major star in the world. Having lived for so long under the spotlights Tom handles his public life with unparalleled tranquility among his peers, without showing a bad mood or suffering from harassment or annoyance with occasional the need to give hours and hours of interviews when promoting a film. For those who have been with him personally, he seems to be genuinely attentive to everyone he speaks to. No matter who. Polite, calm, and accurate. As he explained in the promotion of Top Gun – Maverick, he is living his childhood dream so nothing bothers him. If only everyone were like him!

Tom uses his mother’s maiden name as his stage name, actually, he is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. Dyslexic, he struggled more in athletic pursuits, but an injured knee landed him in the school theater, where he soon decided to pursue an artistic career (though legend has it that he flirted with the thought of becoming a priest). Always organized, he outlined a 10-year plan to reach his goal. Got there in less than 5. Speed ​​has always been his style.

Still barely a teenager, at just 19 years old, he made his acting debut with a cameo in Endless Love, with Brooke Shields, directed by Franco Zefirelli. He stayed in Los Angeles, where two years later he landed two other important small roles. One of the projects was the 1980s cult classic The Outsiders, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and alongside Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and one of his lifelong best friends, Emilio Estevez. He then won more lines in the drama Taps, where the stars were two other friends to this day, Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton.

In 1985, the teen comedy Risky Business made Tom a world-famous actor (and a classic scene, that of the actor dancing in his underwear, sunglasses, and socks). He starred in some moderately successful films, but with Top Gun (from 1986) he became a world idol, box office leader, and Hollywood’s biggest star. From there, the actor dedicated himself to working with the best actors and directors, clearly aiming for an Oscar, which never came. He had a close relationship with Paul Newman, and worked with Dustin Hoffmann, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford, to name just a few legends. Directors like Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Martin Scorcese, Brian de Palma, Ridley Scott, and Stanley Kubrick worked with him too.

Always with an eye on the business, Tom Cruise balanced art films with action, but it was his purchase of the Mission Impossible brand that made him the greatest of all time: mega-millionaire, adored and independent. So much so that he refused for decades to accept a sequel to Top Gun, only in 2016 did he start working on the project. It took about 3 years to get ready, but it took another 2, under enormous pressure, to have them on the movie screens.

Movie theater. That’s the actor’s great passion, greater than his religious dedication or romantic relationships. Tom Cruise understands the 7th art like few others and even with a career spanning almost 45 years, he is far from stopping. Comedy, action, or drama with the same excitement as someone just starting out. His honesty is what keeps his fan base so loyal, even in the midst of controversy. It’s a foolproof formula.

In 2022, breaking records again and working on at least two films in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise gives us an irresistible mission to look forward to what lies ahead, always ahead. May more decades of success come. We don’t get tired.