Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruz Mapota IV was born on July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, near New York City. He was the third of four children and the only boy in the family. His mother was an actress and his father an engineer, and because of his employment problems, the family had to change locations frequently. Since childhood, Tom has developed a complex about his small stature: in school he tried to communicate with the smaller children to look taller, and in order to grow a centimeter or two, actively engaged in various sports. He did not do well in school, largely because he, like his mother, was dyslexic (a rare disease that causes difficulty in reading letters and texts). He was even transferred to a special class because of his learning problems, but Tom was still able to overcome his disease and returned to a normal class.

When Tom was 12 years old, his father left his wife, and without his financial support, the family had a very hard time: Tom and his three sisters often had to work after school to somehow support his mother.

For one year Tom attended a theological seminary (can you imagine Tom the priest?), but then he gave up that idea and went to study at an ordinary college. There he took part in theatrical productions, and eventually realized that this is his calling. After realizing this, in 1980 he moved to New York in search of fame, changing his long name to our usual "Tom Cruise. He soon landed his first movie role in Endless Love, in 1981.

Cruise's first big movie success was "Risky Business," / Risky Business, 1992 /. Released in 1985, the film Top Gun (can be translated as "Top Gun" or "Best Gunner"), consolidated this success, the film has become a classic picture of the pilots, giving rise to many parodies (at least remember the first "Hotheads"), computer games, as well as similar, but less successful films.

Cruise showed excellent acting skills in the film "Rain Man," and although critics felt that the film owes its success to the play of Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, played as well as his partner, managing to fully reveal the complex inner world of his character, show the transformation of his character throughout the film.

However, the real acting talent revealed Cruise in the drama "Born on the Fourth of July" / Born on the Fourth of July, 1989 /. For the role of the morally and physically crippled Vietnam War veteran Tom was nominated for "Oscar" as "Best Actor of the Year", but his luck was out.

In 1990, on the set of the film Days of Thunder (1990), Cruise first met Nicole Kidman, his future love and wife. His previous wife Mimi Rogers is rumored to have left Tom because he could not become a father, but Nicole did not stop it (as well as rumors of the actor's homosexual orientation) and that same year the lovers were married. And although they could not have their own children, they took on the upbringing of two wonderful children - a daughter Isabella Jane and son Connor Anthony.

His childhood dream of playing a James Bond-like character, Tom was able to realize in 1996, shooting the first "Impossible Mission" / Mission: Impossible, 1996 /. Few people believed that this picture would pay off the huge amount of money (more than $120 million) spent on its creation, but the film surpassed all expectations, becoming a real commercial hit.

One of the most soulful films in the filmography of Tom can be considered a tape Cameron Crowe - "Jerry Maguire. The story of a sports agent who managed to break the brutal rules of big business, has won the hearts of many viewers around the world, having collected over $ 150 million in the U.S. alone - the film was nominated for Oscar in several categories (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay). However, even this time Tom did not get the coveted statuette - the only award "Jerry Maguire" was given in the category "Best Supporting Actor" - the coveted statuette went to Cuba Gooding Jr. Nevertheless, Cruise did not go without an award and was awarded the second most prestigious film award in the United States - the "Golden Globe".

After "Jerry Maguire," Tom and his wife began shooting the film Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" / Eyes Wide Shut, 1999 /, which became the last work for the cult director - Kubrick passed away shortly after the tape on the screen - March 7, 1999. Filming dragged on for more than two years and was a living hell for the pair of actors. Trying to understand the complex psychological intricacies in the relationship of the main characters Kubrick forced the actors to analyze as much as possible what is happening - he spent a lot of time talking to Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, trying to understand the issues raised on the screen. Who knows, but perhaps it was this kind of self-digging characters on the topic of sex, infidelity, marriage, and forced the actors themselves to think about their relationships. Whatever it was, but some time after the movie was released on the screen, Cruise and Kidman announced the separation, August 8, 2001 Fixing their official divorce. By then, Cruise was in the midst of a new romance - with his partner in the movie Vanilla Sky, Penelope Cruz. At the time, it seemed that it was a well-planned PR campaign to promote the film, but the lovers continued to meet and after the release of the tape - it almost ended with a wedding, but for some unknown reasons, it did not end)))

A great chance to show the audience his dramatic talents Cruise gave Paul Thomas Anderson, inviting the actor to one of the main roles in "Magnolia", the cast alone deserves a separate mention. For the splendidly played role Cruz was nominated for "Oscar" as best supporting actor, but this time, too, the academics were not favorable to him.

In 2000, the screen came the sequel to "Impossible Mission," directed by John Woo - as expected, the tape was a real hit, bringing together a budget of $ 120 million at the box office over 215 million, and outside the States - about 330 million more.

Accompanying the release of "Vanilla Sky" and the publicized romance Cruz and Penelope Cruz did its job, managing to lure a gullible audience, who wanted to see the development of the novel stars on the screen. As a result - more than 200 million dollars at the worldwide box office, accompanied by the truth is often very lukewarm reviews from critics, who rightly felt that Cameron's remake has not reached the level of the original Spanish film.

The next work of the actor became the film "Minority Opinion" - adaptation of the novel by cult science fiction writer Phillip K. Dick, who enjoys the envy of the world. Dick, an enviable popularity among Hollywood film makers (his novel was filmed on the tape "Blade Runner," "Remember Everything" and others). The near future, there is no crime as such, all thanks to the work of the police department to prevent crime. John Anderton (Cruz) is the best at solving such cases - until one of the "previews" of future crimes does not find himself ... killing a man. A gripping plot, backed by the quality direction of Steven Spielberg and powerful special effects - what else does a true fan of intelligent sci-fi movies need? As a result - again a success and 350 million worldwide box office receipts.

But no matter how successful from a commercial point of view, Cruise has always wanted to get a well-deserved award from the film academy - to put a shelf cherished Oscar, which has not once sailed in such proximity to him. Great hopes in this regard, Cruise pinned on "The Last Samurai" - such epic pictures have always been in favor with the film academy ... But Cruise's on-screen transformation from a weak, drinking ex-soldier to a true samurai, played very unconvincingly, made a rather blurry impression on film critics - the film was not nominated for an Oscar in any of the major categories (not counting "best supporting actor" (Ken Watanabe) and a few nominations a la "best costumes").

But, as is often the case, another fall is followed by a takeoff - it unexpectedly became "An Accomplice" by Michael Mann, who masterfully managed to turn Cruise and Jamie Foxx into one of the most memorable film duos of the last ten years. Cruise did not improve the Oscar situation in any way - as in "Jerry Maguire" and "The Last Samurai", the actor was not nominated for the first, but the second plan (this year, Fox was on fire and won an Oscar for his starring role in "Ray").

2005 was marked by another collaboration for Cruise with Steven Spielberg and another high-profile affair - the release of "War of the Worlds" was accompanied by a lively discussion of the relationship between Cruise and a young Katie Holmes, who played in another hot summer premiere - the new "Batman" by Christopher Nolan. And at a press conference in Paris for the release of "War of the Worlds", Cruise solemnly announced the engagement - the actor proposed to Holmes in a romantic atmosphere, the Eiffel Tower, giving his beloved a gorgeous ring with a diamond. And after some time, it also became known about the pregnancy of Holmes - in April 2006, the baby was born Suri (name for the daughter of Tom chose).

As a result - a pair of Cruz-Holmes does not leave the headlines, television, and all the hype raised around their relationship, which served the actor during the promotion of "War of the Worlds" is now smoothly merged into the framework of the advertising campaign of the third "Impossible Mission," which comes to the screens in May. The film had a budget of more than $150 million, and filming took place on several continents, in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and America.

Now the Cruz-Holmes couple is making headlines again, this time because of Tom's divorce and affiliation with the Church of Scientology