Inside Tom Cruise's Rise to Being the World's BIGGEST Movie Star

happy 61st birthday to the billion dollar man Tom Cruise welcome everybody to Entertainment Tonight so you could say he was almost born on the fourth day I see where you're going with that um from his iconic films to his high profile romances tonight we celebrate All Things Tom the man the New York Times dubbed Hollywood's last real movie star listen I love movies I know that in my lifetime I can only make so many movies you know this car I know this car how do you know this car when I do something I I just commit to it you know 100 I don't know how else to do it fashion 10 billion dollars yep we added up cruises ticket sales over the last 35 years and that's the Staggering amount of money his Blockbusters have made I wonder if you ever have those moments quiet time where you do sit back and maybe kind of have a pinch yourself and think you know I will be talked about in the history books of Cinema like this is a legacy it's unbelievable I look I do pinch myself every day you know we talk about I don't take anything for granted I I remember being 18 years old making taps and I remember being four years old and thinking I want to make movies and I want to travel the world here's Tom's box office breakdown top gun Maverick the sequel was the first billion dollar movie of Tom's career what the enemy doesn't know is your limits as for Ethan Hunt so far the six films in the mission impossible franchise have earned 3 billion dollars worldwide the seventh dead reckoning part one hits theaters July 12. now here we are in Rome this is so out of body and everybody like what is happening this is wild and it's something that I've never taken for granted and I you know I I do I just feel very privileged Tom's also the first actor in history to start in five consecutive films that grossed 100 million dollars in the U.S I want the truth you can't handle the truth A Few Good Men The Firm Interview with the Vampire signal Mission Impossible and Jerry Maguire you complete me I just don't want this to end I want to work so what's Tom's secret formula you know I make movies for audiences and I we work so hard and we think about them the whole time and when you see how excited they are and how much they appreciate it's just beautiful it's not about being a movie star it's about being an actor and concentrating you know on that and finding my you know Finding roles that are going to be challenging for me and that are going to be a progression and here's another reason behind Tom's success he works hard and earns the respect of his co-stars I watch this guy and fire he was just fire you know yeah he took his stuff and he took it to another level he took another Direction and I think that's fantastic he's a wonderful actor Tom and he's a growing actor this is the best work he's ever done Tom Cruise you know if I didn't have this great man here you know the time he's a really great guy working with Cruz was the greatest experience of my life I've learned more about filmmaking I've learned more about movies about how to treat people and just how to get the most out of every day he gets up with a smile every single day he's super inspiring he's one of the last true movie stars with a capital m and a capital s do you like a little bit of danger yeah sure I enjoy excitement yeah I guess doing stunts since I was about four years old ever since I was a little kid I wanted to make movies wanted to fly airplanes travel the world meet people it really has been that kind of adventurous life for me that life of adventure LED called the biggest stunt in cinema history or dead reckoning part one opening in just nine days cycle jump off a cliff into a base jump this is Far and Away the most dangerous thing we've ever attempted [Music] I was training I was ready you have to be razor sharp when you do something like that so it's very important as we're prepping the film that that actually was the first thing because you don't I don't want to drop that and go shoot other things and then have my mind somewhere else everyone was prepped let's just get it done it's even with the car chase you know I'm driving I'm drifting with one hand on cobblestones with Haley in the car like all right you know so there's plenty of challenges so how do you pull it off years of planning over 500 skydives and 13 000 Motocross jumps you can chalk it all up to his passion or film as soon as I started making money I just that's all I spent my money on movies and a penchant for pushing the limits a little push man I can't help it foreign it's one of the best it's one of the best crashes I've ever seen I can't help myself I can't let anyone else have all the fun did Daredevil's most jaw-dropping 2011 scaling the world's tallest building in Dubai where you're thinking I don't want to fall you know [Music] I do Sprint drills up and down the building just to train my body physically in those in those temperatures because when you're making a movie it's a 12 hour day 2015 holding his breath for six minutes they didn't want us doing it at first I said listen I can do this you know I trained uh free diving sometimes it was like three and a half 3 45 for every take and I had to be doing it every single time uh take after take all right let's go that same year he clung to the side of an airplane during takeoff for eight separate takes I was singing because we're worried about bird strikes I had contact lenses it was very cold like it's not like I'm you don't feel that that fear it's just it doesn't stop me from doing it I kind of enjoy that feeling and for 2018's Mission Impossible Fallout Tom who's a real life pilot climbed into a helicopter mid-flight what goes through your minds when you're doing that don't die are you learning how to fly helicopter and fly aerobatics and helicopters and it took many weeks you don't stall a helicopter it's either flying or it's not flying and then when it's not flying there is no recovery the adrenaline was flowing let me tell you and I've broken my nose a couple of times I've gotten teeth knocked out broken fingers and my ankle we only separated six ribs that's not too bad for a mission movie I mean how the how to do this with the insurance I don't even ask I don't I literally I'm a producer on movies also but I don't there's certain questions I don't want to know Tom's work behind the scenes has only gotten more intense too do you see yourself getting involved in other aspects of filmmaking right now I'm got enough worries just trying to become the best actor that I can possibly be I'm getting involved over the past couple of years more involvement in the overall process of film in terms of developing the script nearly four decades later Toms produced 20 movies and counting it was something I wanted to do it's something that I felt ready to do and I welcomed the challenge in making the kind of films that I wanted to make and that's why I did it next up the final frontier Tom said to become the first civilian to do a spacewalk for his next movie shot partially at the International Space Station how are you preparing for that yeah that's it's very technical there's a lot of elements that have to go in and it's uh it's a wonderful story and so we're working hard on that one it's so early on I well the only thing I hope we could pull off I can't tell you if we pull it off it'll be extraordinary I just I I love movies so much it's like a dream I can't explain it any other way this this wonderful dream that I just think God I just don't want this to end so when did Tom's obsession with movies begin [Music] I remember being four years old literally in the moment that I wanted to make films I wanted to travel the world I wanted to fly you know I mean when growing up I moved around a lot and I really don't have a lot of friends you know around but uh you know I do keep in close contact with some of the friends in my family thanks to his parents unstable marriage Tom grew up a nomad attending 15 schools in 14 years he and his three sisters grew up poor but one of his biggest struggles dyslexia Tom was diagnosed when he was just seven years old only helped me in my drive as an artist and as a person because I've had to work so hard for everything that I've gotten it doesn't affect me now like it did when I was growing up at all well I feel you've got a choice in life you can either you can turn negatives into positives and make things happen for you on any level I think that's an important thing that I realized in growing up you know with dyslexia with the moving around that it was an adventure for me and you have to look at it that way that it's going to help me be a better person and you know it enabled me to be a better actor as a teen Tom went to Seminary in Ohio and studied to become a Catholic priest after two years he dropped out and packed his bags for New York City how's your family reacted to this no they're very supportive were they surprised no no I thought they would be because it just kind of came out of left field I thought it did but now my mother stepfather and family very supportive of me when you decided not to go to college to pursue acting straight out of high school how did you know you were going to make it I didn't [Laughter] and that was exciting uh just take a chance you know I just I want to live life to the fullest after his move to the big city he scored his first major movie role in tax but 1983 was the year that put Tom on the map so I just feel you know that I am lucky to have gone this far in such a short time hey can we Ponyboy to like being a hero huh I just came through um workshops with Francis Ford Coppola for his next film The Outsiders that was et's very first interview with the actor back in 1982. he was just 20 teasing his part in the ensemble cast we're talking Patrick Swayze Rob Lowe Emilio Estevez and Matt Dillon get your feet off my chair and shut your trap who's gonna make me huh I was ready you know to carry a film after The Outsiders and Taps and everything but still like anything a lot of pressure you know I was scared to death Tom overcame that fear barely four months after The Outsiders he was back with Risky Business the instant classic turned Tom into Hollywood's newest leading man it's my first starring role I was in every scene foreign yeah yeah I look I remember it like it was really yesterday and I just you know took my pants off and and was slid across and then uh then I called the uh the prop guy over set dresser I said look give me some you know spray and I sprayed the floor so that I would slide and then I would stop so that's that's how we got the opening frame of course yeah there is no substitute yeah that part landed Tom his first Golden Globe nomination and put him in the same conversation as other young stars of the moment including Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn which Sean is going to get cast in I'm not going to get cast and you know I mean if if they want Sean I mean they're not looking for my style I mean the only competition I have is with myself and making myself a better actor and a better artist I'm my my biggest challenge you know because I'm going to take a lot of chances as an actor you better have fun while you're going yeah you better have a good time you know you're going to be a very sad person what you might we shot the film faster as a real physical film so I had to deal with another element I trained hard for the film and I played all the football myself and I ended up losing like about eight nine pounds in a week E.T was there as Tom Leah Thompson and Craig T Nelson shot the football play about a young athlete trying to escape a dying Pennsylvania Mill Town it was filmed with real-life locals also struggling through a recession I feel really excited to see all these people out here and I feel really happy that that they're so excited about being here I don't know I want to go to college and study music but we can't afford it you know I mean I came here and I felt you know really guilty about everything that I had driving through this town I went back to my hotel room and I sat there and I just like cried and I realized that everything I have is is privilege and that you know I feel that one of the reasons hopefully you know God gave me what I have is that I he realizes I'm not going to take advantage of the gifts 30 quitters here no sir if I look like a football player in this movie it's because of them doesn't mean they're not hitting me out there but uh you know hopefully I hit him just as hard as they're hitting me foreign

Channel: Entertainment Tonight

Views: 163,096

Keywords: Tom Cruise

Id: q0DywhXKQKI

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 04 2023