Tom Cruise is 61 and still performing dangerous stunts, such as he does in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” If anything, one can easily see the parallels between Cruise himself and his ‘Top Gun’ movie character ‘Maverick’ — both are wild daredevils who can’t take “no” for an answer.
Now Cruise is comparing his own career trajectory to ‘Indy 5’ star Harrison Ford, who is 81, and says, just like Ford, has no plans of slowing down (via The Sydney Morning Herald).
Cruise admitted that Ford’s recent turn has inspired him as an action star: “Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going. I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him,” Cruise said “I hope to keep making “Mission: Impossible” films until I’m his age.”
These ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies will keep getting made as long as there is an audience for them, but can you just imagine an 80-year-old Cruise performing these stunts? No chance. He’ll need a stunt double at that age.
Meanwhile, Cruise continues to Burt his talent as a dramatic actor. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, many tend to forget what a great actor Cruise actually is. You can’t watch a film like “Born on the Fourth of July” without noticing that acting chops.
Yes, he seems to have an affinity for all of these ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies, but, as thrilling as those films may be, Cruise built his career as a dramatic actor first and as an action star second.
He should have gotten Oscar nominated for “Collateral” and the his comedic genius turn in “Tropic Thunder”. He also should have WON for the best performance of his career in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.”
His most recent non-IP performance was in Doug Liman’s very-watchable drug kingpin saga “American Made,” released in 2017. Cruise was absolute aces in that movie, using charisma, charm and humor to incarnate Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance in Central America.
Over his four-decade career, Cruise has worked with Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Brian De Palma, Ridley Scott, Barry Levinson, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner, Sydney Pollack, Ron Howard, Neil Jordan and Jon Woo. He used to love working with these big-name directors, now he’s all about hanging around Christopher McQuarrie. A real shame.