Tom Cruise has been a Movie Star with a capital M for forty years, and Top Gun 2 found him still reigning as the current King of Hollywood. 1983 was an important year for Tom Cruise – he was part of an ensemble full of young hopefuls in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Outsiders, then he had his first leading role and first hit movie with Risky Business.
The Outsiders was released in March 1983 and starred Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, and C. Thomas Howell – all of whom were trying to break into Hollywood. On August 5, 1983 Risky Business was released – which saw Cruise play the cocky, confident type that he would spend much of the rest of the 80s playing.
Cruise plays Joel, a teenager left home alone by his parents who throws a party which escalates out of control. Rebecca De Mornay plays a call girl who becomes the source of many problems. Once Cruise skidded across the wooden floor in tighty-whities and white socks, his stardom was assured.
Cruise played a similar type to Joel in Top Gun, The Color of Money, Cocktail, and Rain Man, before stunning with his dramatic turn in Born on the Forth of July (1989). In the 90s and 2000s, Cruise would continue to mix big blockbusters such as the first Mission: Impossible with films from a wide range of genres such as Interview with the Vampire, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Minority Report, and Collateral.
It’s easy to forget now that Cruise has worked with acclaimed auteurs such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Michael Mann. We have at least one more Mission: Impossible movie coming from the stunt-crazy action movie star, but it would be great to see another dramatic role from the now 61-year-old.
Check out our guides to the Mission Impossible 8 release date and the best Tom Cruise movies.