As a Tom Cruise Fan, These Are 10 Thrilling Facts About Him You Should Know

Tom Cruise is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. He started acting at the young age of 19 and went on to star in hit movies like Top Gun, Mission: Impossible series, and Jerry Maguire. Asides from his impressive career as an actor, Tom Cruise is also known for his charisma and his knack for doing his own stunts.

Here are 10 thrilling facts about Tom Cruise you probably do not know.

1. Tom Cruise was born into a devout catholic home and initially considered being a priest. At age 14, he started attending a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati on scholarship but later ventured into acting.

2. Growing up, his father was abusive and constantly relocated with the family while looking for a job. As a result, Tom Cruise always had to start out as the new kid in school. He was also small for his age, and got bullied by the other kids. Eventually, he learned how to stand up for himself, drawing inspiration and strength form his mother

3. He is the inspiration behind the iconic Disney character Aladdin. The co-directors of the cartoon admitted in a 2004 interview that they actually borrowed features from Tom Cruise’s face and hair to make Aladdin look more “boyish” and likable. True story! If you’ve ever noticed a slight similarity and the cartoon character, then you were not wrong after all.

4. Cruise has visited Japan so many times that the country decided to award him with his own day “Tom Cruise Day”, celebrated on October 10.

5. He has been married three times. And he divorced all three of his ex-wives – Mimi Roger, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Homes – when the were they were all 33 years old. Talk about coincidence!

6. Many have praised Tom Cruise for his great personality. “I think there’s something very right with him in that he cares so much about the audience experience,” his Mission: Impossible co-star Simon Pegg told Jimmy Fallon. “It’s like he’s obsessive with giving people an authentic experience.” Actor-director Todd Field, who acted with Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut, said something similar of working with Cruise and Stanley Kubrick: “You’ve never seen [an actor] more completely subservient and prostrate themselves at the feet of a director.”

7. He allegedly always picks his kids’ calls even when he is in the middle of a scenes. “There were times that I was about ready to say ‘Action; and the phone rang,” director Steven Spielberg told People Magazine about his experience working with Tom Cruise. “If it was Tom’s kids, everything stopped for that. Just when he was preparing for probably the hardest scene he has in the whole movie, the phone rang. Anybody else would have looked up with anger in their eyes, but he immediately broke character and walked off and took the call.”

8. Cruise reportedly refuses to take any role unless the producers let him do his own stunts. Indeed, he is one of the Hollywood actors notable for doing their own stunts.

9. But for a knee injury, Cruise probably wouldn’t have decided to go into acting. He sustained a knee injury and as a result, had to leave his school wrestling team. It was during his new-found free time that he discovered acting.

10. Cruise turned down the iconic role of Tony Stark (Iron Man). He later explained:“As it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work.”