Ranking the best Tom Cruise characters in film is a nearly impossible endeavor. Tom Cruise is a rare actor whose leading man looks are sured not just by his acting ability but also by his willingness to go above and beyond what each role entails. From blockbusters with lead characters that are practically tailor-made for Cruise to movies that prove more of a challenge against preconceived notions about the actor, he always rises to the occasion.
Indeed, if the best Tom Cruise characters have one thing in common, they all set the bar high for A-list actors. Apart from doing his own stunts and delivering great performances every chance he gets, Cruise is also known for deeply involving himself in the filmmaking process, which often results in noted improvements. Combined with Cruise's dedication to the craft, the actor's natural comedic timing and unnatural confidence have convincingly breathed life into some of the most memorable characters from almost all movie genres. For viewers looking for the best Tom Cruise characters of all time, here are 10 of them.
10 Jerry Maguire: Jerry Maguire (1996)
Even the Oscar-winning performance by Cuba Gooding Jr. as Rod Tidwell couldn't truly steal the limelight from Tom Cruise's titular gung-ho sports manager in Jerry Maguire. However, that's just because they complemented each other perfectly, with Rod's confidence and unique potential being the perfect foil to Jerry Maguire's eccentric but relatable underdog leading man. The same can be said of Renee Zellwegers' Dorothy, who, alongside Jerry, turned Cameron Crowe's script into the definitive '90s rom-com. Quotes popularized by the movie like "Show me the money!" and "You complete me." may be overused today, but they remain powerful reminders of how the Jerry Maguire crew perfected the rom-com in 1996.
9 Edge Of Tomorrow: Major Bill Cage (2014)
Adapted from the sci-fi novel, All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Edge of Tomorrow puts Tom Cruise's Major Bill Cage and Emily Blunt's Sergeant Rita Vrataski at the center of a time travel-driven alien invasion. Just like in Groundhog Day, Bill Cage repeatedly dies but always finds himself waking up at a certain point in space and time, gaining valuable information and experience with each new life. Cage is one of the best Tom Cruise characters for perfectly portraying the hero's descent into numbly accepting certain death for a singular goal. The movie's convoluted premise is expertly executed throughout, but Cruise's performance is what brought it home.
8 Mission Impossible: Ethan Hunt (1996 - Present)
Since 1996, Cruise has portrayed Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt, a role for which the actor continues to do his own stunts. While Top Gun's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is Cruise's longest-running film role, Hunt is his most prominent. In each of the seven Mission Impossible films — not yet counting Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part Two, which will release in 2024 — Hunt is ed not just for Cruise doing the stunts himself but also for the character's humor and chemistry with the chaotic IMF crew. Alongside Maverick, Ethan Hunt is not only one of the best Tom Cruise characters but also the most familiar to viewers of all ages.
7 Interview With The Vampire: Lestat (1994)
From his previous roles in movies like Top Gun, Cocktail, A Few Good Men, and Rain Man, it's easy to see why Interview With The Vampire author Anne Rice initially thought that Cruise playing Lestat was “so bizarre, it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work.” However, the fact that Cruise was the biggest movie star at the time proved to be the perfect fit for Lestat's struggle to balance being in the shadows and his yearning for attention and acceptance. After seeing Cruise as Lestat, Rice not only personally apologized to the actor but even compared his one-of-a-kind performance to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.
6 Magnolia: Frank T.J. Mackey (1999)
After proving that he has what it takes to breathe life into a nuanced villain as Interview With The Vampire's Lestat de Lioncourt, Tom Cruise took on the decidedly more difficult challenge of playing Frank T.J. Mackey from Magnolia. Frank is arguably the best Tom Cruise character ever for his sheer complexity. As the perfect picture of the broken alpha male, pick-up artist motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey is edgy, hilarious, and tragic at the same time. A poignant study of the powerful effects of intergenerational trauma, Frank isn't Cruise's most famous or critically-acclaimed character, but he might be the most well-rounded, realistic, and relatable of them all.
5 Rock Of Ages: Stacee Jaxx (2012)
One of the most underrated Tom Cruise movies, Rock of Ages, gave Cruise the chance to live out one of the paths he was likely destined to take if he didn't become a film legend: becoming a rock star. Apart from how Cruise's global fame already gave him everything he needed to understand and embody the infamous fictional rock icon Stacee Jaxx, hearing Cruise masterfully sing '80s rock songs remains a mind-blowing experience. To prepare for the role, Cruise trained for months, for "four or five hours per day," according to director Adam Shankman (via Hollywood Reporter). “There’s no 100 percent with him, there’s 10,000 percent.”
4 Top Gun: Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (1986 - Present)
One of the greatest protagonists in American film history, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is Tom Cruise's longest-running and arguably most important and definitive movie role. Even with the 2022's Top Gun: Maverick cast being stacked with fellow veterans and some of the fastest-rising young actors in Hollywood, Cruise easily dominated the spotlight in the long-awaited sequel. While critics and audiences alike were afraid of whether Cruise could get back to form for a sequel that came 36 years after the first movie, the actor's performance and the movie's overall execution seem to indicate that Cruise isn't done with Maverick just yet.
3 Rain Man: Charlie Babbit (1988)
Tom Cruise's role as Charlie Babbit was ultimately overshadowed by the Best Actor Oscar-winning performance of Dustin Hoffman as Raymond in Rain Man. Undoubtedly, Hoffman captured the desperation and quiet genius of the neurodiverse and traumatized lead character. At the same time, Cruise's Charlie is arguably the much more difficult role and is the one that undergoes the most evolution throughout Rain Man. To this day, many still maintain that Charlie was one of the roles Tom Cruise deserved an Oscar for — especially as the powerful dramatic performance came relatively early in his career, predating all of his other more celebrated roles in drama.
2 Tropic Thunder: Les Grossman (2008)
Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman, Tom Cruise's bloated warlord of a studio executive, is the first and only truly outlandish and cartoonish character under the actor's belt. Grossman ranks highly among the best Tom Cruise characters not just because it's the funniest but also because Cruise created Grossman himself. Director Ben Stiller was initially confused at Cruise's Les Grossman proposal but was immediately sold upon seeing him perform in full makeup. According to Cruise, "There was a structural compression missing down on those characters, you know, that keeps the pressure on these guys that really drives the story. I was like, 'You need the studio." (via Esquire)
1 Collateral: Vincent (2004)
One of the most critically-acclaimed Tom Cruise characters, Collateral's Vincent has also strangely gone under the radar compared to the actor's other roles. It's a pity because, compared to Lestat from Interview With The Vampire, Vincent is the most cold-blooded, manipulative, smooth-talking, and tragic psychopath in the actor's ledger. It's not that surprising that Cruise's calm collected confidence translated well into Vincent's stoic disregard for human life. To prepare for his role as Vincent, Cruise completed special tasks from director Michael Mann that allowed the actor to realistically and eerily embody the charming killer. To this day, few movie villains are as terrifying as Collateral.
Source: Esquire
