For over four decades, Tom Cruise has been Hollywood’s most evergreen A-list actor. Thanks to a series of daring performances, both emotionally and, many times more, physically, he manages to enthrall generations of audiences on the big screen, defining what it means to be a movie star. From action to drama to comedy, Cruise has done it all. His all-out commitment to doing his own stunts is legendary, and there will probably never be another like him. Today, let’s look at Tom Cruise's 7 Most Iconic Roles!
7. Joel Goodsen, Risky Business (1983)
Widely considered as the actor’s big break, the film is most notable for teen Cruise dancing around his big house wearing only a shirt, briefs, and Ray Ban. The comedy was successful both critically and with audiences, one of the early offerings of that era’s Brat Pack movies. However, its significance in film history would soon be overshadowed by later Brat Pack films like Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. One thing that never left pop culture prominence? Cruise’s performance.
At 20, he was a sprightly young thing here, still bushy-tailed and a little rough on the edges. But once the story gets going, you get that bravura and devilish charm that would define Cruise’s acting style going forward. A star is born, sliding into the living room, dancing to “Old Time Rock n’ Roll.”
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6. Charlie Babbitt, Rain Man (1988)
Tom Cruise's 7 Most Iconic Roles
Upon reading the will, an ambitious young man learns that he has a mentally challenged older brother. With his inheritance on the line, he sets out to find his brother. Cue a road trip filled with unexpected hilarity and brotherhood bonding.
In this Oscar-winning film, Cruise proved that he’s not only good at popcorn movies (see: Top Gun 2 years prior), but also holds his own against Dustin Hoffman in his most powerful, Oscar-winning role. This role was pivotal for Cruise because it demonstrated that he’s no matinee idol or a passing fad with a pretty face like many 80’s heartthrobs his age.
It’s also here that Cruise essentially developed his archetypal “asshole with a heart of gold” role. He started kinda playing one in Top Gun, but here, he is full on neurotic, ambitious, and highly unlikeable. Until he meets a pure soul and learns how to be human, that is. It essentially paves the way for his Oscar-nominated role in Jerry Maguire years later.
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5. Vincent, Collateral (2004)
In the 2000s, Cruise took on a more experimental route with his role choices. And his bid for versatility paid off with Collateral, one of the rare instances the actor plays a villain. In the Michael Mann-directed thriller, Cruise plays Vincent, a hitman who slips into the back of Jamie Foxx’s taxi and makes him drive around to commit crimes. With the grey hair and rugged makeup, Vincent shed Cruise’s usual wholesome hero persona and showed the range he so rarely utilized then. And in a meta way, it couldn’t come at a better time as Cruise underwent his most controversial era irl.
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4. Les Grossman, Tropic Thunder (2008)
Tom Cruise's 7 Most Iconic Roles
The 2000s truly gave us Cruise at his most experimental. In Ben Stiller’s showbiz satire comedy, Cruise shed his macho persona to portray the grossest man (pun intended) in Hollywood: a movie producer. Rumored to be based on Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein – the two most notorious producers in Tinseltown – Cruise went all out with the heavy prosthetics and all-out leery antics. He went all in with the role outside the movie, too, appearing as Les in a skit at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.
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3. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, Top Gun (1986, 2022)
Conventional wisdom would agree that this is one of Cruise’s most memorable roles ever. Not only were the films smashing hits, it spawned a whole lifestyle and catchphrases that stand the test of time.
Performance-wise, this is the start of Cruise’s archetype of arrogant genius needing to learn about love and compassion through hardships. As we’ve discussed, he would go on to play similar roles throughout the 80’s and 90’s.
The original was a very 1980’s tale of machismo and American patriotism, complete with a well-oiled (literally!) volleyball scene and sexy motorcycle chase sequence set to a slow ballad. It’s all very cheesy, but Cruise’s charisma buoyed the film against cloying sentimentality and made it cool. And in the sequel 36 years later, Cruise returns to the role a mature yet still devilish version of that cocky pilot who shouted, “I feel the need, the need for speed!”
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2. Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible (1996-2025?)
The franchise gave Cruise a reputation as the action guy who does his own stunts. Years of tales about broken bones, near-fatal mishaps, and death-defying behind-the-scenes moments prove his commitment to differentiate the franchise from other action flicks. Ethan Hunt is ever entertaining - if a tad bit emotionally distant - but it is Cruise’s role behind the camera to not only revive the franchise, but also steer it into a behemoth with passionate followings that earn this a place in the pantheon of Cruise greatness.
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1. Jerry Maguire, Jerry Maguire (1996)
Tom Cruise's 7 Most Iconic Roles
Bet you don’t think this would top the list, did you?
On the surface, Jerry Maguire is a typical 1990’s flick about a workaholic learning a lesson about the value of family and friendship. But therein lies Cruise’s star power in making this one so special. In addition to being Cameron Crowe’s best work, Cruise in this film is fantastic as a romantic lead with a neurotic tendency. The way he delivers his anxiety, the beautiful chemistry he shares with Renee Zellweger, the cute father-son dynamic with little Jonathan Lipnicki, and his banter with Cuba Gooding Jr. - volcanic, sassy but rooted in real care - it’s all pitch perfect.
Notably, Cruise was nominated for Best Actor Oscar for this role; he didn’t win (his co-star Gooding Jr. did for Supporting Actor), but it is perhaps the most memorable role nominated that year, thanks to a slew of memorable lines like “you complete me” and “help me help you.”
More importantly, it is the side of Tom Cruise that he’s never shown again in the wake of his Scientology and Oprah couch controversies in the mid-2000s. And so, that charming rake is forever frozen in 90’s nostalgia.
So those are our picks for Tom Cruise's 7 Most Iconic Roles. Think we haven’t covered your most memorable Cruise role? Sound off in the comments below!
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