Tom Cruise is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, if not the single biggest movie star in the world-- and that’s a title he has held for decades. Outside of all the huge movies that he’s been a part of and the fact that he’s willing to perform all his own stunts, Cruise is just famous for being famous. It would be little shock if the Mission: Impossible icon just didn’t have the time for “the little people” anymore, but according to his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Jennifer Connelly, he still does and he's actually quite generous.
Jennifer Connelly is on the cover of the first issue of Amazing magazine and in its pages (via ET) she talks about the experience of working with Tom Cruise on the highly anticipated Top Gun sequel. Connelly says she found Cruise to be extraordinarily generous. While he might be a huge movie star, he apparently never takes that fact for granted. She explained…
I was impressed by his exuberance and his generosity. Really remarkable. It manifests in everything that I saw him do. He struck me as someone who doesn’t take anything for granted and who seizes every opportunity. I think that’s extraordinary.
Seizing opportunities is certainly something that we can all agree Tom Cruise has no problem doing. At least if by “opportunities” we mean “insane stunts.” Cruise always wants to be the guy on the screen doing whatever it is that his character is doing, and he’s gone to significant lengths to be sure he’s able to do those things.
His exuberance is also something we’ve seen play out. Not only does Tom Cruise do his own stunts but he truly seems to love doing them. His enjoyment of his own job has reportedly been a problem from time to time.
At the same time, the fact that Tom Cruise always seems to want to be “the guy” on screen could appear to be an indication that he’s anything but generous. However, Jennifer Connelly says that he actually really is. The idea that he doesn’t take anything for granted, when Tom Cruise could certainly get away with less, is nice to hear. Far too often our favorite stars can do things that make them less than ideal. It’s nice to discover that the celebrities that so many people love are at the very least decent people.
We’ll get to see the end result of Tom Cruise’s exuberance and generosity next May, when he and Jennifer Connelly co-star in Top Gun: Maverick. That film, along with Cruise’s next Mission: Impossible movie, has been continuously delayed, but one certainly hopes that we’ll finally be able to see the sequel next summer.
