What are the best Tom Cruise performances of all time?

From fresh-faced Eighties charm to death-defying action spectacles, Cruise has reinvented himself repeatedly — but one role still stands above the rest. Cast your vote!

1

Top Gun

A 1986 action film in which Cruise plays the cocky and talented naval aviator Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell.

2

Risky Business

A 1983 teen comedy-drama that launched Cruise’s career, playing a suburban teen who turns his home into a brothel.

3

Rain Man

A 1988 drama in which Cruise plays a self-centered car dealer who discovers his autistic savant brother, winning Best Picture.

4

Born on the Fourth of July

A 1989 Oliver Stone biopic in which Cruise plays Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic who becomes an antiwar activist.

5

A Few Good Men

A 1992 legal drama in which Cruise plays brash Navy lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee defending Marines accused of murder.

6

Interview with the Vampire

A 1994 gothic horror in which Cruise plays the charismatic and ruthless vampire Lestat de Lioncourt.

7

Jerry Maguire

A 1996 romantic drama in which Cruise plays a sports agent who has a moral awakening and starts over with one client.

8

Mission: Impossible

A 1996 spy thriller launching the franchise in which Cruise plays super-agent Ethan Hunt.

9

Eyes Wide Shut

A 1999 Stanley Kubrick psychological drama in which Cruise plays a doctor drawn into a secret sexual underworld.

10

Magnolia

A 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson ensemble drama in which Cruise delivers a powerful performance as misogynistic self-help guru Frank T.J. Mackey.

11

The Last Samurai

A 2003 epic historical film in which Cruise plays a disgraced U.S. Army officer who joins and fights for the samurai.

12

Collateral

A 2004 Michael Mann thriller in which Cruise plays a cool and ruthless hitman forcing a cab driver to be his accomplice.

13

Tropic Thunder

A 2008 comedy in which Cruise is hilarious in a nearly unrecognizable cameo as foul-mouthed studio exec Les Grossman.

14

Edge of Tomorrow

A 2014 sci-fi action film in which Cruise plays a soldier caught in a time loop fighting alien invaders.

15

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

A 2018 action thriller widely regarded as the best Mission: Impossible entry, featuring Cruise’s most daring practical stunts.

16

Top Gun: Maverick

A 2022 blockbuster sequel in which Cruise reprises his iconic role and delivers one of the most beloved performances of his career.