Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

  • Tom Cruise’s athleticism made him an excellent high school wrestler who thought about going pro.
  • Separately, he spent a year at a Catholic seminary with aspirations of joining the priesthood.
  • In both cases, surprising twists led Cruise to acting. He’s now globally famous for movies like Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Tom Cruise has been a Hollywood mainstay for so long—five decades and counting—that it’s hard to imagine he didn’t always want to be a movie star. But Cruise, who’s back on the big screen this week in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, took an unconventional path to becoming an actor.

Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, New York, Cruise moved frequently as a child to accommodate his father’s career. Growing up, he struggled with dyslexia, which made it difficult to succeed in school. But he excelled at sports, and he considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling—until a devastating knee injury sidelined him during high school.

Cruise, who grew up Catholic, made a surprising pivot at age 14 when he thought seriously about becoming a priest. He met Fr. Ric Schneider, who urged him to enroll at a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati. “Tom was instantly hooked,” Schneider told the New York Daily News.

Yet Cruise left the seminary after studying for only one year—and that’s when everything changed.

When he was 16, a teacher encouraged Cruise to participate in his high school’s production of the musical Guys and Dolls. After Cruise won the lead of Nathan Detroit, he found himself surprisingly at home on the stage, and a career was born.

After graduation, Cruise moved to New York City and set an ambitious goal, giving himself 10 years to build a successful acting career. (Spoiler: He didn’t need all 10 years.) Before long, his hardcore dedication propelled him to worldwide fame, culminating in iconic roles in films like Top Gun and Jerry Maguire. At age 62, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

“I actually said I’m going to make movies into my 80s,” Cruise recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “Actually, I’m going to make them into my 100s. I will never stop. I will never stop doing action, I will never stop doing drama, comedy films—I’m excited.”

To read more about how Cruise turned setbacks into stepping stones and cemented his place in cinematic history—and to dive deeper into his extraordinary journey—read Tom Cruise’s complete profile on Biography.com.

Headshot of Biography.com Editors
Biography.com Editors
Staff Editorial Team and Contributors

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us