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

  • When he was 18, Tom Cruise gave himself 10 years to make it in Hollywood.
  • Cruise hustled through his early years in New York City, taking on odd jobs and relentless auditions.
  • Cruise’s breakout role in Risky Business catapulted him to instant stardom.

Tom Cruise is known for his extreme dedication to his craft—just look at the lengths he goes to in pulling off the death-defying stunts in the Mission: Impossible franchise. But when Cruise set off for New York City when he was just 18 with a 10-year deadline to make it in the movie business, even he may not have expected to reach that goal so soon.

Yet within just three years, the little-known actor would land the role that turned him into a superstar.

Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, New York, Cruise excelled at sports in his youth, and he considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling—until a devastating knee injury sidelined him during high school. He then spent a year training in a Franciscan seminary to become a Catholic priest.

But 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. In New York, he supported himself as a busboy while taking audition after audition, eventually landing small parts in two 1981 films: Endless Love and Taps (1981). In 1983, Cruise continued his rise with a supporting turn in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, joining a cast of fellow up-and-comers like Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

But it was his next film that proved to be the true breakthrough. Risky Business (1983) grossed $65 million and became one of the most profitable movies of the year. It also made Cruise a highly recognizable actor, thanks in no small part to a famous scene of the 21-year-old dancing in his underwear.

Just a few years later, Top Gun was the highest-grossing film of 1986, and Cruise was firmly on Hollywood’s A-list. By his mid-20s, the newbie with a 10-year plan had become one of the world’s biggest movie stars.

Now in his 60s and currently starring in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, Cruise shows 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.”

Dive deeper into Tom Cruise’s extraordinary journey by reading his complete profile on Biography.com.