Tom Cruise Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. He started his career at age 19 in the film "Endless Love" (1981), before making his breakthrough in the comedy "Risky Business" (1983) and receiving widespread attention for starring in the action drama "Top Gun" (1986) as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. After starring in "The Color of Money" (1986) and "Cocktail" (1988), Cruise starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning drama "Rain Man". For his role as anti-war activist Ron Kovic in the drama "Born on the Fourth of July"
Born on the Fourth of July (film) by Stone to portray Kovic. In 1987, Stone's agent Paula Wagner had shown "Platoon" to Tom Cruise, after he had expressed interest in working with the director. Cruise met with Stone to discuss the role in January 1988. The studio was concerned over the prospects of Cruise appearing as a dramatic film lead. Stone, in particular, had dismissed his previous film "Top Gun" (1986) as a "fascist movie", but expressed that he was drawn to the actor's "Golden Boy" image. "I saw this kid who has everything," he stated. "And I wondered what would happen if tragedy strikes, if fortune