The Transformation Of Tom Cruise From 21 To 58 Years Old

There's a lot that can be said about Tom Cruise. The star is a Golden Globe-winning actor, producer, and dad of three. Cruise is known in Hollywood as one of the highest-paid stars, and he's held that status for decades.

Cruise is the only son of four children, who was raised by his mom, Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and dad, Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer. His parents were both from Louisville, Kentucky, where he lived for 11 years, but Cruise moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his mother following his parents' divorce in 1973, per IMDb.

As a kid, Cruise struggled to fit in, and in school, he spent his years trying to hide his dyslexia, which he was diagnosed with at age 7. The actor once described his younger self as "functionally illiterate" (via Dyslexiahelp.umich.edu), but fortunately, he excelled in sports. In fact, he once considered pursuing a career in professional wrestling, but he suffered a knee injury during high school that , per Biography. 

After a teacher encouraged Cruise to join the school's production of the musical "Guys and Dolls," he fell in love with acting, and well, the rest is history. Since then, Cruise has captivated audiences around the globe, and his transformation is nothing short of amazing.

With "Top Gun" on his résumé, Tom Cruise established himself as a Hollywood hotshot, and by that time, he was making the big bucks. In the late 1990s, Cruise snagged the title of one of showbiz's highest-paid actors in the world, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

The handsome heartthrob had already earned $9 million for 1990's "Days of Thunder" and another $15 million for his work on "Interview With the Vampire" in 1994, but his bank account skyrocketed when he landed the starring role in "Mission Impossible" in 1996. Entertainment Weekly reported he "pocketed $70 million" for the hit action film, and he also "negotiated a chunk of 'Mission's' overall $465 million gross."

Cruise's monetary gain is so impressive that a report from Casumo claims he pockets more than $7,000 per word. "When taking into account everything he's been in for almost 40 years, supposedly it's as much as $7,091 per word," CinemaBlend reported in April 2020.

But, while Cruise has more money than one could ever imagine, the producer knows he has earned every dollar in his $600 million fortune. "I get paid because I'm worth it and they should pay me that much. But I've never done work for money, ever," he shared with Vanity Fair in 2000 (via The Uncool). "It is my life, it is what I do, it is what I love to do."

Following his split from Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise fixated his focus on his acting career, and throughout the early 2000s, he balanced several roles in "Minority Report," "Austin Powers in Goldmember," and "Collateral." By April 2005, Cruise's personal life started making headlines once again when he publicly debuted his relationship with Katie Holmes.

While many speculated their romance was a publicity stunt, as Cruise was starring in "War of the Worlds" while Holmes was cast as the lead in "Batman Begins," they proved how serious they were when they got engaged less than two months later in June, per The Hollywood Reporter. Before they got the chance to walk down the aisle, though, Cruise expanded his family when Holmes gave birth to their daughter, Suri Cruise, in April 2006.

The duo wed seven months later in November, marking Cruise's third trip down the aisle. Marrying the Hollywood hunk was an unbelievable moment for Holmes, who told Seventeen magazine she "used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise" as a little girl (via The Hollywood Reporter). However, their romance eventually came to end in June 2012 when Holmes filed for divorce. At the time, Cruise's attorney called their split "a private matter," adding the actor's No. 1 priority was their "daughter's best interests" (via People).