Tom Cruise: Interesting facts about the actor

Born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, Tom Cruise is one of the most popular actors in the world! Everything about this superstar makes for headlines. But there are some interesting and lesser known facts about the Top Gun actor. Read on to know some...

The actor is of is of Irish, German, and English ancestry and has three sisters - Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. Cruise had a Catholic upbringing and grew up in poverty. He had an abusive father and according to a report on Parade.com, the Hollywood hunk was quoted saying that his dad was a bully and a coward.

Cruise has been married thrice - to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes respectively, all of whom were taller than Tom, who stands at 5'7 inches. He also dated Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz for 3 years before calling it quits. It is said that Cruise's ex-wife Mimi Rogers introduced him to Scientology, the religion founded by writer L. Ron Hubbard. However, according to a report on Hollywoodlife.com, insiders claim the actor allegedly plans to break free from Scientology so that he can watch his daughter, Suri, grow up in peace.

Cruise's ex-wife Holmes was a fan of the actor even before they met and married. According to her interview with Seventeen magazine, Katie was quoted saying that she used to think that she was going to marry Tom Cruise. The actress also had a poster of him on her wall as a teen. Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel tower.

Cruise had enrolled in a seminary to become a priest at the tender age of 14. But eventually, he dropped out after a year. According to an IMDB report, Further to reports, the actor created quite a stir in the medical world when he claimed that Scientology cured him of his dyslexia. Tom also denounced psychiatry and modern medicine, stating that Scientology was the cure to heal and openly criticised Brooke Shields who used anti-depressants to recover from postpartum depression, as reported on Biography.com.

This heartthrob is one of the few actors to have visited Japan frequently and in order to honour him, the country has dedicated 10th October as Tom Cruise Day, as reported on Ifc.com. Is said to be passionate about skydiving, scuba diving, and piloting his Pitts Special S-2B stunt plane. Disney's Aladdin is said to resemble Tom Cruise. Bought a motorcycle at the age of 12 from his savings, as per a report on Complex.com.

Cruise started working at an early age, especially after his father stormed out on the family. According to a report on Complex.com, the actor cut grass and sold Easter and Christmas cards door-to-door. Is said to have attended he attended 15 different schools. As per an IMDB report, the actor took up acting after losing out a place in his high school wrestling team due to a knee injury. Has two dogs and one cat.

According to an IMDB report, Cruise helped aspiring Brazilian actress Heloisa Vinhas, who was a hit-and-run victim, by paying her hospital bills. Cruise also filed a 100 million lawsuit against Michael Davis, a man who allegedly was ready to sell video tapes of himself having sex with the Jerry McGuire actor. Late actor Patrick Swayze revealed that Cruise, who was his co-star in The Outsiders, was so insecure about his teeth that he avoided photoshoots, as reported on Complex.com.

Before Keanu Reaves was cast in the Matrix, Tom Cruise was apparently considered for the lead. Tom Cruise lost out to Peter Barton, who was cast as the male lead in The Powers of Matthew Star. Tom Cruise and not Matt Damon, was the first choice for the 1999 film, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Before Robert Downey Jr. was cast in Iron Man, it was Cruise who was the original choice for the film. According to Shortlist.com, actors like Sean Penn, Matthew Modine, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox and Tom Hanks were considered for Top Gun before Cruise was finalised.

Author Anne Rice was not happy about Tom Cruise being cast in her big-screen adaptation of her book Interview with the Vampire and openly expressed her displeasure. However, after watching the film, Rice is said to have bought a two-page ad in Daily Variety for $7,740, apologising to the actor and recommending his performance, as reported on Complex.com.

In spite of being an A-list actor and being nominated by the Academy, Cruise has never won an Oscar. According to a Forbes estimate, the actor’s net worth is said to be a whopping $500 million. Tom Cruise does not like his likeliness to be used for video games, action figures or other toys.