So I’m here munching a packet of crisps for breakfast (don’t judge me), scrolling through my phone and this photo of Tom Cruise pops up. Shirtless. Again. On some film set doing God only knows what death-defying stunt. And all I could think was: this old man is older than my dad. How old is Tom Cruise really?
My DAD, who moans about how he has to go up the stairs twice in a day. Meanwhile, Tom’s out here looking he could bench press a car and then go run a marathon for fun. It’s not right, is it?
Naturally, I did what any rational person would do; I rang my sister. “Jenna,” I told her, “Tom Cruise is 63.”
“Bollocks,” she replied. But it’s true. Born July 3rd, 1962. That makes it 63 as of this year. Sixty-three! That’s pension age! He ought to be fretting about his back garden and grumbling about young people’s music, not flinging himself off cliffs in Norway or wherever he was this time.
The Day I Realised Tom Cruise Broke Physics
Do you remember when everyone lost their minds over that Mission Impossible stunt where he hung from the side of a plane? I watched it at the time on my TV with my then boyfriend, and halfway through I turned to him and asked, “How old d’you reckon Tom is?”
“I dunno, maybe forty-five?” We looked it up. Tom Cruise age was 53 when they shot that. Fifty-three! Hanging off an aeroplane!
My boyfriend couldn’t even hang a picture frame without pulling something. Different skill sets, I suppose. But that made me wonder; when people are curious to know how old is Tom Cruise is, they generally expect a logically consistent age. “Oh, he’s probably in his late 40s, early 50s at best.” No one is ready for the real answer.
The man is collecting pensions and breaking Guinness World Records in the same year. It’s mental.
This Year’s Photos That Broke My Brain
So, let’s get back to this morning and my existential crisp-eating crisis. The photos I saw were from his latest film – Mission Impossible something-or-other; they all blur together now. Don’t they? But there he was, with the kind of musculature that most gym bros would kill for, performing something seemingly impossible that no doubt took six months to train for.
My mum saw the same photos and sent me this text: “That’s not normal. Should I be doing more exercise?”
God bless her; she’s 58 and claims that walking to Tesco is her cardio for the week. But she has got a point that Tom Cruise makes everyone reassess their life choices a bit, right? I shared the photos with my mate Pete, a 42-year-old who recently threw his back out trying to grab the remote. His own words: “I have to sit down and have a serious conversation with myself about what I’m doing with my life.”
We all do, Pete. We all do.
Also read: Tom Cruise Finally Gets His Oscar: A Long-Awaited Recognition
The Workout List That Made Me Feel Lazy Just Reading It
Ok, well, as any obsessive does when they don’t understand something, I went down a proper internet rabbit hole about Tom Cruise’s Fitness Routine.
Apparently, he does sea kayaking. SEA-KAYAKING. I had to Google what that even was. Then there’s caving, fencing, treadmill, weights, rock-climbing, hiking, and jogging. The list goes on and on.
I read this to my flatmate, who was eating cereal in her pyjamas at 2 PM and she stared at me. “I had a muscle pull getting out of bed yesterday,” she said. “How is this fair?” It’s not fair, Emma. None of this is fair.
But this is the real kicker; he does all of these things because he WANTS to! Not for any trainer who is making him do it or because his doctor said he needs to move more. He genuinely enjoys throwing himself off buildings and learning new ways to potentially die on camera.
My idea of trying something new is ordering a different flavour of tea. We’re not the same species, clearly.
The Real Kicker About His Latest Stunts
So get this: in his most recent films, Tom Cruise’s been doing even more insane stuff. And I mean INSANE. There’s this bit where he drives a motorcycle off a cliff. Off a CLIFF. At 63.
When my dad was 63, his biggest thrill was finding a good parking spot at Sainsbury’s.
But Tom Cruise? Tom’s out here collecting Guinness World Records for “Most Burning Parachute Jumps”. I had to read that three times. Burning. Parachute. Jumps. That’s not even a thing normal humans do once, let alone enough times to set a world record.
I mentioned this to my trainer (well, she was my trainer for about six weeks before I gave up). She laughed and said, “Most people my age are happy if they can touch their toes without groaning. Tom’s redefining what’s possible.”
She’s right though, isn’t she? The man’s single-handedly making the rest of us look like we’re sleepwalking through life.
Why This Actually Keeps Me Up at Night
Here’s what bothers me most about the whole how old is Tom Cruise thing; it’s not really about his age. It’s about what he’s done with his time.
I’m half his age and what have I accomplished? I can make a decent cup of tea and I’ve never missed an episode of Coronation Street. Meanwhile, Tom’s learned to fly helicopters, mastered about seventeen different fighting techniques, and apparently discovered the secret to eternal youth.
My brother put it best: “Tom Cruise makes me feel like I’ve wasted my entire adult life, and I’m not even sure he’s wrong.”
Harsh but probably accurate. But the thing is, there’s more to it than just the physical stuff, isn’t there? Watch any interview with him and you will discover that the man’s literally excited about all of it. Excited about stunts, excited about setups, excited about life in general. When was the last time any of us felt so enthusiastic about anything?
I got excited about a new Netflix series last week and that was the highlight of my month.
What This All Means for the Rest of Us
So what’s the takeaway here? That we should all start jumping off buildings? No, of course not; most of us would end up in A&E within minutes.
But there’s something to be said for Tom Cruise’s approach to aging. Instead of accepting limitations, he keeps testing what’s possible. Instead of slowing down, he’s speeding up.
My mate Jim started running marathons after watching a Tom Cruise interview. He was 48, overweight, and hadn’t taken part in sports or run since school. Two years later, he’s done three marathons and looks better than he did in his twenties.
“If Tom can hang off planes,” Jim told me, “I can manage 26 miles.” Fair point.
Maybe Tom Cruise’s real superpower is not defying age but making the rest of us believe we could do more than we think we can. Even if most of us will stick to slightly less death-defying activities.
The man’s 63, looks like he’s in his thirties, moves like he’s twenty, and has convinced millions of people that age really is just a number.
Either he’s found the fountain of youth, or he’s showing us that we’ve been thinking about getting older all wrong. Either way, I’m impressed. And slightly motivated to maybe walk somewhere instead of taking the bus tomorrow.
Maybe.
