6. Tom Cruise Takes On A Rare Bad Guy Role & Totally Nails It
Tom Cruise hasn't played many bad guys over the course of his career, and that's presumably because Tom Cruise just likes playing heroes. The same heroes. Over and over again. So when a little Michael Mann movie called
Collateral came out in 2004 and we got a glimpse of Mr. Cruise looking rather terrifying with his hair dyed blonde and a murderous expression stuck upon his face, everybody stood up and took notice. Telegram for Tom Cruise: play more bad guys, dude. Yes, Tom Cruise's casting as a hitman marked a well-needed change in the iconic actor's career. As Vincent, Cruise plays it ice cold and sinister, and it's like watching another actor at work. Whether or not it was just the "gimmick" of watching this otherwise heroic hero dig his teeth into a villainous role, or because of the chemistry between Cruise and Jamie Foxx throughout, this just worked. And when you consider that Cruise has played only actually played three villains throughout his entire career, it was really refreshing to watch him giving a different kind of performance: that rare flick where you forgot you're watching Tom Cruise "doing acting."