Having begun his acting career at the age of 19, Tom Cruise didn't take long to climb the ranks to A-list status - he's been one of Hollywood's biggest stars for decades, and in 2012 was ranked as the highest paid actor in the industry, with over 20 of his movies grossing more than $200 million worldwide. He's shown himself to be a capable actor - if not necessarily a truly great one - in a number of films throughout his career, with performances in films like The Colour Of Money, Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut standing out from the crowd. It's a shame, then, that for the most part his output has increasingly veered towards playing safe and familiar roles as generic, near-flawless action heroes. Knight And Day, Jack Reacher, The Last Samurai, Oblivion and Edge Of Tomorrow are just a few examples of Cruise vehicles in which you could pretty much swap and change the characters from one to another without any real noticable changes being made. It would be nice to see some more variation, although with Mission: Impossible 5 coming up next it's not going to happen any time soon.
