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Tom Cruise on turning 64: 'There's so much life, and there's always another dream'
Tom Cruise has turned 64 this year and says he does not fear death. In a recent interview, the Mission: Impossible star discusses ageing, risk, dreams and why he is not afraid to feel afraid.
At 64, Tom Cruise does not appear particularly interested in looking back. For an actor who has spent more than four decades in Hollywood, a question of ageing could easily have turned into a conversation about changing roles, slowing down or wondering how much longer a leading man can remain at the centre of the action. But Cruise sees it differently.
Turning 64, he says, has made him think less about what he has already done and more about everything that is still possible.
“I’m living my life and I have, always, dreams,” Cruise told GQ in a rare, in-depth interview. “But I also know to accomplish those dreams it takes effort, and you need to understand life and skills, and it’s a constant learning experience.”
That idea of constantly learning appears to be central to how Cruise views getting older. Rather than thinking about his career in terms of reaching a particular stage, he talks about life in terms of possibilities and the future.
Tom Cruise on turning 64: ‘There’s so much life’
The interviewer brought up George Clooney, who has previously spoken about reaching a point where he began thinking differently about the kinds of roles he could play. Clooney had recalled Cary Grant's observation that there comes a time when an actor knows he can no longer be “the guy who kisses the girl” and begins looking for something different on screen.
Cruise's response was different, and he did not frame ageing in terms of what he can no longer do.
“I see life in a different way,” he said. “I see it in a way of stories. I don’t see life in that way. There’s so many things that I enjoy and like doing and I’m interested in. So that’s how I see life. I’m an all-in kind of guy. Life, I’m coming right at it. It’s coming at me and I’m coming right at it. I am not a halfway kind of person. I’m just not. And I never want to be like: ‘You hit that peak.’ There’s always a new dream.”
Cruise added, “You’re asking me about being 64. I’m going, there’s so much life, and there’s always another dream. I think that a person without a dream, they’ve decided not to live.”
When asked directly whether he fears death, Cruise answered, “No. I don’t.” He clarified that this does not mean he is incapable of feeling fear. “It’s not like I’m not afraid. I don’t mind the feeling,” he said.
He added, “I understand life has certainties and uncertainties. And in making movies and living life, what interests me is: Let’s move the uncertainties more into the certainties, but I want to create other uncertainties, so that we’re moving forward and it’s part of the adventure of it.”
Cruise's latest chapter includes Digger, his new film with director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, which gives him another opportunity to move outside the familiar territory audiences associate with him. GQ describes the film as a dark, original story in which Cruise plays an oil magnate.