It seems Tom Cruise has been around forever, and after jumping on Oprah’s couch, you probably thought there was nothing he could do to surprise you. Well, guess again. This weekend, Tom Cruise will surprise everyone who thinks they know him by doing a turn as rock star Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages, director Adam Shankman‘s film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. While singing 80’s rock songs seems a stretch even for an actor as versatile as Tom Cruise, we found five fun facts that might surprise you as well. Or not. He is possibly the world’s most famous actor. Okay, so the facts might not be surprises, but they’ll be fun…and there will be five of them!
1) You might think he’s crazy but doesn’t believe you. In fact, he doesn’t believe in mental illness. He, along with his fellow Scientologists, thinks psychiatry is fake, and he has stated: “…it should be outlawed.” He also famously criticized actress Brooke Shields for admitting to using Paxil to get her through her post-partum depression (although he eventually apologized to her for his comments).
2) Beginning in 2006, Japan declared a day in early October “Tom Cruise Day” (there are conflicting opinions on which day it really is, October 6, 9, or 10, but most believe it is October 10th). He was so honored for being the Hollywood actor who has made the most visits to Japan.
3) He’s a walking contradiction. In 2006, Forbes magazine announced he was the WORLD’s number one star. That same year Premiere magazine rated him Hollywood’s most popular actor. He followed that up with Paramount Pictures not renewing their already 14-year contract with Cruise because of his non-film-related actions and with a poll released that year voting him the celebrity they would least want as their best friend.
4) He is almost single-handedly responsible for the Ray-Ban-wearing abuse that overtook the 1980s. When he wore them in Risky Business in 1983, sales of the sunglasses went up 50 percent. After the movie Top Gun came out in 1986, sales went up 40 percent, and when he wore them in 1988 in the film Rain Man, sales went up another 15 percent.
5) If you’re in trouble, he’s the guy you want around. In 1996, he witnessed a hit-and-run accident and not only took the woman involved to the hospital but also paid her hospital bills when he found out she had no insurance. Â He followed that up that same year by pulling two young boys out of a crowd of people at one of his movie premieres before they could get crushed. There is another story from ’96 where he supposedly saved five boaters from a burning boat, but that one story has been disputed (although we choose to believe it!) but it doesn’t matter because there is still ANOTHER story told where he stayed with a couple involved in a car accident, comforting them until help came. If that isn’t enough, back in 2008, he used his Hummer to tow a woman’s car out of a snowbank when he found that she was stranded and the tow truck hadn’t shown up yet. He’s an American hero. Hey, you might not like him, or you might think he’s just insane, but there’s no denying that the guy is a giver.