Hola mis queridos amigos, hoy vamos a mirar hacia un famoso actor americano, Tom Cruise. Veremos algo sobre su vida y su carrera. ¡Espero que os guste! Por cierto, ¡a mi me encanta Tom Cruise!
Information: from Speak Up magazine.
Photos: www.abc.es / www.europapress.es / www.mirror.co.uk / cinema93.org / theundergroundmovement.org
TOM CRUISE / FLYING HIGH
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise has the reputation of being eccentric but he is also a brilliant actor and, his colleagues say, an extremely nice man! Looking at his early life offers a clue as to these contradictory qualities. Cruise was born in 1962 and grew up in near poverty in the US and Canada. He had a Catholic upbringing but his father was violent. He excelled in sport, but was noted for his rebellious behaviour, something that could be attributed to his struggles with dislexya, and he attended fifteen schools in fourteen years. His mother finally left his father and took her four children to Ohio, where Cruise considered joining the priesthood.
TOP GUN!
Then Tom Cruise discovered acting. In 1981, he was lucky enough to land a small part in the Franco Zefirelli movie "Endless Love" and the same year in a supporting role American military drama film "Taps".
This set him within a group of young actors who would become prominent in coming-of-age movies of the period. He was among the cast of "The Outsiders" in 1983, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and, the same year, given the lead in "Risky Business", one of the quintessential teen movies of the 1980s. In 1986's "Top Gun" Cruise shot the stardom in this story of heroism and love.
THE BROKEN HERO
Cruise could have continued playing tough guys, but subsequent future parts offered a twist on this stereotype. Notable was his role as the self-centred Charlie Babbit in "Rain Man" (1988). The following year Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for his lead in "Born on the Fourth of July" based on the 1976 autobiography by a Vietnam veteran.
Most interestingly, although romance and comedy do not seem to suit Cruise, his best performance came in "Jerry Maguire" (1996), in which he plays a slick sports agent in need of emotional support.
BACK IN ACTION
Cruise's most successful movies to date are, action films; with series of "Mission Impossible" movies (1996-2018) receiving critical adoration and box office success. Cruise excels in the lead role as Ethan Hunt -and still insists on doing his own stunts! Last year's Mission Impossible - Fallout received the best critical approval of Cruise's career. Cruise also played the eponymous role in two Jack Reacher films (2012-2016), although he will not star in the forthcoming TV series; creator Lee Child is looking for a physically bigger actor.
PERSUASIVE
While it is generally accepted that Cruise is bankable in any role he plays, some directors have complained of feeling "forced" to cast him for that reason. According to a friend of Stanley Kubrick, the director considered "Eyes Wide Shut" as "a piece of shit" that had been ruined by the interefence of its superstars! The 1990 film also starred Nicle Kidman, with whom Cruise was married at the time.
RELATIONSHIPS
Cruise's relationships have attracted a lot of attention. He has been married three times, firstly to Mimi Rogers, who is credited with introducing Cruise to the Church of Scientology.
Today, Cruise is one of this controversial belief system's most high-profile proponents. Former partner Katie Holmes claimed that she ended their marriage to protect their daughter Suri, from what some people regard as a dangerous cult.
UNSTOPPABLE
Scientology scandals aside, Cruise continues to make a huge success of his career with action-packed performances in thrillers such as "Minority Report" (2002) and "Collateral" (2004), in science fiction films sushc as "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), and in crime storuies such as "American Made" (2017). Who can say the heights to which the forthcoming "Top Gun" film will soar!
AMERICAN MADE
Based on the stranger-than-fiction real-life story of Barry Seal, the American airline pilot who, in the 1990s, was caught smuggling drugs for a major drug cartel, American Made is an entertaining crime thriller starring Hollywood maverick Tom Cruise in the leading role.
When Seal, a bored airline pilot, is approached by the CIA to undertake an exciting yet relatively safe spying mission, he is easily persuaded. However, he is then pushed further by his shady government contact into more risky activities. Seal becomes caught between different fronts, finding himself gun-running, money-laundering and carrying drugs in his plane to the US for Colombia's Medellin Cartel (under drug lord Pablo Escobar) and shipping guns to Nicaragua's anti-communist rebels ·the Contras" for the CIA!
This cannot end well for Seal...
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VOCABULARY
-CLUE: pista.
-UPBRINGING: educación.
-TO EXCELL: destacar.
-TO BE NOTED: ser conocido.
-STRUGGLES: dificultades.
-PRIESTHOOD: sacerdocio.
-TAPS: toque de corneta.
-COMING-OF-AGE: de formación.
-CAST: reparto.
-LEAD: papel principal.
-QUINTESSENTIAl: prototípica.
-STARDOM: fama, estrellato.
-TOUGH GUYS: tipos duros.
-SELF-CENTRED: egoísta.
-SLICK: hábil.
-BOX OFFICE: taquilla.
-STUNTS: escenas de riesgo.
-EPONYMOUS: homónimo.
-BANKABLE; rentable.
-TO SOAR: elevarse.
-TO SMUGGLE: hacer contrabando.
-MAVERICK: inconformista.
-TO RUN GUNS: traficar con armas.
-TO LAUNDER MONEY: blanquear dinero.
-TO SHIP: enviar.
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SEE YOU MY FRIENDS!
HAVE A NICE DAY!
