Tom Cruise may have scaled the 123rd floor of the Burj Khalifa and driven his bike off a cliff, but he also saved Jerry Maguire from a pathetic fate!

After seeing the master at work, the director of Mission: Impossible 7 Christopher McQuarrie explained, "Tom is not still here by accident." Truer words could not have been said. Tom Cruise's movie star career exists on a scale unattainable by all who came before him and could never be repeated again even if they tried. Therein lies the audience's fanatical fascination with Cruise.

After spending 40+ years in the film industry, the actor has hardly slowed down at all. In fact, since turning 60, Cruise's ambitions seem to have accelerated and grown even further. But long before he started riding motorcycles off a cliff and dangling upside down from helicopters, Tom Cruise was known for delivering Oscar-worthy spectacles that would have top directors vying for his attention.

Tom Cruise was once known for delivering quiet, menacing, brooding and even agonizingly haunting performances, despite the adrenaline-fueled bloodstream that drives him to perform his literal Mission: Impossible stunts. Films such as Collateral, Interview With the Vampire, Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Rain Man and Vanilla Sky are proof of the untapped wealth of his talents.