Tom Cruise: Risky Business | 279

Even the Rich

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.3 • 11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Richies, just in time for ""Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning"" - the last installment of the MI franchise - we bring you one of the most bankable stars in the world, Tom Cruise. As a boy, he’s bullied because of his height, and faces learning difficulties at school. But that was then and this is now. Thanks to roles in “Risky Business,” “Top Gun,” “A Few Good Men,” and the money-printing “Mission: Impossible” franchise, Tom has become not only an enormous action star, but one of Hollywood’s most surefire leading men. And one of its most controversial. Who could forget the image of him jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch after falling for Katie Holmes? Or when the “War of the Worlds” star and public face of Scientology stirs the pot on “Today,"" criticizing Brooke Shields for using medication to treat postpartum depression. (A major no-no according to Tom’s church.) There’s no questioning Tom’s mega-star status - or his extremely polarizing views.

You can follow Brooke and Aricia on socials at @brookesiffrinn and @ariciaskidmorewilliamss. And check out the brand new Even the Rich merch store at www.eventherich.com.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge the newest season of Even the Rich before anyone else.
0:04.4	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.7	All right, Brookeie.
0:15.0	Give me an example of a time that you stepped way out of your comfort zone.
0:20.1	I mean, every day doing this job?
0:23.1	This isn't your comfort zone?
0:25.0	I mean, it is now, but like when we first got going, it's, it was like, it's scary.
0:31.0	Yeah, you're right. It was terrifying.
0:32.8	Because we had never done anything like this before.
0:35.7	Well, today's subject doesn't just step out of his comfort zone.
0:38.7	He launches himself straight into the danger zone, literally.
0:43.6	He's been strapped to the side of planes, jumped out of helicopters, and scaled the tallest
0:48.2	building in the world for fun.
0:51.0	And in addition to being one of the most powerful movie stars in the planet, he's unapologetically
0:55.2	himself, for better or for worse. Today, we're talking about Tom Cruise.
1:04.3	It's 1985. Tom Cruise is gripping the edge of his seat inside an F-14 Tomcat that's speeding across the desert, just a few feet off the ground.
1:18.1	He's in the plane because a film crew is getting aerial shots for an upcoming movie called Top Gun.
1:23.4	The Navy pilot in front of him, whose call sign is Bozo, is taking Tom through heavy maneuvers.
1:30.0	Tom's face is drenched in sweat, when suddenly his stomach lurches.
1:34.9	Now he's trained for this.
1:36.5	He's done spins, dives, and rolls before.
1:39.4	But nothing has prepared him for the gut-wrenching gravitational force of real aerial combat maneuvers.
	...

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