Even though he is arguably the sole true movie star that remains, the one A-List actor who has never pivoted to TV in any format, Tom Cruise remains underrated as an acting talent: his persona carries his movies and sustains his endless presence in the public imagination and discourse, but his acting prowess is always treated as incidental, as if he isn't extremely good at any role he touches. He's simply magnetic beyond all belief, regardless of how much someone knows about his personal life. Underrated to the public because of the sheer weight of his star power, but a complete industry legend based on the tales of anyone who works with him.
A lot of this is chosen/self-inflicted on his part, as he has moved to largely impersonal action roles because of the one-two punch of the Oprah couch interview in 2005 & the increased speculation about what he knows/doesn't know about Scientology. His roles since have been more or less 'Tom Cruise: As You May Know Him' rather than the dramas and personal roles that made his bread and butter in the '90s and pre-Oprah '00s
His plan for the rest of the 2020s is to become a dramatic actor once more, but I'm genuinely curious whether his plan to be more intimate with the public again will work.
