Try as he might, Tom Cruise can’t seem to keep his pants on.
And why should he? After all, partying in his underwear in “Risky Business” arguably made Cruise a star. Over the years, Hollywood has convinced him to strip down to his unmentionables again and again. Even his latest summer blockbuster, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” features not one, but two action sequences with the 62-year-old actor in his skivvies.
Though Cruise may not have won an Academy Award (yet), he gets the prize for our favorite underwear actor. Here’s the proof.
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Risky Business (1983)
STYLE: Old-school tighty-whities.
SCENE: Cruise, playing a straitlaced teen, dances in the living room wearing briefs and a shirt with the collar askew in an explosion of suburban rebellion.
VERDICT: Parodied in everything from “Guitar Hero” ads to episodes of “Scrubs,” nothing beats the original. -
Far and Away (1992)
STYLE: Victorian undergarments that leave a lot to the imagination.
SCENE: Nicole Kidman, playing a prim immigrant, watches Cruise covertly as he doffs his trousers, reveals very long skivvies and preps for bed.
VERDICT: Cruise’s dodgy Irish accent isn’t the only thing off here. Hard to know why Kidman gets hot and bothered — sweatpants are more revealing. -
Magnolia (1999)
STYLE: Bikini briefs that leave little to the imagination.
SCENE: Cruise’s misogynistic motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey changes in front of a female journalist, displaying skimpy underwear while bragging about his game.
VERDICT: If the words he was spewing weren’t so vile, we’d be impressed. Someone’s been hitting the StairMaster. Respect the … no, we won’t go there. -
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
STYLE: ’90s-era black trunks.
SCENE: Cruise sits mutely in his undies as a stoned Kidman tells him about the sexy naval officer she fantasized about cheating with back in the day.
VERDICT: This cuckolding monologue feels as interminable as the 294 days the famously long-winded film took to shoot. Kudos to Cruise for letting the focus stay on Kidman as he’s slowly emasculated. -
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (2025)
STYLE: Navy boxer briefs you’d wear in the Arctic Ocean.
SCENE(S:) Cruise gets ambushed while jogging on a treadmill in his underwear. Later, while infiltrating a submarine wreck, our hero must strip down to his drawers (why ask why?).
VERDICT: Cruise’s next mission: Invest in running shorts and proper swim trunks.
