After 30 years in show biz, actor keeps on changing CRUISE CONTROL

June 21, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rafer Guzman

Long Island Newsday

Tom Cruise has done action films. He’s done comedies. But in his 30-year career, he’s never quite done an action-comedy.

That makes “Knight and Day,” an otherwise typical-looking summer movie, a first of sorts for Cruise, who stars as a fugitive spy tethered to an everyday gal (Cameron Diaz). In a way, the role of Roy Miller, a wisecracking pistol-packer, is almost as much a departure as Les Grossman, the foul-mouthed movie mogul Cruise played in the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder.”

The actor generally seems to have a strong sense of what his audiences want and what he is best suited to give them. He prefers to play heroes rather than villains. He has rarely taken the Meryl Streep foreign-accent route, though he did star as an Irish immigrant in the period epic “Far and Away.” He has never played a superhero, probably because when comic books began to dominate Hollywood, he was already too big a star for tights. He also has, somewhat curiously, never starred in a Western.

In the past few years, the actor’s public image has been marred by his increasingly voluble support of Scientology and some baffling behavior in public. His 2005 couch-jumping spree on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” seemed merely odd — he was waxing romantic over his future wife, Katie Holmes — but his hostile appearance on the “Today” show, during which he criticized Brooke Shields for taking a postpartum antidepressant (a Scientology no-no), was harder to forgive. Such conduct appears to be what led to his split from Paramount in 2006.

Cruise has rebuilt a store of goodwill with his newly hip Les Grossman character, though whether “Knight and Day” is the right way to capitalize on that remains to be seen. Here’s a look at Cruise’s changing personae over the years, from teen pinup to Scientology poster boy — and, perhaps, beyond.

“Risky Business” (1983), Cruise’s breakout role was a martyred cadet in 1981’s “Taps,” but it was this stylish comedy-drama that made him a star. What Brando did for T-shirts in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Cruise did for tighty-whities by singing Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” in his underwear.

“Top Gun” (1986), this Tony Scott blockbuster about a group of wannabe fighter pilots remains one of Cruise’s defining films. Its basic story — a young hotshot learns that talent isn’t everything — can be traced back to the 1983 football drama “All the Right Moves” and would later resurface as “Cocktail” (1988) and “Days of Thunder” (1990).

“Legend” (1986), Cruise took a rare wrong turn playing a forest dweller with a fondness for unicorns. The role of faerie hero didn’t suit him, and the film was a flop. Cruise has steered clear of the fantasy genre ever since.

“Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), Cruise poked his head into the Serious Actor club when Martin Scorsese cast him opposite Paul Newman in the pool-shark drama “The Color of Money” (1986), but it was this Oliver Stone film that earned Cruise — playing the real-life, wheelchair-bound Vietnam vet Ron Kovic — his first Academy Award nomination. (He has yet to win an Oscar.)

“Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles” (1994), Neil Jordan’s adaptation of the hugely popular Anne Rice novel should have been the “Twilight” of its day, with Cruise and Brad Pitt as hottie vampires. But audiences weren’t charmed by Cruise as an aristocratic, possibly bisexual bloodsucker. So far, no sequel.

“Mission: Impossible” (1996), Though Cruise had done some cat-and-mousing in the conspiracy-thriller “The Firm” (1993), this Brian De Palma movie gave the actor a chance to cock a pistol, ride atop a speeding train and yell things such as “Who sent you?” The movie turned Cruise into an international action star.

“Jerry Maguire” (1996), Unexpectedly, Cruise followed up with Cameron Crowe’s character-driven drama about a struggling sports agent — one of the actor’s few Everyman roles. The movie became a smash and contributed numerous catchphrases to the pop-culture lexicon, including Cruise’s “You complete me,” Cuba Gooding Jr.’s “Show me the money” and Renee Zellweger’s “You had me at ‘hello.’”

“Eyes Wide Shut” (1999), eyes flew open when the legendary Stanley Kubrick chose Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman for his first movie in 12 years (it also would be his last). The two gave it their all, but the bizarre subject matter (ritual orgies) left many viewers disappointed.

“War of the Worlds” (2005), the dark tone of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film made it a tough sell, but the real problem was Cruise’s strange behavior while trying to promote the film — ultimately, he drew more attention to his Scientology beliefs. The chairman of Viacom later ousted Cruise from Paramount Pictures, citing the actor’s “conduct.”

“Tropic Thunder” (2008), Cruise made a surprise appearance as Les Grossman, a foul-mouthed, rap-loving movie exec — and handily stole the show. Suddenly, all was forgiven: Cruise recently brought the popular character to the MTV Movie Awards and he is talking to Paramount about a feature-length movie.

“Mission: Impossible IV” (2011), in a possible sign of damage to his A-list status, Cruise will no longer receive guaranteed profits from the “first dollar” cut of ticket sales, according to the Los Angeles Times. Still, Cruise’s salary will amount to at least $20 million upfront. Hold the career eulogies — for now.