Tom Cruise has a very Tom Cruise answer about turning 64 and fearing death

Tom Cruise has spent decades convincing audiences that death is something he can outrun, outsmart, and occasionally jump off a cliff to avoid. And according to the actor himself, the off-screen reality is that he doesn’t fear death.

At 64, Cruise is still approaching his career and life with the same sense of adventure that has defined him since he became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Whether he’s hanging off airplanes, jumping motorcycles off mountains, or simply throwing himself into another ambitious project, Cruise doesn’t seem particularly interested in the idea of slowing down.

© Getty

 Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film Digger stars Cruise in a role unlike any he’s ever done before. With the film out October 2, the Academy Award nominee did a rare interview with GQ. 

The actor was asked directly whether he fears death. “Do I fear death? No. I don’t,” he said. “It’s not like I’m not afraid. I don’t mind the feeling.” 

For Cruise, fear is something worth experiencing. “I’m not afraid to feel afraid,” he explained. “I don’t know how else to say it. I’m not afraid to go, ‘Okay, I know this is a leap, and let’s take the jump. Let’s go.’”

© Getty

That mindset has become almost inseparable from Cruise’s public image, particularly through the Mission: Impossible franchise, where audiences have spent years watching Ethan Hunt get himself into increasingly impossible situations. But Cruise says the appeal isn’t simply about putting himself in danger.

Instead, he’s interested in the uncertainty that comes with taking a risk. “I understand life has certainties and uncertainties,” he said. “And in making movies and living life, what interests me is: Let’s move the uncertainties more into the certainties, but I want to create other uncertainties, so that we’re moving forward and it’s part of the adventure of it.”

© Pierre Suu

Asked where that instinct to find “the cliff” comes from, Cruise had a very Tom Cruise answer. “It’s just who I am. That’s my theory.”

And that philosophy doesn’t appear to have changed as he’s gotten older. Cruise turned 64 on July 3, but when asked whether reaching that age has changed the way he thinks about his career, he laughed off the premise. “It means I’m 64,” he said.

Rather than looking at aging as a signal to rethink what roles he can or should play, Cruise says he sees something much bigger when he looks ahead.

“I’m living my life, and I have always had dreams,” he said. “But I also know to accomplish those dreams it takes effort, and you need to understand life and skills, and it’s a constant learning experience.”

© Getty

Cruise doesn’t seem willing to let a number decide what comes next. “I’m an all-in kind of guy,” he said. “Life, I’m coming right at it. It’s coming at me, and I’m coming right at it.”

And then he offered perhaps his clearest explanation yet for why 64 doesn’t feel like the beginning of an ending. “I never want to be like: ‘You hit that peak.’ There’s always a new dream,” he said. “I think that a person without a dream, they’ve decided not to live.”