It was his second film and first-ever speaking role. A small part in Harold Becker’s Taps put Cruise on the map. In 1981, he found an opening and ran with it. Tom Cruise in his first speaking role in Taps (1981). Gradually, he improved and gained confidence in his ability. He scratched and clawed through every audition, figuring out ways to make it happen. “I’d glean information from them and I’d use that. “When I auditioned for parts and was given a script to read cold, I’d get the director and producer to talk about the characters and the film,” Cruise said. After all, reading scripts and memorizing lines is a huge part of the job. Once again, he needed to get creative and find ways to work around it if he wanted any kind of future as an actor. So he moved out to New York City, taking auditions for any part he could find.īut Cruise’s dyslexia hadn’t just gone away. Realizing he didn’t have a future in sports or education, he decided to give acting a real shot. I loved learning, I wanted to learn, but I knew I had failed in the system,” Cruise told People. He felt out of place – as if he cheated the educational system. Through a lot of improvisation and pure charisma, he got the part, receiving his first taste of a starring role.īut when graduation rolled around, Cruise chose not to attend the ceremony. He played soccer, hockey, football, baseball, and more.Īfter a knee injury derailed his athletic career during his senior year of high school, he decided to audition for the lead in his school’s production of Guys and Dolls. Whether to avoid going home or to simply blow off steam, Tom Cruise got involved in as many after-school activities as possible. Yearbook picture with the high school wrestling team. “If I had a test in the afternoon,” Cruise told People Magazine, “I’d find kids at lunchtime who’d taken the test that morning and find out what it was like.” Becoming An Actor & Reading Scripts Between three jobs, his mother would help him out as much as she could.īut, like any child dealing with dyslexia, he became resourceful. My head ached.”Īs you could imagine, this made school work extremely difficult. My legs would actually hurt when I was studying. “I would go blank, feel anxious, nervous, bored, frustrated, dumb. “Then I’d get to the end of the page and have very little memory of anything I’d read.” “I’d try to concentrate on what I was reading,” Cruise said. But one constant remained – his dyslexia. Thus, he was an easy target, and bullies pushed him around often.Ĭruise was the perennial new kid – constantly having to adjust to a new environment, new teachers, and new friends.Įach place came with its own set of pros and cons. He was insecure about his short stature and crooked teeth (his family couldn’t exactly afford top-notch dental care).