Tom Cruise’s running style has become almost as iconic as his movies. It seems like every movie he’s in, the actor is at some point in a full sprint with bladed hands by his side. The Mission: Impossible movies especially often include significant sequences of Cruise just running. This may seem boring, but it never is, as his pure athleticism on display is something to be marveled at, and heightens tension within the scene. Apparently, this running technique has a link to one of his co-stars from The Outsiders.
Cruise’s Outsiders co-star Rob Lowe recently sat down with Dana Carvey and David Spade on the Superfly podcast. The actor reminisced about his early days in Hollywood and his experience working with Tom Cruise on the classic Francis Ford Coppola film. Lowe explained that sometime after working together on the movie, they truly learned how to run properly, and it was their co-star Emilio Estevez’s running coach who really showed them the ropes. Lowe said:
Tom and I — I could be wrong — but I think we both initially learned to run from Emilio Estevez’s running coach. … It would’ve been post-Outsiders, and it was a guy named Milan Tiff, and he won the triple jump – he was on the famous 1968 U.S. Olympic team.
Clearly the technique stuck with Cruise even more than his co-stars, because it’s become one of his signatures. It makes sense that he was taught by an Olympian, because the run resembles that of a professional sprinter. However, there was seemingly a time at which Cruise and some of his co-stars were provided the same running foundation, as Lowe also said:
We were all training with Milan, the hand thing was the big thing. And then you also make it a flap, by the way. There’s this [makes gesture] And then you make it a little flap. Little dolphin move.
Even though the Cruise run has certainly evolved, you can still see this foundation in his gate. I would’ve never guessed that Emilo Estevez’s running coach would’ve been the one to set the tone for that.
In the past, Rob Lowe has been candid about the Oscar-nominated actor being relentlessly competitive on set and always wanting to do his own stunts. That hasn’t changed at all over the years, as Tom Cruise still does many of his own stunts. The St. Elmo’s Fire star also said Cruise once knocked him down during a sparring match on set. Lowe would certainly know Cruise’s habits well, considering the two lived together in a hotel while filming The Outsiders.
This intensity clearly hasn’t subsided. Cruise has no problem doing the most, whether it’s via an all out sprint during a running sequence or pushing the envelope with death defying stunts for the latest Mission: Impossible film. The Outsiders was just the beginning for Cruise, who was just getting his feet wet with physicality-based roles. Kudos to Emilio Estevez’s trainer for eventually laying the foundation for the action star we all know today.
You can see Tom Cruise sprinting away from danger once again in his latest film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which opens in theaters on May 23 as part of the 2025 movie schedule. You can also stream previous installments using a Paramount+ subscription.