Jack Reacher author Lee Child claims Tom Cruise is too old to star in action movies. This comes just a little over a year after the director claimed Cruise was too short to play Jack Reacher on the big screen. Cruise recently starred in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which went on to earn $787 million worldwide and became the highest grossing installment in the franchise’s long history. So, there may be more than a few people who disagree with Child’s thought’s on Cruise’s age and acting in action movies.
Jack Reacher is receiving the reboot treatment without Tom Cruise. The actor previously starred in 2012’s Jack Reacher and the 2016 sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, with Christopher McQuarrie and Edward Zwick directing, respectively. Neither of the movies were gigantic box office smashes, so the reboot idea started to get tossed around. Cruise was apparently not too happy about the news. Lee Child says, “Cruise was reluctant. He had his own investment in it, he was going to argue against it. It sounds extremely patronizing but I think it’s good for him.” Child went on and had this to say about Cruise.
“He’s too old for this stuff. He’s 57, he needs to move on, transition to being a character actor. He could get another 20 years out of it. He has the talent. He’s a terrific guy, very considerate, good fun.”
Tom Cruise still performs his own stunts and 57-years old isn’t really all that old. Cruise, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, takes care of himself and can outperform many people half of his age. It really seems that the actor and Lee Child have some kind of beef from working together on the first Jack Reacher movies.
Just last year, when the Jack Reacher reboot idea was officially announced, Lee Child said they were going to recast Tom Cruise because he was “too short” to play the part. “The size of Reacher is really, really important and it’s a big component of who he is,” says Child. “And Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality.” While Child says he loved working with Cruise and compliments his acting, it really seems like he has something against him from everything he has said publicly.
Tom Cruise isn’t giving up the action genre any time soon. He has the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible movies on the way, which will shoot back to back. Christopher McQuarrie is back in the director’s chair for both installments. If that wasn’t enough Cruise also has the upcoming highly anticipated sequel Top Gun: Maverick hitting theaters next summer. While Cruise may not be giving up the action movies, Lee Child thinks it’s time, though it’s unclear if anybody is really listening to that advice. The interview with Lee Child was originally conducted by Independent U.K.
