Tom Cruise has been making films in Britain for nearly 40 years, forging such deep ties with the UK that he’s now being honoured with a Bafta Fellowship. From Kenneth Branagh to the stuntmen who know him best, those closest to Cruise reveal how the Hollywood icon became an honorary Brit.
In the spring of 2021, Dean Bartle was mopping the floor of his luxury car showroom in Yorkshire when a black helicopter landed nearby. Out stepped a masked American who called out, “Hey man, what’s DMB stand for?” It was Tom Cruise. After laughing at Bartle’s cheeky response (“Dean’s Massive Balls”), Cruise stayed for over an hour, chatting about cars, Harrier jump jets, and Top Gun. Before leaving, Cruise saluted Bartle from his helicopter. “It was surreal,” Bartle says.
Cruise sightings across the UK are surprisingly common. He has landed helicopters in gardens outside Coventry, ordered curries in Birmingham, debated schnauzers in Hyde Park, attended Wimbledon and Glastonbury, and even celebrated Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday. “I spend a lot of time in Britain,” Cruise admits. His relationship with the UK is now being recognised by the British Film Institute, which will honour him with a Bafta Fellowship and a month-long season of his films this May. His first visit was for Ridley Scott’s Legend in 1985, and since then he’s filmed Interview with the Vampire, Eyes Wide Shut, Edge of Tomorrow, and most recently, an untitled project with Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
“I guess I am an Anglophile,” says Cruise, born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse, New York. Kenneth Branagh, who starred alongside Cruise in Valkyrie, calls him “an honorary Brit now, with a handy line in Cockney slang.” Branagh describes him as someone who enjoys Britain’s respect and informality, often slipping into a quiet pub corner, ever gracious when recognised. “He’s direct, easy, upbeat, humble — the same fella at all times.”
Over the past decade, Cruise has become a fixture in Britain’s film industry. He has made The Mummy, four Mission: Impossible films, and Top Gun: Maverick here, employing British crews and studios such as Pinewood, Leavesden, and Shepperton. His productions have spent hundreds of millions, boosted the economy, and reinforced the UK’s status as a global filmmaking hub.
Veteran stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong first worked with Cruise in 1985 and now collaborates with him again on the new Iñárritu film. “There’s nostalgia there,” Armstrong says. “Films he’s made here have been successful, so he keeps coming back. It snowballs.” Adrian McGaw, chairman of the British Stunt Register, describes Cruise as a perfectionist but also playful. “You have to be fit to keep up with him — he runs everywhere,” McGaw jokes, recalling how Cruise once shouted “Here’s your wedding present!” before throwing him through a window during the filming of The Mummy.
Cruise’s ties to Britain extend beyond work. His daughter Isabella, whom he adopted with Nicole Kidman, studied hair and makeup in London and now lives in Croydon. During that period, Cruise increasingly based his film projects in the UK. He has also been involved in local charities, attended events with the royal family, and reportedly owns a home near Biggin Hill.
At 62, Cruise shows no signs of slowing down, but there are hints he may pivot back to more serious, character-driven films. His latest project with Iñárritu suggests a return to his dramatic roots, even as Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning premieres this summer. Kenneth Branagh believes Cruise’s best acting years might still lie ahead. “He’s going to surprise people,” Branagh says. “What he’s done with Mission and Top Gun is unique — cinematic entertainment with serious intent. But he’s an underestimated actor. A golden age of performance beckons. We’d be lucky if some of that happens here in the UK.”
Among Cruise’s most iconic British-made films are Legend (1985), Ridley Scott’s fantastical adventure; Interview with the Vampire (1994), directed by Neil Jordan and filmed largely at Pinewood; Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Stanley Kubrick’s final film shot entirely in England; Edge of Tomorrow (2014), the time-bending sci-fi blockbuster; and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), the franchise’s most critically acclaimed instalment, much of it filmed across Britain.
