In the über competitive and cutthroat environment that is Hollywood, where celebrities are divided and dissected into classifications ranging from the A list all the way down to Z, it's hard to keep names and faces straight sometimes.

Yet when the star in question is one Tom Cruise, there's simply no room for confusion.

When he first struck the big screen like a hurricane with "Risky Business" back in 1983, Cruise exposed the world to an actor that seemingly had it all: charm and charisma combined with stunning looks destined to catapult him towards Hollywood royalty. Before he could even finish strutting along to Bob Seger, he was a hit, having quickly established himself as one of Hollywood's brightest and most bankable young stars.

But in the years that followed, Cruise's reputation as a powerful performer offset early criticism that he was little more than just a pretty face. He matched Paul Newman's depth and tenacity almost scene for scene in "The Color of Money," went head to head with Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man" and pulled off such a spot-on portrayal of alienated Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" that it bordered upon frightening, all in a span of three years.

It's this potent combination of magnetic personality and sheer talent that has propelled Cruise's career. While he may never shake the "Mr. Hollywood" image that has shadowed him from his earliest days on screen, Cruise couldn't be bothered.

"It's not important to me," he said without hesitation concerning his image. "It really doesn't matter. What's important is the work and that I take on projects that matter to me and I feel are challenging."

The concept of challenge is something that has always stood behind Cruise's work. Whether he's tending bar in "Cocktail" or playing a conflicted sports agent in "Jerry Maguire," the actor has always embraced creativity and his penchant towards interesting roles and projects.

"As an actor, your job is to create," he says. "You need to pull out all the stops to really feel the character and tap into the emotional weight of what you're doing. It has to be real and authentic. What happens I think to a lot of young actors is that they become introverted; they stop pushing the limits. Actors are creatively driven, and I think that process needs to be protected."

This summer, Cruise will re-team with directorial mastermind Steven Spielberg on "War of the Worlds," a remake of the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. The second collaboration between the star and director, "Worlds," a monstrous expose in big budget special effects, is slated as one of the stand out blockbusters of the impending summer film season. The technical and visual complexity of the film, Cruise says, helped push him towards submerging himself into his character and the film as a whole.

"A lot of what Steven (Spielberg) did, in terms of effects, was done in post-visualization," he says. "In other words, it was almost all computer generated after the scenes were shot. It's a really suspenseful and sometimes terrifying film, and that's due in much part to the effects. I really wanted to match the intensity and emotion of what was happening on screen in my performance."

At only 42, it's hard to believe that Cruise's career has already hit the 20-year mark. While he shows no signs of slowing down, if the road ahead holds projects as interesting and diverse as those that brought him to where he is today, there's no telling what will happen, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Every role I've taken on has been rewarding in one way or another. Some are closer reflections to me than others. I look at a movie like (The Last) "Samuri" and I can identify with it. The character's values and what he wants speak to me what it is to be a man. On the other hand, "Collateral" isn't reflective of me at all. It's totally different. But that's the great thing about acting. It's a learning process; you grow with it."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 28 2005.