Rob Lowe has explained that Tom Cruise denied him two roles he was keen to land: Top Gun and Jerry Maguire. Lowe chose the term "dastardly" to explain the rivalry. He made it clear there is no hard feelings between them.
Nicole Kidman, Cruise's former wife, once said she was close to leaving acting for him. Both of these remarks place him at the centre of major career turning points for people around him during the 1980s and 1990s.