Rob Lowe has explained that Tom Cruise deprived him of two roles he was keen to land: Top Gun and Jerry Maguire. Lowe chose the term "dastardly" to sum up the competition. He made it clear there is no lingering resentment between them.
Nicole Kidman, Cruise's former wife, has said she was close to leaving acting for him. Both of these remarks place him at the centre of important career shifts for those around him during the 1980s and 1990s.