He was cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders alongside a bunch of other unknown actors who would go on to become big names in the industry.
It’s Francis Ford Coppola, the director who directed The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, and the most intense kind of director imaginable.
It’s difficult to imagine now, but there was a time when Tom Cruise was not one of the biggest stars in the world.
But the experience ultimately turned out to be a net positive, since The Outsiders went on to become a critical and commercial hit, and boosted the careers of the lead cast of C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, and Leif Garrett.