Tom Cruise: 'Ali Was My Childhood Hero'

10 months ago 21st Dec 10:34

Actor Tom Cruise fulfilled a lifetime ambition when he met boxing legend Muhammad Ali at a gala event.Cruise admits the three-time World Heavyweight Champion was his hero as a kid, and he was an emotional wreck when he finally had the chance to meet him at Time Magazine 75th Anniversary Gala in 1998.

Ali was the guy when I was growing up

The star says, "I got to meet my hero when I was growing up, Muhammad Ali. And I got to toast him at an event. "Ali was the guy when I was growing up".Cruise's best pal Will Smith played Ali in a 2001 biopic.Meanwhile the actress Tom Cruise was so desperate to see his Hollywood heroes on the silver screen as a kid he took a job bagging-up ice in a freezer.The movie star idolised Clint Eastwood and late actor Paul Newman as a youngster - and got to work at age eight to scrape up enough cash to watch his heroes in action.