Tom Cruise gives surprise commencement speech at acting students’ graduation

Tom Cruise was an unexpected guest at The Joanne Baron & D.W. Brown Studio commencement ceremony.

Much to graduates’ surprise and excitement, Cruise, who most recently starred in Jack Reacher, gave congratulations and advice during his commencement speech.

In his speech, Cruise said that he wanted to be an actor because he liked making people laugh, especially his mother and sister. As a kid, he watched other actors closely at the movies in order to train himself. He mowed lawns and sold homemade Christmas cards to save up money for the movie tickets, according to People. After moving to New York, he got his first role in the movie Taps

“It was one of the most inspiring speeches we’ve had. It was so much more than a lecture about what to do in an audition,” an attendee of the commencement ceremony told The New York Post.

Cruise’s speech delighted the graduating class of only 60 students. Cruise made time to attend and speak at the event because his cousin, William Mapother, had graduated from the school.

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