Tom Cruise — good for him — has proved himself America’s most bankable movie star with his “Top Gun: Maverick” movie shattering all Memorial weekend records, like his jet shattering the sound barrier.
He is durable, he remains a heart throb, but one thing he has never been is an Everyman.
That garment fits Tom Hanks, another bankable star, but one far more relatable to the average American. He is now 65.
The Everyman before Hanks was James Stewart, who played a wide variety of roles — from cowboy to Manhattanite — but always as someone you’d want to have a chat with.
Jack Lemmon then had a turn as an Everyman.
Denzel Washington’s many action and heroic roles keep him from being an Everyman. He, too, is bankable, but he is 67.
I think playing a conscious hero removes you from the Everyman category.
That’s why Matt Damon isn’t on my list.
Could it be Ryan Renolds? He’s often a regular guy, but has been a hero in several Marvel Comic films, most notably the tongue-in-cheek Deadpool.
Samuel L. Jackson? He is really watchable, but Everyman? Not even as a commercial pitchman.
Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney? Too pretty.
Dwayne Johnson? Close, but too muscular.
Michael B. Jordan? Too heroic.
Just my opinion and I’m sure I am missing some.
Who would you nominate?
I once wrote, with sincerity, that Philadelphians divide their time between bragging about Philly, and…
As part of my continuing scoreboard on Inquirer corruption of journalist norms, the Thursday edition…
[This was published in the Inquirer on Thursday, Dec, 12. The subject is the Sixers…
Not many things scare the crap out of me, including the threat of nuclear war.…
God knows I don’t want to be a noodge about it, but as long as…
By now you have either seen or heard of the online blockheads who are lionizing,…