This post has been updated since its original publication date
Tom Cruise has had to deal with plastic surgery rumors for many decades. And although the 60-year-old Top Gun: Maverick actor looks *so different* in the present day to the way he did at the start of his career, he has *still* denied ever going under the knife! Yes, really!
Fans have continued to speculate whether the actor has had work done, with everything from rhinoplasty to Botox to fillers being among the treatments they think he may have had over the years. The only treatment fans can be sure about is his dental treatment, as he had ceramic braces when he was 40 years old, which he showed off at the Minority Report premiere in 2002. Let’s go back in time and take a look at some older pictures of the actor, compared to more recent ones, to try and see just why fans are so confident that he had plastic surgery…
Tom Cruise Before And After Pictures
Cruise made his Hollywood breakthrough with leading roles in Risky Business (1983) and Top Gun (1986) and by 1990, was looking like a true Hollywood star. However, his appearance changed *a lot* over the decades, especially his nose and eye area, although he denied ever having work done. When asked by Playboy in 2012 if he had ever had plastic surgery, he said, "I haven't and never would." Do we believe him?!
Tom Cruise's Changing Appearance Over The Decades
There have been many times over Cruise's career where he has showed signs of plastic surgery or cosmetic treatments such as Botox or fillers, including the 2016 Baftas, which saw him display some very puffy cheeks. Fans were also convinced he had received fresh Botox and fillers in October 2021, when he was spotted at a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants with his son Connor. The Jerry Maguire star didn’t seem like he had anything to hide, as onlookers claimed that he was happily waving to fans, and seemingly having a great time at the game.
Interestingly, Cruise is looking a little more natural these days, which could mean that he is laying off the alleged cosmetic treatments, either completely, or simply not having them as often. Or it could just mean that he is asking for much subtler results. As he has never been open about what he has and hasn’t had done, everything is purely speculation.
A Plastic Surgeon Weighs In On Tom Cruise’s Appearance
Despite the hard-to-ignore evidence in before and after pictures, and the fact that he has been spotted with a puffy face on several occasions over the years, the American Made actor still claims that he hasn’t had any work done. Plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Westreich exclusively told the U.S. Sun that in his opinion, it’s "possible that he may have spent up to $50,000 on cosmetic treatments," including some "very heavy" Botox. Wow! Fan speculation is one thing, but we always like hearing from the experts too!
Has Tom Cruise Had Botox?
"Overall, I think Tom is just getting started with it all," Westreich hinted to the pub, before comparing the Top Gun star's current appearance to his appearance from a few months ago. "In the Oscar run-up, Tom's forehead looked as smooth as a drum. His eyebrows also look a little lower than usual. If Botox is done fairly heavily, then the brows can drop, and this looks like pretty heavy Botox to me on his forehead. Usually male actors want very light treatments because they want to maintain their ability to make expressions. Looking at past photos of Tom smiling, his brows go up and he has lines on his forehead."
Has Tom Cruise Ever Had A Nose Job?
"Throughout the course of Tom's life, he may have done a couple of minor cosmetic treatments," he thought, adding, "There's the possibility of functional rhinoplasty, of laser skin, resurfacing, and perhaps even a little lipo under his chin."
"Looking at past photos of Tom, I thought that maybe he'd had the functional rhinoplasty in the pre-2005 era," Westreich continued. "This wouldn't have been on the tip of his nose, but on the bony area. If you look at older photos, it's just a little bit more crooked there. Around 2005, his nose starts to have a little bit more contour and begins to look straighter. Sometimes people might have airway surgery for breathing. If you have a deviated septum and your bones are crooked, they may repair the bones and leave the rest of the nose as it is. Even though they're not taking down the profile or narrowing the tip, I don't think Tom had any profile or tip work. I think that they straightened his bones, and that probably was part of making it look better. It also could have been part of a breathing restoration."
What Other Cosmetic Treatments Could Tom Cruise Have Had?
"Tom might have had chin lipo," Westreich speculated. "This could have been around 2013 and 2014, in the area under his chin. But then by 2020, a photo of him shows that all of a sudden he looks really young. I think he may have been getting ready for Mission Impossible at the time, so it looks like his skin is very smooth. It's also possible that he did some kind of resurfacing type of procedure in 2020, like a laser resurfacing. This would create all the smoothness."
"Someone like Tom has always had a very low-set brow and heavier upper lids," Westreich continued, before seemingly giving the actor some advice to "never, ever, ever get an upper lid procedure because it'll completely change the look of his eyes." Westreich said, "We're so used to him over the years, having these heavier upper lids and that's part of his look. So with that low brow and being a man, I probably would've been a little gentler on the Botox. You need to be cautious with Botox because Tom has had that classic low-set look since he was a teenager." Interesting!
Despite many people thinking the Knight and Day actor had filler, Westreich doesn’t think it's one of the alleged procedures he had done, saying: "I also don't see any real evidence of filler anywhere on his face, so maybe the new Botox is just the beginning. I don't think he's done between his eyebrows, because those lines still look pretty deep. He's had those lines for years and is probably being careful." He finished off by saying, "I don't think he's going to start doing filler because he doesn't look like a volume-deficient guy." And as far as Cruise having a facelift goes, Westreich thought he's "nowhere near needing a facelift or anything like that," nor does he "think he's had one."
Has Tom Cruise Been Abusing Fillers?
Pam Agullo, MD, doesn’t share the same opinion, as she previously told Radar Online that she thinks the actor's face has shown signs of "filler abuse." "Shocked to see how much Tom Cruise has changed," she said. "He had managed to look so good for such a long time. Definitely seems like he has gained a lot of weight, or is a case of filler abuse. If that’s the case, it is the perfect example of how under inexperienced hands, fillers actually make you look older." She then added that it "would be interesting to see if the rest of his body shows weight gain as well though."
Her husband, Dr. Frank Agullo, agreed with his wife, telling Radar Online: "It seems like he has gained facial weight or had too much fillers to the cheeks. He has excess upper eyelid skin and wrinkles around the eyes which would benefit from a blepharoplasty and skin tightening. He is also showing jowls and loose neck skin which would benefit from skin tightening or a lower facelift."
Tom Cruise Looked Different On The Red Carpet In May 2022
The Jack Reacher: Never Go Back actor once again looked very different on some of last year's red carpets, including the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in London in May 2022 and also at the Cannes Film Festival. Only this time, both fans and plastic surgeons alike thought that the actor didn't actually have fresh plastic surgery, but could have been doing the opposite and laying off the surgery for good! (Wow, who could have predicted this drastic U-turn?!)
Although his appearance at the end of 2021 was attributed to alleged cosmetic surgery which hadn’t yet settled, it's been suggested that his 2022 appearance could either be down to the surgery finally settling (hence the very visible fine lines on the Oblivion actor's face) and him choosing to not have any top ups, or a combination of slightly different cosmetic treatments. We can't ignore the longer hairstyle, either, which could simply be down to him choosing to grow it out, or it could be down to something else, such as a recent hair transplant. We're always very interested to hear what the professionals think though…
What Do The Experts Think?
Dawn Attewell, Registered Aesthetics Nurse at therapyhouse.co.uk told The Daily Mail's Femail at the time that Cruise's previous appearance was likely due to "excessive filler" and "post-procedure swelling" and his new look (referring to his May 2022 appearance) could possibly be attributed to a "hair transplant" and "skin tightening treatments." Allegedly of course, as the Mummy actor is not very forthcoming in terms of talking about what treatments he has or has not had.
"In the infamous October 2021 picture, you can see that Tom looked swollen and puffy, which could be due to excessive filler, post-procedure swelling, or weight gain," Attewell explained. "Often, surgical procedures such as a platysmaplasty, or neck lift, combined with a mid-facelift could create this type of swelling in these areas. I think Tom looked amazing at the Top Gun premiere – he looks fresher. He may have had Botox or filler. At almost 60, Tom's hairline has remained relatively the same, although slightly thinning, which does suggest he may have had hair transplants. His jawline looks more contoured, which could be the result of skin tightening treatments like Morpheus8, a micro needling treatment for treatment of fine lines and wrinkles."
Amar Suchde, founder of AMS Aesthetics, added: "As they age, many men tend to lose some facial fat distribution along with elastin and fibers in the skin. This, along with lines around the eyes, can actually look very attractive on a man, although in October, it looks like Tom sought to replenish some of the facial fat he’d naturally lost, resulting in a noticeably plumper look. I suspect his aim was to try and replenish some of the features he’d lost and to give support to his facial structure, and this would most likely be carried out through a combination of fillers and Botox although of course, we don’t know if he’d put on weight around this time, too."
"Either way, Tom has managed to maintain his noted jawline over the years, which in many men can become lost and begin to droop," Suchde added. "In addition, his glowing complexion may indicate that Tom is having laser treatment, possibly Profhilo, which is a popular skin boosting treatment."
