Taps

Cruise plays Cadet Captain David Shawn in this drama directe by Howard Becker, centered around students at a military school. When the highest ranked cadet, Cadet Major Brian Moreland, learns of plans to close the school and sell the land to developers, Moreland and  Shawn, his hotheaded enforcer, take over the school, leading to tragedy.  Co-starring Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott and Sean Penn.

A lot of that character was my childhood. I wasn’t intense like that, but the character is just fear. That’s what he does when he’s afraid—he fights.