Beau Bridges Declares 'Wonderful' Tom Cruise 'Just Gets Better With Age' as He Gushes Over 'Jerry Maguire' Costar

Beau Bridges thinks the best is ahead for Tom Cruise.

The actor, 84, chatted about his Jerry Maguire costar in a new interview.

"I really appreciated working with him," Bridges told People at the Matlock For Your Consideration event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 3. "He's a wonderful actor and just gets better with age.”

He continued, “I mean, he's still doing all those crazy stunts and stuff. Yeah. And I like working with him. I thought he was great."

Top Gun star Cruise will next appear in the dark comedy Digger set for release later this year.

He also has a SpaceX project in the works, in addition to being tied to three other upcoming films.

Since Jerry Maguire was released in 1996, Cruise hits include 1999's Eyes Wide Shut, 2002's Minority Report, 2005's War of the Worlds, 2012's Jack Reacher, in addition to eight Mission Impossible films and 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

In the romantic comedy directed and written by Cameron Crowe, Cruise, 63, played a sports agent who decides to open his own agency.

He was nominated for an Oscar for the role.

Cuba Gooding Jr. won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role.

Bridges played Matt Cushman, the father of Jerry O’Connell’s character, Frank “Cush” Cushman.

Despite the role, Bridges went uncredited in the movie.

"Yeah, that was so long ago, I can't remember exactly why, but it was probably kind of stupid of me to do that," he told the outlet. "I don't know because I get a lot of people coming up to me and talking to me about that show. I didn't even remember."

He added, "Well, the first time someone told me that I wasn't credited, I didn't even remember doing that. There must have been some reason. I can't remember why."

Renée Zellweger was also in Jerry Maguire. She played Dorothy.

In 2019, she recreated her character’s famous “You had me at hello” line on The Late Late Show With James Corden.

She performed Cruise’s lines while Sir Ben Kingsley played her character, saying, “You had me at hello” on repeat.

In the alternate casting universe, Patricia Arquette was up for the role of Dorothy.

"I'm a notoriously bad auditioner," Arquette told Variety in 2023. "Everyone was saying, 'Oh, this is just a formality. You're gonna read with Tom Cruise for Jerry Maguire. But this is your part, you've got it.' And I blew it."

She was happy Zellweger clinched the role.

"I actually think she was better for it, and she was great," Arquette said.

Connie Britton was also interested in the role.

“So I took it home and I read it,” she told The New York Times Magazine in 2013. “I was blown away. I loved the script, the role — I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is incredible.’”

Britton continued, "And I walked into my brand-new agent’s office the next day, and I put the script down on his desk, and I was like, ‘I have two words for you: Jerry Maguire.’”

As it turns out, they had one more actress to see, and that was Zellweger.

“It was heartbreak,” Britton said of not getting the part. “Maybe I was too tall.”

Bridges appears in the revival of crime drama Matlock.

The original show aired from 1986 to 1995, and starred Andy Griffith in the title role.

Now Oscar winner Kathy Bates, 77, is in the title character role as Madeline Matlock.

“She's really funny,” Bridges told Deadline in 2024. “It's hard for me to keep a straight face with her. She's great.”