‘It obviously didn’t do him any harm,’ British actor said

Sir Michael Caine has made a bold Tom Cruise claim while opening up about an encounter he had with the actor 40 years ago.

The 91-year-old British star of films including Alfie, The Italian Job and Get Carter first met Cruise in 1983, and recently celebrated his 90th birthday with the Mission: Impossible actor – at an event that left Cruise in stitches over a “dirty” joke told by Loose Women star Denise Welch.

It turns out the pair first met in 1983, when Cruise was on the cusp of hitting the bigtime with lead roles in Risky Business and All the Right Moves.

At that time, Cruise had only had supporting roles and, after meeting Caine, he decided to use the opportunity to ask the actor for some advice.

Writing in a new memoir, titled Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over, Caine revealed the encounter occurred at an event promoting the film he was starring in at the time, Educating Rita, for which he received his first Oscar nomination.

Writing in an extract from the memoir, obtained by The Sunday Times, Caine said: “I turned around and there was this young actor, very polite, asking questions about how not to be just a flash in the pan. That was Tom, probably around the time of Risky Business.

Caine continued: “I can’t remember what I said, but it obviously didn’t do him any harm!”

He said he “there was something special about” Cruise, and remembers “he had a great attitude, this sense of poise”.

Caine then made a bold claim that doubles as a damning indictment of film stars emerging today.

He said: “What interests me is that he is really one of the last true stars in movies. People will go to see a film just because he’s in it. Brad Pitt is a star, Morgan Freeman has some of that quality too.

“There are so few nowadays — not like John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant.”

Friends Tom cruise and Michael Caine at the Oscars in 2000 (Getty Images)

The pair have only starred in one film together – 2002’s Austin Powers in Goldmember – but they did not share any scenes.

Last year, Cruise skipped the Oscars to attend Caine’s 90th birthday celebration at London’s River Café alongside the unlikely pairing of David Walliams and Denise Welch.

Cruise’s appearance was organised by Caine’s wife Shakira, which the actor said he was “touched” by.