I’m the same age as Tom Cruise and I always wondered how that guy got movie parts right out of High school. I mean *right* out of High school, with absolutely no experience whatsoever. As soon as he graduated in 1980 (same year as me) *bam* he got a part in the movie Endless love with absolutely no connections whatsoever, right off the street, then a part in Taps. Two major flicks in one year.
That’s just unheard of, especially for a short guy like him. Not even actors who have major connections, like the Sheens, or Sean Penn whose father was a director or Nicholas Cage whose uncle was Francis Ford Coppola got *that* lucky. What always happens is wannabe actors end up waiting tables or taking some other menial job and it takes years of auditions and bit parts in commercials, TV shows. That’s the route Brad Pitt went, it took him YEARS so you can’t say it was Tom Cruises “good looks”. No, there was something else going on with this guy and I really think he did exactly what you are talking about. He did the homo deal. He probably went to an agent or casting director and was told to “perform” lol.
I agree with your suspicions. The "casting couch" has always been a part of Hollywood and always will. Casting directors hold the keys to the gates of wealth and fame beyond one's wildest dreams. It is a position of incredible power and there's a line of young, beautiful people lined up around the block who will do anything asked of them just to get their foot in the door.
I'd bet if all was revealed, we'd be shocked at the names of those who in their young and hungry days performed shameful acts that opened the doors, allowing them to become the multi-millionaires they are now. And for every A-lister, there's thousands more who performed these same shameful acts just to see their careers wither away after a handful of TV commercials and non-speaking roles in failed pilots.