Tom's Head Injury May Have Altered Brain Chemistry & Caused Scientology Obsession

Tom Cruise’s drive for fame, and his obsession with religion, may have started at an early age, when he knocked himself unconscious doing his first “movie stunt,” RadarOnline.com learned exclusively.

The budding star leapt from the roof of his family home and banged his head so hard on the ground he blacked out.

“One of my first stunts was jumping off the roof of my house when I was about four years old, with new sheets and ropes tied around me,” he told British movie magazine Empire. “I jumped off the roof. Luckily it had rained that morning and I hit this mud puddle and as my head slammed between both my legs, I’ll literally never forget it.”

Experts say such a dramatic knock can forever alter brain chemistry and set people on certain career paths, and even give them fixations on religion.

“Depending on the part of the brain affected and the severity of the injury, the result on any one individual can vary greatly,” say the Family Caregiver Alliance – who also warn “personality changes” and “lack of impulse control” as a result of cranial injuries are “common”.

The 56-year-old’s drive to take on bigger and bolder stunts despite his advancing years is also may have been a result of his childhood fall.

The actor even refused to allow breaking an ankle on his last Mission Impossible movie to stop him from making death-defying moves.

And he admits his daredevil childhood exploits were a big influence on who he is now.

“I knocked myself out (as a kid) and I thought, right before I went unconscious, ‘My mom’s gonna kill me’” Cruise reflected. “So even as a little kid I was very physical.”