Tom Cruise has undergone a dramatic transformation for his new role in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s dark comedy, Digger, leaving fans flabbergasted.
The Top Gun legend, 64, leads the Mexican filmmaker’s forthcoming satirical comedy as titular billionaire oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, who embarks on a frantic mission to save humanity from the environmental mess he’s created.
In the film’s first full-length trailer, released Monday, Cruise’s character is dealing with the fallout from a trillion-dollar catastrophe caused by a tsunami striking his company’s nuclear power plant. Cruise wears layers of facial and body prosthetics to make him appear much larger and older. He also sports patchy and graying hair.
Several fans have reacted in shock to Cruise’s nearly unrecognizable appearance in the film’s trailer and first-look posters.
“There’s something inspiring about seeing someone who has nothing left to prove still hungry enough to reinvent himself,” a fan praised on X. “Tom Cruise looks completely unrecognizable in DIGGER the mannerisms, the voice, the presence, everything feels so different. I’M ALL IN FOR THIS.”
“You cannot convince me that is Tom Cruise,” another wrote, with third echoing, “I actually didn’t recognize him, this is a vastly different role than what he usually does. Interesting.”
“That transformation is wild,” another agreed. “Definitely not the Tom Cruise look people are used to seeing.”
“Finally, a movie where Tom Cruise’s most dangerous stunt is raw, unfiltered acting,” someone else applauded.
Several predicted the role would land the Mission Impossible star his first Oscar win. “It looks like a great movie, and your performance appears to be potentially Oscar-worthy,” one surmised.
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“Tom spent the last decade sprinting on top of moving trains and hanging off airplanes just to pivot to a movie where his main physical challenge is trying to breathe through three pounds of facial prosthetics,” another quipped.
Last month, Cruise shared a career retrospective, featuring clips from his most notable roles, including Top Gun, Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire and Edge of Tomorrow. Following his delivery of the popular Mission Impossible tagline, “Everything you were, everything you’ve done, has come to this,” the video comically transitioned to a teaser for Digger.
“For the last 46 years, it has been my privilege to work alongside countless talented artists and crews to create these characters, stories, and films for you all,” he wrote in the Instagram caption. “I’m looking forward to seeing you at the movies! DIGGER. Only in theaters this October.”
The comedy satire, which also stars Jesse Plemons, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller and Emma D’Arcy, is out in theaters October 2.
