Watch:Tom Cruise Is Unrecognizable in Shocking Digger Transformation
No mission is impossible for Tom Cruise.
After all, the honorary Oscar recipient looked completely unrecognizable in the first look of his upcoming film Digger, where he’s transformed into Digger Rockwell, an elderly oil magnate who sets out on a mission to save the world from his own eco-disaster.
In a movie poster shared to Cruise, Warner Bros., Imax and the film’s Instagram pages July 13, the Top Gun: Maverick star’s shocking makeover is on full display as he wears facial prosthetics to age him by at least a decade
To drive the look home, Cruise wears a brown cowboy hat with gray hair slightly sticking out as he poses confidently for the camera with one foot resting on a globe and one hand holding onto a shovel
“Digg. Or Die,” read the post’s caption. “DIGGER. Only in theaters October 2.”
In the film’s official trailer, also released July 13, fans got an even closer look at The Mummy actor’s head-turning transformation. And it seems Cruise’s face wasn’t the only part of his body that underwent a few modifications for the role
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Indeed, one of the trailer’s first scenes sees Cruise walking in a lavish walk-in closet in nothing but his boxers, showing off an enlarged prosthetic abdomen.
And while the action star is no stranger to pushing the envelope on the big screen, he shared insight into how his work in the Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed film is unlike any role he’s tackled before.
“I have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever,” Cruise said during a Q&A event in Los Angeles July 9, per The Hollywood Reporter, “and when you see this film, it’s totally original.”
And according to Iñárritu, the 64-year-old’s onscreen metamorphosis was just as much internal as it was external.
“The transformation he went through was astonishing. ‘Alejandro, it took me 40 years to become this character,’ he told me once,” the filmmaker said in a video sent to the event. “And I think we both know what it means to carry an entire career into a single moment like this.”
The Revenant director added, “We both knew that throughout our journeys, we had never done anything even close to this.”
For more stars who underwent intense transformations for onscreen roles, read on…
Moviestore/Shutterstock; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Matt Kennedy/Annapurna/Kobal/ShutterstockChristian Bale, American Hustle & ViceThe British actor packed on more than 40 pounds for his Oscar-nominated performance as a beer-bellied con artist in 2013’s American Hustle. He put on the same amount to play former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2018 movie Vice, which also earned him an Oscar nomination.
For his 2019 movie Ford v Ferrari, Bale dropped dropped 70 pounds to play slender race car driver Ken Miles. And it wasn’t his first time losing weight for a role, having also lost about 30 pounds while filming the 2011 film The Fighter.Lacey Terrell/NETFLIX; Jon Kopaloff/Getty ImagesGlenn Close, Hillbilly ElegyTo transform the actress into her role of real life Appalachian grandmother Mamaw Vance in the 2020 film, makeup and special effects artist Matthew Mungle pulled Close’s head cast from 2011’s Albert Nobbs and sculpted her a new set of false ears and a false nose, according to Variety. The actress received an Oscar nomination for her role.Profile Productions/Tailored Films; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagicSebastian Stan, The ApprenticeFor his role as Donald Trump, not only did the actor work with the same hairstylist and makeup artists who transformed him into Tommy Lee for 2022’s Pam & Tommy, but he also packed on the pounds to fill out the reality star-turned-president’s frame.
Stan said he gained around 15 pounds by eating instant ramen mixed with soy sauce—a dish recommended by his nutritionist to look bloated in the face—and drinking soda.
Hulu/Moviestore/Shutterstock; Dan MacMedan/WireImageAndra Day, The United States vs Billie HolidayThe actress lost almost 40 pounds to play the iconic jazz singer in the 2021 film, which earned her an Oscar nomination.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures; Stuart C. Wilson/Getty ImagesCillian Murphy, OppenheimerWas eating, as his onscreen wife Emily Blunt joked “like, an almond every day,” a bit nutty? Sure. But the Irish star really wanted to nail atomic bomb scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s appearance.
“Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” he explained to The New York Times. “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.”Moviestore/Shutterstock; Jeff Vespa/WireImageCharlize Theron, MonsterAt the 2004 Academy Awards, the gorgeous A-lister was honored with a Best Actress win for her chilling portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Jerritt Clark/WireImage; DC Comics/Warner Bros./ShutterstockJoaquin Phoenix, The JokerThe actor lost 52 pounds to play the deeply disturbed Arthur Fleck, the man who would become Batman’s adversary. The won the Best Actor Oscar in 2020 for his performance. Clive Coote/Paramount/Miramax/Kobal/Shutterstock; Jeffrey Mayer/WireImageNicole Kidman, The HoursIt took three hours (and an infamously large prosthetic nose) for makeup artists to render the Best Actress winner completely unrecognizable for the 2002 drama. Snap/Shutterstock; TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP via Getty ImagesTom Hanks, PhiladelphiaThe actor shed 35 pounds and shaved his head to play an HIV-stricken attorney suing his former firm for wrongful termination. Hanks took home Best Actor at the 1994 Oscars, and made a similar transformation for his Oscar-nominated performance in 2000’s Cast Away. Todd Williamson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; BBC Films/20th Century Fox/Kobal/ShutterstockRenee Zellwegger, JudyThe actress, who famously gained a reported 17 pounds to play the title role in Bridget Jones’s Diary, did not have to change her physique to transform into Judy Garland for the 2019 film Judy, for which she won her first Oscar. You can thank the makeup and costume department for her transformation.
“Renée was extremely emotionally and artistically involved in Judy, the movie’s costume designer, Jany Temime, who also worked on the Harry Potter films, told Vulture. “It was her film. I think she really got into Judy’s skin.”
Zellweger told the outlet, “Jany fit the costumes to Judy’s posture. So the dresses didn’t fit me unless I stood like I was supposed to stand. The zipper wouldn’t go up.”Entertainment Pictures via ZUMA Press, Jeff Spicer/Getty ImagesMargot Robbie, I, TonyaQuite a departure from Robbie’s sultry character in The Wolf of Wall Street, several prosthetics, braces and wigs helped the Best Actress nominee bring disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding’s career-ending scandal to life in the 2017 flick. Moviestore/Shutterstock; Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty ImagesMatthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers ClubThe Academy recognized McConaughey’s extreme commitment to playing an HIV/AIDS stricken electrician with a Best Actor win during the 2014 ceremony. Ash Knotek/Snappers/ZUMAPRESS.com; Moviestore/ShutterstockHeath Ledger in The Dark KnightThe late actor received a posthumous Oscar in 2008 for his chilling and mesmerizing performance as The Joker in the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. His look as the iconic villain differed greatly from those previously seen on past actors onscreen.
“What would it be if this guy slept in his makeup, this psychopath?” makeup artist John Caglione Jr. told IGN. “If he didn’t spruce up his makeup for two or three weeks? He never changes his clothes It’s those kinds of organic details that really helped.”
He continued, “You think of a clown’s makeup and for the most part, they’re pretty detailed with sharp lines. But this had to be the opposite of that.”Bill Matlock/Fox Searchlight/Kobal/Shutterstock; SGranitz/WireImage; Merie W Wallace/Warner Bros/Kobal/ShutterstockHilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry & Million Dollar BabyThe two-time Oscar winner dramatically altered her appearance to play real-life transgender man Brandon Teena in the 1999 drama, and then again in Clint Eastwood’s 2004 Best Picture winner.Moviestore/Shutterstock; Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty ImagesGary Oldman, Darkest HourIn order to play British prime minister Winston Churchill, the 2018 Best Actor nominee spent upwards of four hours in the makeup chair every day and wore a “Victorian corset” style bodysuit. Fox Searchlight/Kobal/Shutterstock; Luca Teuchmann/WireImageNatalie Portman, Black SwanBefore taking home Best Actress at the 2011 Oscars, the petite actress shed 20 pounds and trained up to 16 hours a day for her role as a mentally ill ballerina. Anne Marie Fox/Voltage/Kobal/Shutterstock; Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesJared Leto, Dallas Buyers ClubEver the chameleon, the 2014 Best Supporting Actor winner prepared to play a HIV-positive transgender woman by losing 40 pounds and only staying in character on set.
“I had done similar things with weight, but this was different,” Leto told E! News in 2013. “I think the role demanded that commitment…It was about how does that effect how I walk, how I talked, who I am, how I feel. You know, you feel very fragile and delicate and unsafe.”Moviestore/Shutterstock; Christopher Polk/Getty ImagesBrie Larson, RoomThe Best Actress winner gained 15 pounds of muscle to play a mother who escapes years of captivity with her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) in the 2015 film. Larson said she even limited her exposure to the outside world, restricted nutrients like Vitamin D and tailored her eating habits to better grasp what her character experienced. Moviestore/Shutterstock; George Pimentel/WireImageRooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon TattooAt the 2012 Academy Awards, the typically fresh-faced starlet was honored with a Best Actress nomination for her performance in the thriller. Mara went as far as to pierce multiple body parts, bleach her eyebrows and chop her hair to transform into Lisbeth Salander.For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
