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Tom Cruise on Iñárritu's 'Digger': 'This guy's got f***ing balls'

Legendary actor goes unrecognizable for his wildest role yet

Published Sep 30, 2026  •  Last updated 1 day ago  •  6 minute read

Tom Cruise poses upon arrival for the global premiere of the film 'Digger' in London on Sept. 22, 2026. Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS /AFP via Getty Images

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It was more than 25 years ago when Tom Cruise first watched the directorial debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu and thought: “What the f***?”

Cruise had already worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Ron Howard. His first collaboration with Steven Spielberg was not far off. But after watching Amores Perros, Cruise circled Iñárritu’s name as someone he wanted to work with.

“When I saw his film 25 years ago, Amores Perros, what a brilliant film. It was amazing. I was one of the first audiences, and I heard about it early on,” Cruise said during an onstage conversation this summer to promote Digger, his first collaboration with the writer-director.

“I called all my friends. I was having people over. I was like, ‘Call the studios. You got to see this movie. Who’s this guy, Alejandro?’ I’d never heard of him before. And he and I didn’t meet for many, many years,” said Cruise.

Nominated for an Oscar, the film followed multiple characters whose worlds collide following a Mexico City car crash. As Iñárritu made inroads in Hollywood with subsequent films, including 21 Grams (2003) and Babel (2006), Cruise made a point of seeing every one of his movies at the theatre.

“I go to every one of his films. ‘What’s he doing next? What’s he doing next?’ And he’s just a beautiful human being and a very gifted artist. Everything that he’s doing, it’s a discovery, and it’s surprising,” said Cruise.

Iñárritu approached Cruise with his story for Digger seven years ago, while the actor was shooting Top Gun: Maverick.

“He came to me with this project, Digger, which he’d been working on for a couple of years by then,” Cruise recalled, “and then we just worked on it together.”

In theatres Oct. 2, Digger disguises Cruise under layers of prosthetics as he plays Digger Rockwell, an arrogant oil baron whose drilling in Greenland threatens to cause a global disaster.

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“Alejandro, he’s like, ‘I want you to look like this’ … I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s got f***ing balls,’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t wait. Let’s go,’ ” said Cruise. “I have never had something that could challenge me in this way, and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever. And when you see this film, it’s totally original.”

The film also stars Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.

Cruise’s castmates said they weren’t prepared to see the legendary actor become so unrecognizable as he struts around his mansion sporting grey hair, wrinkles and a large gut.

“There’s a great spirit that comes out of him,” said Goodman, who appears in the film as the president.

Stuhlbarg, who plays the vice-president, said Cruise completely immersed himself in the character of Digger.

“That was kind of interesting because he was behind this remarkable character he was playing. In many ways, we didn’t get to see the Tom Cruise we all know and love,” Stuhlbarg said.

Ahmed, who plays a scientist trying to guide Digger through the global catastrophe his company has unleashed, praised Cruise for trying something vastly different in front of the camera after more than a decade playing IMF agent Ethan Hunt in his Mission: Impossible films.

“He’s always willing to try things out. Always. And he’s always willing to fail and try again. I saw him go through this process,” Ahmed said.

“It’s very inspiring and uplifting, and it gave us an opportunity to try things we hadn’t done before,” said Hüller, who plays Digger’s sister.

The Digger cast likened the movie to a painting with so many parts that come alive on the screen. Iñárritu said it was an idea he had been crafting for 10 years.

“It was just after The Revenant, when I had an idea, not script, not a film, just a relentless recurring obsession, that has endured through all these wild years. I knew who this character was. I knew how he spoke, how he survived, how he seduced reality into agreeing with him,” Iñárritu said.

“It’s absurd, it’s dangerous, but certainly comedic, because the source of great comedy is tragedy,” he said. “People often ask me why I chose Tom to play Digger. To me, that’s like asking somebody why you drink water when you are thirsty? Because it’s what you need.”

After landing his breakout role in 1981’s Taps, Cruise said he became obsessed with all facets of moviemaking.

“On Taps, I was there with (cinematographer) Owen Roizman and he’s talking about lenses. He must have been thinking, ‘Yeah, this kid’s just asking me gazillion questions.’ And he’s telling me all these technical things and I was just trying to absorb what he was saying,” Cruise recalled.

“I think back to that kid on the set looking into different departments, and those people that were gracious enough to be able to share that knowledge, and I was like, ‘I know I don’t understand it now. One day I will understand it more,’ and I did,” he said.

Cruise has developed a habit for wanting to hear scripts read aloud to him so he can “feel the musicality of the character.”

On Digger, he sat and listened as Iñárritu unveiled his story.

“Alejandro took several days during which he was just reading the script to me,” Cruise said. “I’m listening to everything that’s in his mind, so that I can understand that, and then I know how to contribute to it, and bring that collaboration together. And to be there with Alejandro, it was beautiful.”

“Cinema deserves scale,” Iñárritu said.

So the auteur decided to shoot Digger on VistaVision, a cinematic format developed 70 years ago that yields a richer, more luxurious image.

It was a technique embraced by filmmakers such as the late Stanley Kubrick and was revived by Paul Thomas Anderson for last year’s Oscar winner One Battle After Another.

“We use a 1954-designed camera, and for the first time ever (cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki) and I were allowed to mount on some new, crazy wide vintage Leica lenses designed specifically for our film,” he said.

“It was wild seeing the VistaVision, but also the lenses that they created to get this handcrafted look, you can see and feel the difference,” Cruise added. “Just loading a camera in VistaVision, the sound of that film going through, I was like, ‘Just everyone quiet for a second. Let’s just hear it going through.’ It’s a beautiful thing. I love it.”

Goodman and Stuhlbarg likened the finished product to a painting, saying that audiences will see different things emerge with subsequent viewings.

Cruise has earned a reputation for championing movies on the big screen and Digger represents one of the biggest swings he has taken as an actor.

In recent interviews, he’s clarified he’s not against streaming. But he makes films to be experienced on the big screen.

“I’m the audience. I love movies. I love all kinds of movies. I love going to opening weekend, I like being there with an audience,” he said. “Making movies is a beautiful thing because it’s all of us together.”

He’s famously said he won’t ever retire.

Addressing journalists on the Warner Bros. lot earlier this summer, Cruise reiterated that pledge.

After Digger, Cruise is now shifting gears for the sequel to his 1990 racing film Days of Thunder, in which he’ll star with Anne Hathaway.

“There’s nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, ‘Let’s do this. And I trust you and whatever we’re going to do, I know this is going to be a hell of an experience and let’s come together and let’s do it. Let’s all do it,’ ” he said, contemplating his lengthy career.

“Everyone has a different point of view of life, their own experience, and it’s a lifelong journey of learning. I’ve never felt like, ‘I’m there. I’m there.’ You’re never there. It’s always the next dream, the love of this art form, and the passion, it’s all- encompassing.”

Digger opens in theatres Oct. 2.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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