“This is a story about power, greed — about responsible and being irresponsible,” Cruise told ABC News’ Chris Connelly in an interview about his character. “He’s trying to control things that are just — you can’t control it. It’s not going to happen.”
When the film’s official trailer was released in July, many saw Cruise’s transformation as Digger for the first time. In the trailer, the actor is almost unrecognizable in prosthetics and costume.
Also starring in the film are Sandra Hüller, John Goodman and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed.
Ahmed recalled working with Cruise and described the feeling on set as “intimidating.”
“For the first few days, I didn’t have to act,” he told ABC News. “It was intimidating to be on set. With him as Digger Rockwell, there was this hurricane, this kind of operatic character coming at you 100 miles per hour.”
Hüller also weighed in on working with Cruise and said, “He wants to know what other people think. We could collaborate on that very much, so we were creating things together. The mood on set was so special and always positive and playful. It could have gone on forever. That’s my memory of it. We really had a lot of fun. I really had a lot of fun.”
Cruise told ABC News that he first heard about Digger eight years ago after meeting with director Alejandro G. Iñarritu, who previously directed The Revenant and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Cruise said it was also the same day as the first shooting day for Top Gun: Maverick.
Leading up to filming for Digger, Cruise was wrapping up filming on Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Ahmed reflected on the actor’s work ethic and nonstop energy.
“He was doing that kind of thing,” Ahmed said. “When we were in rehearsal, we were all exhausted. And Tom’s like, ‘All right, I’m getting in the water tank now.’ The what? He’s going into a sub-zero temperature water tank to do a true-life stunt for a mission. He’s gonna fly himself there on a helicopter! There’s just a relentless kind of dynamo energy here that’s inspiring to be around.”
Cruise said, “It’s so fun, because I’m learning constantly.”
The actor, who has starred in eight Mission: Impossible films, Edge of Tomorrow, War of the Worlds, Jack Reacher and more, has become synonymous with high-octane, high-energy action films.
And before playing Maverick in the 1986 film Top Gun, Cruise starred in the romantic drama Endless Love, the coming-of-age teen comedy Risky Business and more, cementing himself as a leading man in Hollywood.
But prior to making a name for himself in Hollywood, Cruise worked a number of odd jobs, including being a superintendent’s assistant in New York City, working on daily maintenance of a building.
“I would have to go down and fix their stuff and I was a handyman before, I had many jobs growing up,” he said. “I had to go down and fix their heat, I shoveled the ice every day, I made sure that the garbage was taken out, yeah I took care of it. Whatever you need.”
Reflecting on his film career, Cruise called it a “real gift.”
“I dreamed of a life to be able to do this for the rest of my life as a kid,” he said. “And every day, I’m thinking, ‘You know what? I can’t control what’s going to happen. But what I can control is I can just do the best I can.'”
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