Tom Cruise's unusual approach to speeding up his Digger transformation has left some people scratching their heads. The actor said he put the film's makeup team through stopwatch drills after discovering that transforming him into his character initially took six hours.
Cruise eventually helped bring that process down to less than an hour, but the unusual method has now sparked criticism online. Some online users have accused the Hollywood star of putting the makeup artists under unnecessary pressure, while others have defended his focus on making the production more efficient.
How Tom Cruise Cut the Makeup Time
On Jason and Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast, Cruise discussed his Digger transformation while speaking about the making of the film. The actor said the makeup process initially took around six hours, which was a significant amount of time during long filming days.
He decided to find a way to make the process more efficient. Cruise recalled putting up a board showing each individual piece of the transformation and bringing in someone with a stopwatch to time how long each stage took.
'I said, "By the time we're done, we're gonna get it under an hour",' Cruise recalled. The makeup team initially doubted it was possible, telling him it would 'never' happen.
Rather than giving up, Cruise suggested they work towards making the process 'a little less' time-consuming. 'I was like, "Okay, first of all, if you say no, you can't do it. We've got to never get there",' he said.
Each part was then timed as it was applied, with the team repeatedly drilling and practising the different stages.
By the end of the process, Cruise said they had managed to bring the transformation down to around an hour. He also stressed that the makeup artists had not simply rushed through the work, but had practised each stage to find ways to make the process more efficient.
The result was a dramatic reduction in the amount of time Cruise needed to spend in the makeup chair, cutting a transformation that had taken six hours to roughly an hour.
Actor Faces Online Backlash
While Cruise presented the stopwatch drills as a practical solution, some people online have taken a very different view of the story.
Reddit users reacted to the discussion by questioning whether the actor went too far by personally pushing the makeup team to work faster. One commenter wrote: 'Sounds like Tom Cruise bullied the Digger makeup team to get his time in the makeup chair reduced.'
Another said: 'Bringing a stop watch and drilling your makeup team is insane,' arguing that the makeup artists were professionals who might not appreciate working under imposed time limits.
Other comments about the actor are blunt, with one calling him a 'narcissistic micromanager'.
However, the Reddit discussion was not entirely critical. Some users pointed out that makeup teams naturally become quicker when repeatedly applying the same prosthetics. They suggested the artists could have developed faster techniques, prepared reusable elements and become more familiar with the process over time.
Inside Tom Cruise's Digger Film
While the behind-the-scenes makeup story has grabbed attention, there is much more to Digger than Tom Cruise's dramatic transformation.
Digger is Alejandro González Iñárritu's upcoming film starring Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a powerful oil tycoon who embarks on a frantic mission to prove he can save humanity after unleashing a disaster. The project marks a collaboration between Cruise and Iñárritu, with Cruise also serving as a producer alongside Iñárritu.
The cast also includes Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman and Michael Stuhlbarg. Digger is scheduled to be released in cinemas on 2 October.
