The role for which Tom Cruise prepared for 40 years: radical transformation for the film about an oil tycoon

The first trailer for the movie “Digger” directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise has been released. The Hollywood star confessed that he prepared for 40 years to be able to enter this role.

Deadline writes that Tom Cruise is once again undergoing a radical makeover: this time he plays an aging oil baron with a protruding belly, a southern accent and an extremely direct voice, who may have triggered a global ecological disaster of gigantic proportions.

His name is Digger Rockwell, he is the only man who can solve what appears to be a crisis caused by the rapid melting of the glaciers, and the sitting President of the United States, played by John Goodman, orders him to save the day.

advertisement“); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;”>

The leader of the free world played by Goodman is a combination of current US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, the latter’s influence being evident when the President falls asleep at an inopportune moment.

González Iñárritu said in a video presentation message aired last week at Warner Bros.: “Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, because Mother Nature likes bastards.”

González Iñárritu, winner of four Oscars, began designing “Digger” “right after “The Revenant,” the film for which Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar.

“Not a script, not a movie, just a recurring and unrelenting obsession that has endured all these crazy years. We knew who this character was. The movie needed Tom. We’ve wanted to work together since the turn of the century.”said the director.

“I’ve admired him as an actor for years, and this was no surprise to me. The surprise was to discover that the man behind the actor was as extraordinary as the performances I’ve seen throughout his career.”

“The transformation he went through was amazing”added González Iñárritu. Cruise told him, “It took me 40 years to become this character.”

Tom Cruise has long been an admirer of “Amores Perros,” the 2000 production that established the director, Deadline adds.

When introduced to the character Digger Rockwell, he recounted: “Alejandro shows me and says something like: «I want you to look like this». And he didn’t tell me: «This is the kind of character». So I was thinking: «This guy really has a head». And I said: “I can’t wait.” Let’s let him go»”.

advertisement“); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;”>

Cruise explained that he builds his characters through attention to detail, from physicality and make-up to costumes and sets. The actor praised González Iñárritu’s vision and the production’s level of precision.

“Digger” was shot in VistaVision format, with a camera designed in 1954, and the director again collaborated with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

Cruise said at the event: “I think when you see “Digger”, the level of detail, the craftsmanship, the layers involved in making this film… He (González Iñárritu) has never done anything like it before and neither have I.”

n const _iprc = performance.now();nu003C/script>nnu003Cscript class=”optanon-category-C0004″ type=”text/plain”>nconsole.log(“*** cookieconsent done:”, Math.round(performance.now() – _iprc) / 1000);n gtag(‘event’, ‘cookieconsent’, {n name: ‘load’,n value: Math.round(performance.now() – _iprc) / 1000n });nu003C/script>nu003C!– END PERFORMANCE COOKIE PRO –>nn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nnu003Cscript class=”optanon-category-C0004″ type=”text/plain” src=”//a.teads.tv/page/99553/tag” async=”true”>u003C/script>n{{/unless}}nnu003Cdiv data-ad=”adevarul.ro_728x90_sticky_display_bottom_adevarul_bottom_center_leaderboard” data-devices=”m:0,t:1,d:1″ class=”demand-supply”>u003C/div>nn{{#if context.content}}nn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nu003Cscript class=”optanon-category-C0004″ type=”text/plain” src=”https://cnt.trvdp.com/js/1544/6545.js”>u003C/script>n{{/unless}}nnn{{/if}}nnn”,”html_mobile”:”nnnu003C!– CHECK PERFORMANCE COOKIE PRO –>nu003Cscript>n const _iprc = performance.now; – _iprc) / 1000n });nu003C/script>nu003C!– END PERFORMANCE COOKIE PRO –>nn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nnnu003Cscriptn class=”optanon-category-C0004″n type=”text/plain”n src=”//a.teads.tv/page/99553/tag”n async=”true”n>u003C/script>nn{{/unless}} nnu003Cdivn data-ad=”adevarul.ro_sticky_mobile_bottom”n data-devices=”m:1,t:0,d:0″n class=”demand-supply”n>u003C/div>nn{{#if context.content}} nnn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nu003Cscript class=”optanon-category-C0004″ type=”text/plain” src=”https://cnt.trvdp.com/js/1544/6545.js”>u003C/script>n{{/unless}}nn{{/if}}nn”},”updated_at”:”2025-11-01T11:3 1:21.462Z”},”AdPosition_head”:{“data”:{“custom_fields”:{},”for_desktop”:true,”for_mobile”:true,”html_desktop”:”u003Cmeta name=”profitshareid” content=”934cd37887433d585a2a227ef0576fcc” />nnnn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nnn{{#if context.content}}nu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://jsc.mgid.com/site/960965.js” async>u003C/script>nnnu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″>n (function () {n if (document.location.pathname.indexOf(“https://adevarul.ro/ghid-de-cumparaturi”) === 0) {n return;n }nn const s = document.createElement(“script”);n s.src = “https://srv.divee.ai/storage/v1/object/public/sdk/divee.sdk.latest.js”;n s.setAttribute(“data-project-id”, “4428864e-2da6-4fef-a83c-c16c2dfe86d9”);n s.async = true;n document.head.appendChild(s);n })();nu003C/script>nnnnnn{{/if}}nnu003Cscript>n window.teads_analytics = window.teads_analytics || {};n window.teads_analytics.analytics_tag_id = “PUB_26459″;n window.teads_analytics.share = window.teads_analytics.share || function() {n ;(window.teads_analytics.shared_data = window.teads_analytics.shared_data || ()).push(arguments)n };nu003C/script>nu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://a.teads.tv/analytics/tag.js”>u003C/script>nnn{{#unless context.features.nolivesupply}}nu003Cscript async data-cfasync=”false” type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://live.demand.supply/up.js”>u003C/script>n{{/unless}}nnu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3345426167175409″ crossorigin=”anonymous”>u003C/script>nn u003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://terrific.live/terrific-sdk.js” storeid=”iN6X0VPTDIicsVPKX6p0″>u003C/script>nn{{/unless}}nnu003Cstyle>n.google-adposition > div {n flex-grow: 1;n}nn.google-adposition:has(iframe) {n background-image: none !important;n}nn.menu-fixed .menu .headContainer .google-auto-placed {n display: none;n}nnarticle header .title .google-auto-placed {n display: none;n}nn#onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-accept-btn-handler {n margin-bottom: 10px;n }nn #onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-reject-all-handler {n visibility: hidden;n }nnu003C/style>nn u003C!– Facebook Pixel Code –>u003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0002″>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f.fbq)f.push=n;n.loaded=!0; n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’); fbq(‘init’, ‘1346397800155390’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);u003C/script>u003Cnoscript> u003Cimg height=”1″ width=”1″ src=”https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1346397800155390&ev=PageView&noscript=1″/>u003C/noscript>u003C!– End Facebook Pixel Code –>nnu003C!– alternativeAds –>n”,”html_mobile”:”u003Cmeta name=”profitshareid” content=”934cd37887433d585a2a227ef0576fcc” />nnn{{#unless context.ads_disabled}}nn{{#if context.content}}nu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://jsc.mgid.com/site/960965.js” async>u003C/script>nnu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″>n (function () {n if (document.location.pathname.indexOf(“https://adevarul.ro/ghid-de-comparaturi”) === 0) {n return;n }nn const s = document.createElement(“script”);n s.src = “https://srv.divee.ai/storage/v1/object/public/sdk/divee.sdk.latest.js”;n s.setAttribute(“data-project-id”, “4428864e-2da6-4fef-a83c-c16c2dfe86d9”);n s.async = true;n document.head.appendChild(s);n })();nu003C/script>nn{{/if}}nnu003Cscript>n window.teads_analytics = window.teads_analytics || {};n window.teads_analytics.analytics_tag_id = “PUB_26459″;n window.teads_analytics.share = window.teads_analytics.share || function() {n ;(window.teads_analytics.shared_data = window.teads_analytics.shared_data || ()).push(arguments)n };nu003C/script>nu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://a.teads.tv/analytics/tag.js”>u003C/script>nn{{#unless context.features.nolivesupply}}nu003Cscript async data-cfasync=”false” type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://live.demand.supply/up.js”>u003C/script>n{{/unless}}nnu003Cscript type=”text/plain” class=”optanon-category-C0004″ src=”https://terrific.live/terrific-sdk.js” storeid=”iN6X0VPTDIicsVPKX6p0″>u003C/script>nn{{/unless}}nu003Cstyle>nn.google-adposition:has(iframe) {n background-image: none !important;n}nn.menu-fixed .menu .headContainer .google-auto-placed {n display: none;n}nnarticle header .title .google-auto-placed {n display: none;n}nn#onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-accept-btn-handler {n margin-bottom: 10px;n }nn #onetrust-banner-sdk #onetrust-reject-all-handler {n visibility: hidden;n }nu003C/style>n”},”updated_at”:”2026-07-22T15:44:05.196Z”}},”last_changed”:”2026-07-26T16:40:17.858Z”,”page”:{“created_at”:”2025-11-07T07 :21:20.397Z”,”created_by”:1,”custom_fields”:{},”domain”:”adevarul.ro”,”id”:99,”last_published_at”:”2025-11-07T07:21:23.058Z”,”name”:”Content layout (article)”,”published”:1,”s3_hash”:”a5e0764cf3bce051367545eab1538b4619e8ecb9″,”slug”:null,”title”:”Content layout”,”type”:”layout”,”updated_at”:”2022-07-21T08:27:20.732Z”,”version_id”:267},”path”:”/showbiz/film/the-role-for-which-tom-cruise-has-prepared-40-of-25 43067.html”,”pathArray”:(“”,”showbiz”,”film”,”rolul-pentru-care-tom-cruise-sa-pregatit-40-de-2543067.html”),”type”:”content”,”url”:”https://adevarul.ro/s howbiz/film/rorolul-per-care-tom-cruise-sa-preparat-40-de-2543067.html”,”features”:{},”query”:{},”domain_config”:{“MISC”:{“logo”:{“width”:320,”height”:5 0}},”SYSTEM_TAGS”:(“noads”,”nocomments”,”sex”,”advert”,”advertorial”,”video”,”gallery”,”live”,”photo”,”exclusive”,”analysis”,”interview”,”reportage”,”breaking news”),”default”:{“lang”:”ro”,”domain”:”adevarul.ro”,”alternateDomain”:”adevarul-ro.adh.reperio.news”,”friendlyName”:”Adevărul”,”logoURL”:”https://adevarul.ro/favicon-144-precomposed.png”}},”client”:{“is_mobile”:false}}