Tom Cruise has spent decades doing his own stunts, but on his latest trip to Japan he found time to study a very different kind of action. While promoting Digger, his new film with Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Cruise visited the MAPPA EXPO 15th Anniversary exhibition in Tokyo, celebrating the studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and the final season of Attack on Titan.
MAPPA revealed the visit last week (October 9th), thanking both men for stopping by and confirming that animator Tadashi Hiramatsu gave them a Digger illustration as a gift:
The Star Asks The Animators
MAPPA followed that up with a full video of the tour on its YouTube channel on Wednesday (October 14th), and it shows Cruise in full curious-filmmaker mode. At the Jujutsu Kaisen exhibits, where fights are broken down into original drawings next to the finished footage, he points out details in the art and says, "Look at the style."
Cruise then asks Hiramatsu, "How long do you take for an episode?" Hiramatsu replies in Japanese that, in total, it is around two to three months once storyboards and other preparation are counted, with a note in the video adding that it varies by title. Cruise also asks how much is still done by hand, and Hiramatsu explains that a lot of the work has gone digital, though he grew up on paper and pencil and still works about half and half.
For an actor who is famous for obsessing over how every shot is made, it is a fitting moment. The questions he asks are the kind any director would ask about a production schedule.
Digger Meets Anime
The conversation with Hiramatsu also turned to Digger itself. Hiramatsu says in the video that he loved the film so much that he asked to watch it a second time, and he praised its camera work, color, music, sound effects, and Cruise's performance.
He also brought up how different the role is for Cruise, noting that the star has long had a heroic image and plays almost the exact opposite here. In Digger, Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, the arrogant CEO of an oil drilling company whose greed sets off a disaster that threatens the planet, and who is then ordered by the President to fix the mess. The cast also includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Iñárritu also spoke about how heavily the film was planned before cameras rolled, with scenes built and tested in advance so the shoot worked almost like a live storyboard. Hiramatsu remarked that live-action filmmaking and animation feel much closer than they used to. As for his gift, he explained that drawing them took about a day, but coming up with the ideas after seeing the film took several days.
Cruise's Big Week In Japan
The MAPPA stop was part of a busy three-day trip to Japan from October 5th to 7th, the final leg of the Digger world tour after London, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Seoul. It was Cruise's 26th trip to Japan, and the Japan premiere was held on October 6th, which fans in Japan have celebrated as "Tom's Day" for 20 years now. This was the first time Cruise was actually in the country for it.
Digger opened in Japan on October 9th after its earlier release in the United States. MAPPA EXPO 15th Anniversary is still running at Yurakucho Museum in Tokyo until December 7th, before heading to Fukuoka early next year.
You can watch the full video of the visit below:
Do you think Tom Cruise should star in a live-action adaptation of a MAPPA anime, or should he leave those worlds to the animators?
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