Tom Cruise’s mooning scene in ‘American Made’ surprised everyone, sparking questions about whether it was really him without any CGI effects.

It’s no secret that Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. With each movie, he pushes himself to make his characters as real as possible — just look at the Mission Impossible franchise still going strong. But while he’s famous for ditching stunt doubles in crazy, high-risk scenes, he also makes a point of taking on scenes that show off his physicality in other ways.

Tom Cruise in American Made (Credits: Universal Pictures)

Tom Cruise is usually seen as the clean-cut, polished actor of the industry. Even though he fully commits to his roles, it’s still hard to picture him in more daring or revealing scenes. However, audiences have gotten a glimpse of this side of him in a couple of his past films, and he’s even talked about it.

Tom Cruise Challenged The Public’s Perception Of Him In American Made

Tom Cruise as Barry Seal in American Made (Credits: Universal Pictures)

Tom Cruise has built a strong career, making him the ideal Hollywood actor. Because of this, fans never expected to see him in certain daring or bold scenes. While he could do just about anything, showing any part of his body, for example, seemed like something he would never do.

However, he proved that this was just in people’s imagination. In an interview with Screen Rant to promote American Made, Cruise and director Doug Liman even talked about the scene where the star moons the camera.

When it comes to what the “typical Tom role” is — which Liman had mentioned earlier in relation to subverting it in the new film — the actor said he doesn’t really get it, since he’s clear that he doesn’t see himself that way. The director joked about it:

Well, you just never have a hair out of place…

You know, you carry yourself like… he’s always perfectly dressed…

He’s probably never broken a law. You know, it’s like OK, but here’s a character who flies in the face of all of that. Like, he’s probably never mooned somebody in real life.

Cruise was then asked if that was really him in the scene, and he replied:

That’s me, it’s not CGI. No, it’s me. I do my own mooning in films. Just let it be known, I do my own mooning.

In the movie, the star plays Barry Seal, an airline pilot who ends up becoming a CIA agent. Things take a wild turn when he gets caught trying to sneak Cuban cigars back home. This moment kicks off his relationship with the agency, launching him into an unexpected career in the U.S.’s “war” against drug traffickers.

However, even though American Made is from 2017, not everyone knows that Cruise’s backside was already famous for another movie in 2008. In Valkyrie, he didn’t do any mooning, but viewers who saw the film quickly took to the internet, spreading rumors that the actor had used filler.

Tom Cruise Denied Rumors About A Fake Backside In Valkyrie

Tom Cruise in Valkyrie (Credits: Columbia Pictures)

Cruise’s butt even became a meme on the internet, as rumors spread about the actor using some kind of filler for a specific scene in Bryan Singer‘s film. He had no idea this had happened until nine years later. Still in the same interview with Screen Rant, he said:

For what? I have no idea. There was no prosthetic in Valkyrie, no.

The public was entertained by the tweet, sparking debates about why he might have chosen to wear a prosthetic. It gained so much traction that the tweet went viral, racking up over 10,000 retweets and 50,000 likes. (via CNN)

The actor has always taken great pride in his performances across all his films, so it would be surprising if he chose to use something fake for his own body. Now people are aware that he’s strongly against using stunt doubles or anything that isn’t truly him appearing on screen.

American Made and Valkyrie are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.