Tom Cruise, 64, Debuts New Red Hair and Height-Boosting Shoes
The legendary action star debuted an unexpected look on the red carpet.
Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage
Tom Cruise has surprised longtime fans with his bold new hair color and an even bolder set of height-boosting boots.
The 64-year-old action star swapped his traditional chocolate-toned hue for a deep reddish-brown shade, debuting it on Sept. 22 at the London premiere of his upcoming film, Digger.
Tom Cruise wears a black custom Giorgio Armani tuxedo for the world premiere of his upcoming movie "Digger" on September 22, 2026, in London.
Variety/Matt Crossick/Variety via Getty Images
The star-studded event drew the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, as well as soccer superstar David Beckham, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Cruise wore a black custom Giorgio Armani tuxedo with navy lapels, a white shirt, and a black bow tie.
The 5-foot-7 Top Gun actor also got a subtle height boost by opting for heeled black boots.
Tom Cruise, Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales, and David Beckham attend the "Digger" premiere on September 22, 2026, in London, England.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Warner Bros.
Even with his heeled footwear, Cruise couldn’t quite reach the height of his fellow A-list attendees, including 5-foot-9 Kate Middleton, 6-foot-3 Prince William, and 6-foot David Beckham.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, Tom Cruise, and Prince William, Prince of Wales, attend the global premiere of "Digger" inside Leicester Square Gardens on September 22, 2026, in London, England.
Joe Maher/Joe Maher/Getty Images
Cruise’s red carpet look contrasts sharply with his unrecognizable appearance in the film as Digger Rockwell, a fictional billionaire with a potbelly and receding grey hair.
On a Sept. 18 episode of Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast, Cruise said his transformation for the film included a tedious makeup and prosthetics routine that initially took six hours.
Tom Cruise portrays an eccentric billionaire tycoon in the upcoming film "Digger."
Warner Bros.
To speed it up, the actor said he showed up with a chalkboard and timer.
“I had a guy there with a stopwatch, and I’m like, ‘OK, you see that time, six hours? By the time we’re done, we’re going to get it under an hour,’” Cruise said. “So with each piece that was going on, it was timed, and then we’d drill and practice.”
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That helped cut his transformation time to under an hour, he said.
Actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who were married at the time, smile while holding hands on a red carpet. Cruise was sometimes mocked for standing several inches shorter than his then-wife, who is 5-foot-11.
Darlene Hammond/Darlene Hammond/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Still, Cruise had to adjust to wearing the prosthetics and fat suit.
“I’m sweating because I’m wearing these prosthetics. And the scenes, they’re long takes,” Cruise said. “But I’m sweating underneath, so I came up with all these different things, like cooling machines.”
Digger, which releases on Oct. 2, is the first non-action, non-franchise film Cruise has starred in nearly a decade, since he starred in American Made.
“I was so excited to be able to have this character,” Cruise told GQ in a Sept. 15 interview. “It’s the most challenging ever.”
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