When Adam Shankman wanted to reveal the first look at Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand in costume on the set of Rock of Ages, he simply rustled them up and snapped a photo on the set and tweeted it. But Tom Cruise is also in this cast, and as you may know, Tom Cruise is the biggest movie star in the world. Tom Cruise don't twitpic. But Tom Cruise does pose for early publicity shots, and that'll have to do: today Shankman tweeted the first image of Cruise in costume as Stacee Jaxx, the rock star who comes and wreaks havoc at the Bourbon Room. The photo actually comes from a USA Today article, but you can still see it below.


The crazy thing is that Cruise is shooting his first scene today-- apparently a rendition of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me"-- so this is pretty much the earliest we've ever gotten a look at an actor in costume. In the USA Today article Shankman says they've toned down the character from his role in the original Broadway musical, in which he was more of a "predatory snake"; "We made him what these guys are, man children. Someone no one says no to. More of an innocent who does something wrong and doesn't know it." I'm sure it does help the musical be more cheerful and less campy than the Broadway version, but it's probably also no coincidence that Cruise, an actor who manages his reputation carefully, will wind up seeming like less of a villain. Click through to the article for more, and apparently we should be expecting more set photos to come through Shankman's twitter account.