Of all the Tom Cruise movies that prove he’s more than an action star, one of my favorites is Tropic Thunder. Cruise played foul-mouthed, easily angered studio executive Les Grossman, a role he signed on for after two specific requests were met. But Cruise didn’t just don the fatsuit, prosthetic hands and bald cap just for the 2008 comedy. He also got back into character for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, and it was during that time that he called out fellow actor Michael Cera. Oh, how I wish there was video of this.
Cera, who’s most recently been seen in the 2025 movie release The Phoenician Scheme, talked about this encounter while appearing on The Louis Theroux Podcast. He crossed paths with Cruise in his Les Grossman form when the Top Gun actor was shooting pre-taped segments for the awards that saw Les “interacting with various people coming in and out.” Cera was one of those people, and he saw firsthand how much of a “leader” Cruise was on set, which explains why the following took place:
The first moment I had with him, I arrived, they were shooting, and I was talking to the writer… We were just kind of mumbling while they were shooting, but they could hear us. It was just like 40 feet away. And Tom Cruise looks at me, I've never met him, and they're in the middle of a take and he looks, and he goes, 'Is that Michael Cera talking during a fucking take?' He was joking, but it was also like, 'Do shut up,' you know? But so surreal.
That’s your lesson of the day, kids: never interfere with Tom Cruise when he’s in the middle of shooting a scene. Obviously Michael Cera wasn’t doing this intentionally, and he made it clear in the interview that Cruise wasn’t actually mad at him. But even though the two had never met each other, Cruise didn’t hesitate to inform Cera that he was talking at the wrong time. Again, don’t mess with the man who played Mission: Impossible’s Ethan Hunt for nearly three decades in the middle of a take.
It’s not really surprising Tom Cruise did this considering how important filmmaking is to him, even by Hollywood star standards. The only thing that would make this story even better is if he called out Michael Cera in character as Les Grossman, profanity and all. Had that happened though, the lighthearted teasing that Cera mentioned below likely wouldn’t have happened:
Then I met him, he is like, 'Talking during a f‑‑‑ing take.' I knew he was playing around, so I was like, 'Hey man, it wasn't me, it was the writer.' He was like, 'I'm kidding, I'm kidding.' And I was like, 'I'm kidding too.'
Tom Cruise and Michael Cera have yet to star in a movie together, but I’ll cross my fingers that happens someday. If they left on good terms with one another 15 years ago, then let’s see how they do co-starring in a movie. Who knows, if that long-talked-about Les Grossman spinoff ever gets off the the ground, maybe Cera could appear in it, whether in a supporting role or just cameoing as himself.
In the meantime, both Michael Cera and Tom Cruise can still be seen on the big screen as The Phoenician Scheme and Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning continue their theatrical runs. Cera will also return later in the year for the Glen Powell-led film adaptation of The Running Man.
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