Even after decades in the public eye, Tom Cruise still finds ways to surprise us.
This May, the a-lister has been on a worldwide press tour for “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” It’s the eighth and final movie in a franchise that has seen Cruise do his own stunts like hanging from the ceiling on a wire, scaling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and riding a motorcycle straight off of a cliff into a gorge.
This latest film promises more wild stunts from the 62-year-old action star, including more hanging — this time from a plane — but it’s a much less harrowing physical feat of his that’s garnering attention ahead of its release: the way he eats popcorn.
A short clip posted by X user @seifwtf shows Cruise in a movie theater in England, listening to a speaker announce he’s receiving a BFI Fellowship while enjoying a couple of handfuls of popcorn. He is eating it in a way that can only be described as “movie star who’s fully aware he is always being photographed.”
Cruise shakes handfuls of buttery popcorn like dice and tosses them into his mouth like a cartoon character or high-powered attorney might, spilling some kernels on the floor. It’s as entertaining as “Top Gun.”
And many folks on social media agree:
Elsewhere on the tour, folks shared their popcorn-related Cruise stories. One X user shared a candid photo of Cruise speaking to movie theater staff in New York City while holding a big bucket of golden goodness.
“Tom Cruise has been talking to the employees at AMC Lincoln Square for 15 minutes now,” one X user posted on May 18, adding in a pair of follow-up posts that he was still going, minutes later.
“I’ll use this time to talk about the absolutely insane information Tom Cruise gave in his pre-screening speech,” replied another. “First, he asked us all not once but twice if we had popcorn (I showed him my bucket to confirm) and then he goes ‘I normally eat two big buckets myself during a movie.’”
On May 21, Cruise acknowledged the viral popcorn-eating moment during an interview on The Pat McAfee Show with Darius Butler, confirming he was not pretending to eat the popcorn.
“Man, I’m eating popcorn,” he said with a laugh. “They know when I’m going to these movies that I’m watching, I’m eating popcorn.”
This isn’t the only time Cruise went viral thanks to the cinematic snack: In 2023, during the last “Mission Impossible” press tour, Cruise posted himself saying six words that sum up the concession stand experience.
“I love my popcorn. Movies. Popcorn,” he said. So simple, and so true.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
