Tom Cruise brings back Les Grossman in surprise Conan appearance

Tom Cruise gave the history of his Tropic Thunder character Les Grossman to Conan O’Brien’s audience at Comic-Con.

Tom Cruise has played some iconic characters during his movie career. Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, Maverick in Top Gun, Jerry Maguire in…Jerry Maguire. But for comedy fans, he may always be associated with Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder.

Cruise starred in the 2008 movie along with Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black. As the short-tempered and profane studio executive Les Grossman, Cruise was praised for his comedic chops and showing audiences a different side of himself as an actor. It also helped that he had some pretty memorable lines in the movie.

What fans may not know is just how much of the Grossman character came from Cruise himself or the unique skills he already had ready to use on screen. Cruise was a surprise guest during ConanCon, Conan O’Brien’s run of shows at Comic-Con. It was there that Cruise busted out some familiar moves and quotes while telling the story of Les Grossman.

It probably isn’t all that often that an actor requests “fat hands” multiple times for a character. But clearly Cruise had a very specific vision for how Les Grossman should look in Tropic Thunder. And it was a smart decision because the appearance of the character not only hides Cruise’s familiar look but also enhances the comedy.

That look may be why it took Conan O’Brien a second to remember that Tom Cruise can pull off comedy. If you didn’t know it was him, it would be hard to realize that it was Cruise in the beard, bald cap, and fat hands even if you had spent all day driving around with him:

Tom Cruise stopped by Conan to promote his movie Top Gun: Maverick which hits theaters on June 26, 2020. Hopefully after that movie, it won’t be too long before fans can see Cruise in another comedy.