tom cruise dance in tropic thunder

Tom Cruise's Best Tropic Thunder Scene Required One Person's Permission

"Tropic Thunder" features Tom Cruise, Hollywood's last great action star , in the surprisingly goofy role of studio exec Les Grossman. One of the best scenes in "Tropic Thunder" is in the film's closing moments, when Grossman is seen grooving and dancing to Ludacris' "Get Back" — a hilarious and fitting track to wrap up such a chaotic, action-packed film. Ludacris himself approved the use of his 2004 track after director and co-writer Ben Stiller privately screened the film for him. "Not only did he seek approval, respectfully, he invited us to watch the movie before it came out and it was literally just me, him and my management and we watched the whole movie," Ludacris told Sean Evans while appearing on "Hot Ones."

"Just to see at the end for [Stiller] to ask me, 'Is it OK to clear this?' And I was like, 'Absolutely,'" the "Fast and Furious" star said, adding that he was thrilled to have received the opportunity to watch the film in advance as he was a fan of Stiller's work. "Tropic Thunder" went on to become box office gold in 2008, grossing over $191 million worldwide. Robert Downey Jr. also notably received a best supporting actor nod at the Oscars for starring in the comedy.

Beyond box office glory and awards clout, "Tropic Thunder" stands out as one the most interesting films in Cruise's filmography, a rare comedic offering for the superstar who is most well-known for his action films and death-defying stunts.

Tom Cruise came up with the role of Les Grossman

A parody of Hollywood bigwigs, Cruise's Les Grossman stands out as a sleazy, conniving, temperamental foil to the film's main roster, which includes Ben Stiller and Matthew McConaughey. To bring Grossman to life, Cruise wore a fatsuit and a bald cap, resulting in a jarring look. Known for having considerable creative input on the projects he works on, Cruise himself is responsible for Grossman's appearance in "Tropic Thunder."

While speaking with Esquire , Stiller explained Cruise thought that a studio exec should serve as an antagonist in the film. "That part did not exist. [Cruise] said, 'Well, there's no studio executive and that would be really fun to be that guy.' And he had this whole idea of what the guy should look like," Stiller said, before adding that it was the actor's idea to have Grossman dance. "And I remember when we did a makeup test, someone handed him a Diet Coke and then he just started moving," the director added.

The character has proven to be so popular that Cruise is expected to return as Grossman in a brand new project , though concrete details haven't materialized. While we never got to see "Tropic Thunder 2," the flick is immortalized as one of the best comedies from the 2000s — thanks in part to Cruise's wicked dance moves.

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Tom Cruise Revives Hilarious 'Tropic Thunder' Character, Reveals the Secret Behind Dance Moves

Over 10 years after playing the character on screen in Tropic Thunder , Tom Cruise brought Les Grossman back to life

Dave Quinn is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. He has been working at the brand since 2016, and is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It.

Tom Cruise may have surprised fans at Comic-Con with the first trailer to his upcoming Top Gun sequel , but it was another movie in his illustrious catalog that Conan O’Brien asked about when Cruise appeared on the comedian’s talk show Thursday night.

In the episode, which was broadcast from the annual entertainment convention, O’Brien, 56, asked Cruise to step back into the shoes of Les Grossman — the skeevy studio executive Cruise played over a decade ago in 2008’s Tropic Thunder.

The actor, 57, was happy to oblige, showing off some of Grossman’s infamous dance moves.

Turns out, Cruise himself had pushed director Ben Stiller to incorporate those dance moves, as well as Grossman’s fat-suit, when he was first approached to play the role.

“I take classes all the time to learn things or I want to improve a skill, whether it’s singing, music — whatever subject I’m studying. So I take dance classes and I took hip-hop classes. And then what I find is, I’ll find a character to put that with,” Cruise explained on Conan, recalling how he told Stiller, ” ‘I’d love to play this character but I want to have fat hands and I’m going to dance.’ ”

“Sometimes with a character you just get an instinct about what you’re going to do,” Cruise added.

Stiller, according to Cruise, wasn’t completely on board with Cruise’s vision.

“For a couple of months he kept saying, ‘Maybe we don’t do the makeup. Maybe you just look like yourself,’ ” Cruise remembered. “And I said, ‘No, I need fat hands and I’m going to dance.’ ”

After the makeup was created, Cruise said finding Grossman was easy. “As you’re working on a character, you start becoming that character, you start discovering that character. And I just, I just started moving,” Cruise said, adding that Stiller was still confused. “There was no music. He was just looking at me like, ‘What’s happening.’ I was crushing Pepsi cans and Coke cans.”

Once Stiller added music to the scene though (specifically, Ludacris’s “Get Back”), he understood what Cruise wanted.

“He calls me the next day and cut it to that piece of music you see in the movie. And he said, ‘I get it, I get it, I get it. This is hilarious,’ ” Cruise shared.

Tropic Thunder earned Cruise a Golden Globe action nomination. The film also starred Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson.

Later on Conan , Cruise recited Grossman’s more colorful lines. “Stand back and literally f— your own face,” Cruise said, to the cheers of the crowd. “I will f— you up! I will massacre you!”

And though the next few movies Cruise has on his slate are action-based (including the aforementioned Top Gun: Maverick ), Cruise said comedy — and Les Grossman — will always have a special place in his heart.

“I love comedy,” Cruise said. “I used to write sketches when I was a little kid and would do imitations to make my mother and sisters laugh.”

“Les Grossman was a funny character,” he added. “That was a wild character. That was wild.”

Top Gun: Maverick is set for a June 26, 2020 release.

Why Tom Cruise Demanded Dancing And Fat Fingers For Tropic Thunder

Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder

Who could forget Tom Cruise 's legendary performance as Les Grossman in 2008's Tropic Thunder ? Not only did he invent the character , but he also almost got an entire movie centering around that character. How cool would that have been? It's no wonder Grossman ranks among Cruise's best characters ever . Cruise's genius, coupled with his innate ability to feel out characters before they're even fully fleshed out, helped turn Grossman into the phenomenon he is now.

Speaking to popular late-night host Conan O'Brien during “ ConanCon ,” Tom Cruise explained how the now-famous character came to be. After Conan showed a clip of Cruise's dance performance from the film's end credits, Cruise said that learning to dance and learning comedy were among many things he wanted to perfect. In his words:

I take classes all the time to learn things or I want to improve a skill… singing, music, something I’m studying. I take dance classes and I took hip-hop classes and then I’ll find a character to put that with.

Because Tom Cruise created one of Tropic Thunder 's best characters, he demanded that his input be put in to the finished product, and he was willing to learn whatever it took to get the job done. It was, and it was glorious. Les Grossman proved so popular and so in-demand that Cruise agreed to bring him to the MTV Movie Awards back in 2010. It's amazing what hilarious mid-credits dancing can do for your career.

After that earlier tidbit, Tom Cruise circled back to Les Grossman and said what everyone in the room (and probably on the planet) wanted to hear:

I said, ‘Look, I’d love to play this character, but I want to have fat hands and I’m gonna dance.'

Man, he's good. I mean, c'mon. Who doesn't love sausage fingers and a proclivity for outrageously bad dancing? The guy has a good eye for what the audience wants, and boy, does he deliver. I'd love to see more of him if the franchise is ever revisited. Here's to hoping it is!

In the last five or so years, Cruise has taken on more serious, more action-heavy roles, some of his more recent ones being Doug Liman 's American Made and the fourth, fifth, and sixth installments in the wildly popular Mission: Impossible franchise. He has always had remarkable range as an actor, a fact that his various film roles clearly reflect.

If you're itching for a new Tom Cruise performance, you can catch him in Top Gun: Maverick when it hits theaters in June 2020. Or, you know, you could just watch him in Tropic Thunder or any of the Mission: Impossible movies for the millionth time. It really doesn't ever get old and it satisfies two very different moods.

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Why ben stiller wanted to cut tom cruise's tropic thunder dance.

Tom Cruise made a memorable appearance as a horrid movie producer in Tropic Thunder, but his famous dance scene was nearly cut by Ben Stiller.

Tom Cruise's Tropic Thunder dance is one of the most famous scenes from the movie, but director Ben Stiller had to be talked into filming it. Tropic Thunder is a 2008 all-star action-comedy, where a group of pampered movie stars making a Vietnam war movie run afoul of a drug cartel in the Golden Triangle. The movie received mostly good reviews and was a solid hit, but while it can be genuinely hilarious in its parody of Hollywood moviemaking, it attracted controversy for elements like Robert Downey Jr's character - an intense method actor - donning blackface to play a role.

Tropic Thunder cast Tom Cruise in a surprise cameo as Les Grossman, the monstrous producer behind the movie the actors are filming. Cruise was going through something of a slow period in his career prior to Tropic Thunder , with 2006's Mission: Impossible III proving to be the lowest-grossing of the series while award baiting drama Lions For Lambs also underperformed. While Grossman is ultimately a small role, Cruise's sheer commitment to the role and endless stream of quotable dialogue made him a highlight.

Related: Edge of Tomorrow Is Tom Cruise's Best Chance At Another Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise donned lots of prosthetics to portray Len, including a fat suit and a bald cap. Some viewers didn't even realize it was Cruise in the role until Tropic Thunder's credits, which also featured arguably the movie's comic highlight. This sees Grossman, bathing in the awards success of the movie he produced, pulling off some wicked dance moves in his office set to Ludacris’s “Get Back.” In 2019 Cruise reflected on the movie during an interview with Conan O'Brien, and revealed Ben Stiller was VERY hesitant about the dance and most of the actor's ideas for the part.

When Stiller first offered Cruise Les Grossman, it was the latter's suggestion for the character to dance and have " fat hands ." The director didn't quite gel with these ideas and asked if Cruise could just play the role looking like himself with zero dancing. Cruise followed his instincts for Tropic Thunder and decided to do a make-up test for Stiller, which included doing some dance moves. Stiller was still doubtful as he watched Cruise perform without any backing music, but afterward when took footage from this test and cut it to "Get Back," he realized he had gold.

The positive reaction to Cruise's role in Tropic Thunder almost led to the creation of a Les Grossman spinoff, but while a script was developed it yet to happen. It's strange that one of the most iconic moments in the comedy hit almost didn't happen, but it's a testament to Tom Cruise's commitment to a bit that it's still so fondly remembered.

Next: Tropic Thunder: Why RDJ's Blackface Wasn't Controversial

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The Truth About Tom Cruise's Character In 'Tropic Thunder'

Tom was supposed to play the leading role that Ben Stiller ended up taking.

Love him or loathe him, there's no denying that Tom Cruise basically stole Tropic Thunder. While the movie was filled with controversy, such as Robert Downey Jr.'s character's acting choices , the 2008 film remains beloved. In the film, Tom Cruise played a vile Hollywood mogul named Les Grossman. Given Tom's incredible filmography , it makes sense that he brought this character to life so well. But given Tom's recent set outburst as well as his not-so-clean reputation among some in Hollywood perhaps his casting was even more calculated. Either way, Tom Cruise absolutely knocked this role out of the park. Thanks to a fantastic article by Grantland , we now know how he was able to do this...

Tom Was Supposed To Play Ben's Role Until He Gave A Very Specific Script Note

Tom Cruise needed to repair his image in 2007. Years of conflict with marriages, jumping on couches, and squabbles with the studio making his Mission Impossible movies put him in a bad light. Ultimately, Tropic Thunder was the film that helped (momentarily) rehabilitate his image. But Tom wasn't supposed to play Les Grossman, the vicious studio executive who clearly believed actors were disposable. Actually, Tom was supposed to play the leading role that Ben Stiller ended up taking. It made sense that Ben wasn't initially interested in the lead role. After all, he was already directing it and writing it with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen.

"Justin Theroux and I had been working on the script on and off for eight years," Ben Stiller said to Grantland. "We had an outline and about half a script. I knew how it should end. Then we brought Etan on and got a full draft."

When Etan Cohen came on in 2002, he basically came up with the idea that would lead Tom Cruise to essentially create Les Grossman.

Related: Amidst The Tom Cruise Controversy, Katie Holmes Seems Unbothered And Is Focusing On Christmas

"We were still figuring out why the actors would get abandoned and no one would notice that all these stars were gone," Etan Cohen said. "So I had written this throwaway thing at the side of the document that said: 'Maybe the studio has an insurance policy on production. When the director dies they recoup all their expenses, so the studio doesn’t care about the actors.' Then we totally went away from that for years."

By that time, Tom Cruise had already read the script and claimed that there was a need for another villain. In fact, he even stated that it could use a greedy studio exec who 'represents the gross part of Hollywood'.

"His idea to show the studio head actually fixed a problem we had for a long time. We never cut back to the real world for any of the previous drafts. All the Grossman scenes totally fixed the plot holes" Ben Stiller claimed.

Related: Tom Cruise Trolled For 'Social Distancing From His Daughter' After Fiery Audio Leaks

Soon after, a new draft was written and Ben gave the role of the studio exec to Tom, who couldn't take it due to scheduling conflicts. But there was no name for the character at first. In fact, it took an entire year for 'Les Grossman' to officially be created.

"Ben decided he was going to play Speedman, and then he got a phone call from Tom, who said he just couldn’t get the script out of his mind. Tom asked, 'What else is open?' And Ben said, 'Well, we haven’t cast the Les Grossman role yet.' Tom was like, 'I’d play that,'" producer Stuart Cornfeld said.

Les Grossman's Look Was Half The Performance

While Tom brought a certain amount of energy to the role, his hair, make-up, and prosthetics were really what made the performance memorable. After all, Tom was barely recognizable.

"I was Tom’s go-to makeup person from Interview With the Vampire on. I did a lot of big, iconic looks for him," makeup designer Michèle Burke said. "I got a text saying, 'Tom wants to have hairy arms.' And I was thinking, Oh, OK, we can get hairy arms. Then they were like, 'We want him to have a hairy chest.' Then suddenly it was like he’s going to have big hands, and I’m sitting there thinking, This is getting bigger than I expected. Then they started sending me pictures of other people who looked a bit like this. You know, with the gold jewelry, the hairy chest. I thought, OK, now I’m beginning to get the picture, this is full-on."

Then, of course, there was the fat suit which was a bunch of custom pads made out of foam and beading from the inside of a pillow. This beading accurately mimicked the jiggle that human fat makes when it moves; something that was vital for the dance number...

All About Tom Cruise Dancing

"We’re doing the makeup test and it’s the first time Tom’s in the Les Grossman outfit. He stops and says, 'Maybe I should dance in this. You know, I haven’t danced in a movie in a long time,'" producer Stuart Cornfeld said.

The Mission Impossible and Eye Wide Shut star ended up choreographing all of his own dance moves which just made everyone on the set burst out laughing.

"I remember him standing off in a corner just working on his moves," co-star Bill Hader explained.

The outrageous costume, hair, and make-up, the hilarious lines (mostly written by Justin Theroux), as well as the performance and energy that Tom Cruise brought to the role, ended up creating a truly memorable character.

Next: Why Did Tom Cruise Agree To A Cameo In 'Austin Powers'?

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Conan : How Tom Cruise Embodied Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman

Remember when Tom Cruise played a shystie studio executive in Tropic Thunder, but it took us all a little bit to recognize him because he was in a fat suit? All Cruise’s idea. Cruise told Conan and the San Diego Comic-Con audience that when Ben Stiller approached him for the role, he had two conditions: “I wanna have fat hands, and I’m gonna dance.” Apparently Cruise takes classes all of the time and incorporates what he learns into characters. For Grossman, Cruise brought back his old hip-hop dance training. To Stiller’s consternation, he insisted that he bring back his old hip-hop dance training. And now we have a gif that won’t die. So never doubt the instincts of Tom Cruise.

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How Tom Cruise Ended Up Casting Himself In Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder

Tom Cruise's range as an actor extends beyond action films, as he has appeared in a variety of genres, including dramas and comedies.
Cruise played the role of Les Grossman in Ben Stiller's film Tropic Thunder after giving Stiller the idea for the character and requesting to play him with specific conditions.
Cruise and Stiller became friends after Stiller made fun of Cruise on his sketch comedy show, and they have collaborated on multiple projects together since then.

Tom Cruise got his big break in the romantic comedy Risky Business back in the early 1980s. Since then, he’s gone on to become Hollywood’s go-to actor for action flicks. After all, Cruise was the leading man in blockbusters such as Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible film franchise. It’s no surprise he’s one of the highest-paying actors of all time.

Today, Tom Cruise has a massive net worth, mostly due to his work in action films. However, the actor has shown his range by appearing in all kinds of movies, from dramas to comedies, such as Ben Stiller’s 2008 film Tropic Thunder . Believe it or not, Cruise cast himself in the role of Les Grossman in this film!

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Tom cruise cast himself as les grossman in ben stiller’s tropic thunder after reading the script a second time.

In 2008, Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller collaborated once again for the comedian’s film Thunder Tropic . The movie stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of actors making a Vietnam War film. After their director (Steve Coogan) tragically dies in an accident, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive.

Thunder Tropic was a huge success, grossing over $195 million at the box office worldwide . The main and ensemble cast were greatly praised for their performances, including Cruise, who played the ill-tempered studio executive Les Grossman.

Tom Cruise Isn't Into Litigation, But He Had Enough When A False Claim Was Made About His Relationship With Suri

Funnily enough, Cruise gave Stiller the idea for the character of Les Grossman .

“We were watching a film and I said, ‘What are you working on?’ He says, ‘I’m working on this film Tropic Thunder, ’ and he says, ‘Look, would you mind reading the script and, you know, I’d like to talk to you about it.’ So I said, ‘Okay,’” Cruise explained in an interview.

“I read the script and he had all the characters except the studio wasn’t there, there was a structural compression missing down on those characters.”

Noting that the movie was missing something, Cruise gave Stiller some ideas. “I was like, ‘You need the studio.’ So he came back like a few weeks later and I started reading, and I read this character and I went, ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘This is fun.’”

Then, Cruise asked Stiller if he could play this character. But he had two conditions. “I said, ‘I wanna have fat hands and I wanna dance.’” Luckily, Stiller agreed.

Tom Cruise And Ben Stiller Became Friends Over A Joke

To this day, Ben Stiller is one of Tom Cruise’s closest friends in Hollywood . The two first met after Stiller made fun of the actor on his sketch comedy show.

“He saw it somewhere, but then we did the Ben Stiller Show and we did the Cruise thing too and a friend of mine was in The Firm at the time, and I showed it to him down there and he loved it,” Stiller told Collider in a 2008 interview. “I mean, I would probably not have loved it if I saw somebody gave me somebody doing me. I always give him credit for that.”

These Ben Stiller Movies All Include Members From The 'Frat Pack'

Afterward, the two kept in touch, even collaborating on a parody a couple of years later. “Then we did this thing on the MTV Movie Awards like eight years ago and that was really fun,” Stiller explained.

“We had a good time where I was doing his stuntman and since then we stayed in touch and talked about stuff over the years.” The two actors remained close friends over the years. At one point Stiller and Cruise would even set playdates for their kids .

Ben Stiller Wanted To Cut One Of Tom Cruise's Most Iconic Scenes In Tropic Thunder

Tom Cruise looked almost unrecognizable as studio executive Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder , as he used a fat suit and a bald cap to completely change his appearance. Because of this, most viewers didn’t realize that it was Cruise in the role until the credits rolled out.

One of Cruise’s most iconic scenes in this film has to be, hands down, the credits where Grossman shows his best dance moves to Ludacris’ song ‘Get Back’. Believe it or not, Ben Stiller was hesitant to include this dance scene in the movie at first.

“Les Grossman was a fun character [to play],” Cruise revealed in an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show. The host asked the Mission: Impossible star if it was true that he took hip-hop classes to prepare for that final scene. “I actually take classes all the time to learn things or I want to prove a skill [...] So, I take dance classes and I took hip-hop and then what I’ll do is find a character to put that with.”

When the opportunity to appear in Tropic Thunder came, Cruise knew that this was the time to bring out his best hip-hop moves.

That’s why Cruise requested Stiller that he let his character dance at some point during the film. Initially, Stiller wasn’t sure whether that was going to work.

“Ben, he just looks at me like, ‘you know he’s just like right out of the movies,” Cruise explained. “So, for a couple of months, he kept saying, ‘You know, maybe we don’t do the makeup and you just look like yourself.” But Cruise wouldn’t have it. “‘No Ben,’ I said, ‘I really need fat hands and I’m gonna dance.”

Ultimately, Stiller agreed to go with Cruise’s vision for the character and it turned out to be the right choice. Fans loved to see Cruise dancing dressed as Les Grossman. It’s no wonder why this uncredited cameo put Cruise right back on the map!

How Tom Cruise Ended Up Casting Himself In Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder

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Tom Cruise, in Bit Role, Nips Studio’s Top Gun

By Michael Cieply

April 3, 2008

LOS ANGELES Take that, Sumner Redstone.

At an industry screening Tuesday night of the forthcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder” from Paramount Pictures and its unit DreamWorks, Tom Cruise brought down the house with his surprise portrayal of a bald, hairy-chested, foulmouthed, dirty-dancing movie mogul of the kind who is only too happy to throw an actor to the wolves when his popularity cools.

The several hundred Hollywood agents, managers, publicists and reporters at the screening on the Paramount lot here couldn’t have missed the joke. In August 2006 Mr. Cruise after spending many years at Paramount and appearing in some of its biggest hits, including “Top Gun” and the “Mission: Impossible” series was sent packing by Mr. Redstone, the chairman of Viacom, the studio’s parent.

Two years later Mr. Cruise is back in a Paramount movie, playing a craggy ingrate in what is shaping up as one of the studio’s best prospects for the summer. The movie, a raunchfest directed by Ben Stiller, about a bunch of actors whose jungle war movie turns unexpectedly real, also stars Mr. Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Nick Nolte.

The humor may have been heightened by knowledge that Mr. Cruise and Mr. Redstone only last week kissed and made up over a very public lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Mr. Cruise, 45, has been a hunk (“Cocktail”), a heartthrob (“Far and Away”), an action hero (“Minority Report”) and a series of extraordinary ordinary guys (from “Taps” to “War of the Worlds”). He has also done some comic scenes. In 2002, for instance, there was a bit as Austin Powers, in “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”

But nothing on his résumé predicted the rapturous reaction he received Tuesday night. (Only a turn by Mr. Downey who plays most of the movie in blackface, as a present-day white Australian trying to get inside the head of an African-American grunt during the Vietnam War received as warm a reaction.)

Mr. Stiller, speaking before the screening, said he expected the movie to be rated R. The first few words out of Mr. Cruise’s mouth would guarantee that. As for his dance, that will be best described by the critics.

Representatives of Mr. Cruise, Mr. Stiller and Paramount declined on Wednesday to discuss the role.

Mr. Cruise’s latest appearance comes on the heels of a flop, “Lions for Lambs,” which was released by United Artists, a studio he now oversees with his longtime associate Paula Wagner. And the comedy’s August release will precede Mr. Cruise’s performance in “Valkyrie,” a fall film from United Artists, in which he plays a German officer who tries to assassinate Hitler.

Mr. Stiller, who played Mr. Cruise’s obsessive stunt double in a popular Web video (and who is expected to co-star with him in “Hardy Men”), first talked with Mr. Cruise, his friend, about taking a role more than a year ago, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with the film’s promotion. Mr. Cruise chose the studio chief’s role, and went through four days of makeup tests in order to get it right.

The director had planned to keep Mr. Cruise’s uncredited performance a surprise. The studio has not included Mr. Cruise in the movie’s trailer and has declined to release any images of his character. But a photo of a mostly bald Mr. Cruise donning a fat suit popped up on the Web late last year.

In any case, the performance is likely to draw attention, since Paramount is weighing a plan in which it would build buzz with extensive screenings of “Tropic Thunder” before its Aug. 15 release, much as 20th Century Fox did in 2006 with “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” At Tuesday’s screening Mr. Stiller told attendees that his new film was still in rough form. “If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them directly on the Internet,” he said.

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Tropic Thunder Soundtrack [ 2008 ]

List of songs.

Gothic Monsters

Theodore Shapiro

Song for the Scorcher IV: Global Meltdown trailer.

I Love Tha Pussy

Alpa Chino's Booty Sweat advert.

The Four Seasons "Spring": Allegro

Capella Istropolitana, Stephen Gunzenhauser & Takako Nishizaki

First song of The Fatties 2 trailer

Brick House

Third song in The Fatties 2 trailer (Song is originally by The Commodores).

Cum on Feel The Noize

Second song from The Fatties 2 trailer.

Song for the Satan's alley trailer.

U Can't Touch This

Fourth song from The Fatties 2 Trailer.

Ball Of Confusion

The Temptations

Cockburn's crew is shooting a Helicopter scene for the Tropic Thunder film.

You're My Brother

Speedman shoots a scene where his character gets shot. 3rd song in end credits.

Song that plays during Tugg Speedman's interview.

Ready Set Go

Ben Gidsjoy

Damien Cockburn and Rob Slolom are on their way to a meeting.

I Just Want To Celebrate

The Mooney Suzuki

The cast and crew are having a party, Cockburn tries to get his cast together to talk about the project. (Director's cut).

Name of the Game

The Crystal Method

The cast are riding a helicopter right above the forest, Cockburn gets his cast prepped up for the shooting.

Run Through The Jungle

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Song when they are trekking through the jungle together.

I'd Love To Change the World

Ten Years After

The cast are trekking through the jungle together. (Director's cut).

Steppenwolf

Jeff attempts to snort cocaine from his bag before a bat takes it from his hand.

Sympathy For The Devil

The Rolling Stones

Tug leaves the rest of the group and treks down to the river. The other guys keep walking through the jungle.

Music From 'Star Trek' Episode 'Arena'

Alexander Courage

Tugg Speedman is watching an Episode of Sar Trek on his Ipad.

Movin' On Up

Ja'net DuBois and Jeff Barry

Lazarus quotes the theme song from The Jeffersons.

Sometimes When We Touch

Peck's (Matthew McConaeghay) ringtone.

Low (feat. T-Pain)

Grossman plays this song in his office.

Ricky Bell, Michael Lamone Bivins, Carl Bourelly and Ronald De Voe

Grossman's assistant quotes this song to Peck as they dance.

For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield

Tug removes his simple Jack make-up, when a child gives him a twig Oscar as a present. Meanwhile, the group looks up at the stars.

Frankenstein

Edgar Winter

Four Leaf uses the flamethrower.

Grossman plays this song and dances to the music. 1st song in end credits.

Second song during end credits.

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Tropic Thunder Soundtrack

Each song is provided with a scene description and timestamp, as well as a full-length audio playback.

Note: Below is a complete playlist of all 14 songs that can be heard in the movie “Tropic Thunder”. Some of these commercial songs are not included on the official soundtrack album but are used in the movie.

All 14 songs featured in “Tropic Thunder”:

What’s the movie about? Through a series of crazy events, a group of actors making a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they portray.

Tom Cruise is reportedly obsessed with making this movie

Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman could be making a return to the big screen

A movie centred around Les Grossman may be on the horizon, as reports state that Tom Cruise is “fixated” on the Tropic Thunder character.

The character first turned heads back in 2008, when those who went to see the satirical action film in cinemas were confronted with Tom Cruise, in full prosthetics, playing a fictional studio executive and dancing to Ludacris ’ ‘Get Back’.

Although it has been over a decade since the character of Les Grossman appeared on screens, fans have consistently clamoured for more and even hoped that the character will get his own spin-off.

Now, following numerous reports over the last year, it appears that both Cruise and producer Christopher McQuarrie are also “fixated on” the character, and looking to bring him back in a new project.

First reported by Deadline last year, the two are one step closer to reviving the character for the big screen, although it may not be particularly for a ‘Les Grossman movie’. As per the report, it remains “unclear” whether Cruise and McQuarrie will “create a whole movie around Grossman, or borrow him for inclusion in either of the other vehicles”. This could include a “song and dance-style musical”.

Rumours about the comeback of the fictional evil studio executive – who pulled the strings in Tropic Thunder ’s film-within-a-film – can also be traced back to three years ago, when Cruise reprised the memorable role at the 2020 MTV Movie Awards.

Following the appearance, Ben Stiller – who starred in and directed the film – made a statement joking about an upcoming Les Grossman movie. “Les Grossman’s life story is an inspiring tale of the human class struggle to achieve greatness against all odds,” he said (via Entertainment Weekly ).

“[Grossman] has assured me he plans to quote ‘Fucking kill the shit out of this movie and make Citizen fucking Kane look like a piece of crap home movie by the time we are done.’ I am honoured to be working with him.”

At time of writing, there are no official plans for Cruise to revive his role as Grossman.

Back in February, Tropic Thunder again made headlines after Stiller claimed he was still “proud” of the film , despite its past controversies.

The backlash centred around the portrayal of disabled characters and use of blackface – the latter of which was depicted by Robert Downey Jr , who played an Australian method actor who undergoes “pigmentation alteration” surgery to play a black character in a war movie.

“I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder . Don’t know who told you that,” Stiller wrote to a fan on Twitter. “It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it.”