‘Digger’ Star Tom Cruise Brings Back His ‘Risky Business’ Moves for ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’ Spirit Tunnel
James Corden had ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ and Jimmy Kimmel had ‘Mean Tweets,’ but on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show,’ the signature bit is the Spirit Tunnel. Before each celebrity guest takes the stage, Hudson’s staff fills a hallway at Warner Bros. Studio 1 and performs a custom song to welcome them. Clips featuring Zendaya, Michelle Obama, Aaron Pierre, Gwen Stefani, and others regularly go viral.
The tradition started behind the scenes. In the show’s early days, the staff did it to hype up Hudson before each taping, until she decided guests deserved the same welcome. Over time, the ritual has become a viral sensation and even a way to measure a celebrity’s cultural status.
This week, it reached a new level. Tom Cruise walked through the Spirit Tunnel ahead of his appearance on the talk show, and the clip of the moment has attracted a lot of attention. The hallway was so crowded that TheWrap reported it drew a record number of participants.
The staff clearly came prepared. As Cruise left his dressing room, he found Hudson’s team wearing black sunglasses and singing a version of ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ with lyrics rewritten to celebrate his status as a movie legend. The nod was to ‘Risky Business,’ the 1983 film in which his character famously danced in sunglasses to the Bob Seger song.
Cruise immediately went along with it. He put on his own black sunglasses, danced down the hallway, and pulled several staffers in to join him. Variety noted that a few of his claps were off-beat, but said he looked just as enthusiastic as he is when doing his own stunts in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies.
Tom Cruise doing the Spirit Tunnel at The Jennifer Hudson Show. https://t.co/Nj9373Zk6Z
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 30, 2026
The appearance started with an unexpected meeting. Hudson booked Cruise during a chance encounter at the World Cup final, where she sang the national anthem in New York in July. She later shared that story in a Variety cover feature.
It turned out Cruise already knew all about the Spirit Tunnel. Hudson told Variety that he agreed so quickly it made her head spin, recalling that he told her, “I watch the show, Jennifer. I watch everything.”
That set expectations high. Before the taping, Lainey Gossip joked that there was no way Cruise would improvise his walk through the tunnel. In the end, he gave fans exactly the kind of high-energy performance they were hoping for.
The response online was immediate. The show teased the clip on Instagram by saying the internet wasn’t ready for Cruise, and viewers focused on how many people filled the hallway. One fan said the only other time they remembered the tunnel being that crowded was when Michelle Obama visited.
Others saw the booking as a major win for the talk show. One commenter said having Cruise on the program raises its profile in a big way, while others praised the show for landing such a high-profile guest.
A man. A plan. A meltdown. DIGGER. Only in theaters October 2. pic.twitter.com/tHOTqXsWIM
— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) September 9, 2026
The talk show visit is the latest stop on Cruise’s press tour for ‘Digger,’ directed by 2-time Academy Award winner Alejandro González Iñárritu. Cruise plays Texas oil tycoon Digger Rockwell, whose company faces accusations tied to an ecological disaster and the possibility of nuclear conflict. Variety described the role as a showcase that seems designed to put Cruise back in the Oscar race for the first time in decades.
The promotional push comes as the release gets closer. Critics have given ‘Digger’ mixed reactions, and the black comedy is set to open against Anne Hathaway’s ‘Verity,’ with both films expected to post similar debuts. Cruise’s full interview airs Wednesday, so fans won’t have to wait long to see what he and Hudson talk about.
What do you think of Tom Cruise bringing back his Risky Business moves in the Spirit Tunnel?
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