what song does tom cruise dance to in tropic thunder

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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.

Related Articles

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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Ludacris Personally Approved Tom Cruise’s ‘Get Back’ Dance in ‘Tropic Thunder’ | Video

Ludacris answered a “Hot Ones” question that he’s never been asked before on Thursday’s episode, telling host Sean Evans how his 2004 single “Get Back” came to be featured in “Tropic Thunder” — with a Tom Cruise-in-a-fat-suit dance break no less.

Apparently, star, director and cowriter Ben Stiller hosted a private preview screening of the 2008 action comedy for Ludacris (birth name Christopher Bridges) and his management team.

“Did Ben Stiller personally seek your approval to use ‘Get Back’ at the end of ‘Tropic Thunder’ for that Tom Cruise dance scene?” Evans asked.

Ludacris was pleasantly surprised by the question.

“Yo, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that, that’s a great question,” he said between heat levels of the talk show’s chicken wing-eating structure.

“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 said. “Just to see at the end for him to ask me, ‘Is it OK to clear this?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.'”

Turns out, the Grammy-winning rapper and actor (also known best for his work in the “Fast & Furious” film franchise) was already a fan of Stiller’s work and just excited to be in the room.

“I was more — I was such a Ben Stiller fan that I was more happy that he invited me personally to come watch the movie before it came out.”

“Tropic Thunder” starred Stiller, Jack Black and an Oscar-nominated Robert Downey Jr. as actors filming a big-budget war movie who get caught up in real military action. Tom Cruise is a slimy Hollywood producer who makes a memorable supporting turn towards the front of the film — but the real action happens towards the credits.

As the scene unforgettably goes, it’s Oscar night and war movie-within-a-movie is cleaning up with the Best Actor trophy going to Stiller’s Tugg Speedman. Cruise is watching the telecast from the comfort of his office when, to celebrate the win, he turns the lights down, turns the amps up and gyrates in celebration to Ludacris’ “Get Back.” Watch it here .

And watch Ludacris’ full “Hot Ones” interview in the video above.

The post Ludacris Personally Approved Tom Cruise’s ‘Get Back’ Dance in ‘Tropic Thunder’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap .

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Ludacris Personally Approved Tom Cruise’s ‘Get Back’ Dance in ‘Tropic Thunder’ | Video

The rapper and actor reveals how Ben Stiller privately screened the movie for him before sign-off

Ludacris answered a “Hot Ones” question that he’s never been asked before on Thursday’s episode, telling host Sean Evans how his 2004 single “Get Back” came to be featured in “Tropic Thunder” — with a Tom Cruise-in-a-fat-suit dance break no less.

Apparently, star, director and cowriter Ben Stiller hosted a private preview screening of the 2008 action comedy for Ludacris (birth name Christopher Bridges) and his management team.

“Did Ben Stiller personally seek your approval to use ‘Get Back’ at the end of ‘Tropic Thunder’ for that Tom Cruise dance scene?” Evans asked.

Ludacris was pleasantly surprised by the question.

“Yo, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that, that’s a great question,” he said between heat levels of the talk show’s chicken wing-eating structure.

“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 said. “Just to see at the end for him to ask me, ‘Is it OK to clear this?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’”

Turns out, the Grammy-winning rapper and actor (also known best for his work in the “Fast & Furious” film franchise) was already a fan of Stiller’s work and just excited to be in the room.

“I was more — I was such a Ben Stiller fan that I was more happy that he invited me personally to come watch the movie before it came out.”

“Tropic Thunder” starred Stiller, Jack Black and an Oscar-nominated Robert Downey Jr. as actors filming a big-budget war movie who get caught up in real military action. Tom Cruise is a slimy Hollywood producer who makes a memorable supporting turn towards the front of the film — but the real action happens towards the credits.

As the scene unforgettably goes, it’s Oscar night and war movie-within-a-movie is cleaning up with the Best Actor trophy going to Stiller’s Tugg Speedman. Cruise is watching the telecast from the comfort of his office when, to celebrate the win, he turns the lights down, turns the amps up and gyrates in celebration to Ludacris’ “Get Back.” Watch it here .

And watch Ludacris’ full “Hot Ones” interview in the video above.

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Tom Cruise Tells ‘Conan’ The Secrets Behind His ‘Tropic Thunder’ Character And Dance Moves

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Tom Cruise isn’t known for comedy, but he does have it on his resume. Tonight on Conan , he resurrected his Tropic Thunder  character Les Grossman’s dance moves and colorful language.

Cruise is making the rounds after a surprise appearance at Comic-Con today, but decided to focus in his Conan segment on comedy, a lesser-known aspect of his talents.

The 2008 action-comedy Tropic Thunder , directed and starring Ben Stiller , featured Cruise along with Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of actors making a Vietnam War film. The prima donnas are dropped in the middle of a jungle and have to use their acting skills to survive.

One of the memorable moments was from Cruise, who received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his efforts in the film.

Cruise told Conan that he did imitations as a kid, but relished the chance to take on the role of Grossman, a demanding studio executive who dances during the end credits to Ludacris’s “Get Back.”

Watch on Deadline

“Les Grossman is a fun character,” Cruise said, and talked about taking hip-hop classes to prepare for the role. He told Stiller that if he appeared in the film, “I’m going to dance. And I need fat hands.”

Watch the video below for more on how he stepped outside his usual acting zone.   

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Why Tom Cruise Demanded Dancing And Fat Fingers For 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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This Unexpected Cameo Is Tom Cruise’s Best Performance Ever

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To say that Tom Cruise is one of the biggest Hollywood celebrities ever to exist would either be hyperbole or an understatement, depending on the era and measurement. His career thus far has spanned three decades and is about to exit Earth’s orbit - literally . He is known for pushing the boundaries of what his body and skills can portray on film, such as the incredible stunts he regularly performs for his mega-franchise Mission Impossible, or the meticulous training he puts himself through to perfect a character . His global celebrity has restricted him to only a few chances to let his hair down and have fun for a change, but when he does the result is unforgettable. In fact, arguably his best performance ever given was just such an occasion when he played Les Grossman in 2008’s brilliant Tropic Thunder.

Undoubtedly known as a serious actor and an action star, Tom Cruise rarely puts himself in comedies of the magnitude that is Tropic Thunder . The outrageous and hilarious spoof brought out the best of Cruise’s comedic talent and teased audiences to a future movie that sadly never materialized. Tropic Thunder starred Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, and several other Hollywood celebrities like Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, and Dany McBride. Though controversial in many regards, it became a global success and one of the funniest comedies of the early 21st Century. This already perfect comedy is elevated by sneaking in Tom Cruise behind a fat suit and a bald cap!

RELATED: These Movies Are Perfect Parodies Of 80s And 90s Action

“Mm, That’s Good Satire”

Tropic Thunder operates on many layers of comedy, satire, parody, and unintentional real-life irony. First, as a comedy, it is a movie about making a fake movie that turns “real life” dangerous. Second, in satire, it skewers the bloated Hollywood organism . Third, the characters parody a range of Hollywood types like the cocaine-addled comedian, the overzealous Oscar hound, and the chiseled action star diva. Figures behind the camera are also parodied like the first-time director type, the brown noser executive assistant, and the high adrenaline power-mad Studio Executive. All these types so common to Hollywood are turned into caricatures on screen for the industry and audiences’ amusement.

A fair example of how Tropic Thunder 's once-praised satire has not exactly aged well is Robert Downey Jr.’s character. This is where it gets ironic as well. 2008 is the same year Downey starred in the first Iron Man . He was regaining his celebrity after recovering from years of addiction abuse. He was already a marquee actor from his Oscar nomination sixteen years earlier for Chaplin (1992). Most likely just for kicks, he decided to star alongside Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder as the Australian method actor and five-time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus.

Lazarus is such a serious actor that to portray the black soldier Lincoln Osiris he undergoes a skin alteration to change his own skin color black. He deepens his voice as well to play Osiris, but it is a naïve, misunderstood, offensive, yet almost innocent to the point of gross stupidity, performance. Lazarus is so “focused” and “committed” to the role that he blindly dives headfirst into blackface. Despite the fact that the movie is supposedly making fun of the idea of blackface, at the same time, it is still doing it. This is the sort of "satire" that has (thankfully) fallen out of favor with audiences.

Lazarus is so dedicated to winning another Oscar that he creates an unrestrained, horrible, racist stereotype of a character – the exact opposite of what would get him nominated for another Academy Award. The unintended irony to all of this is that in real life, Robert Downey Jr. then gets an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing Kirk Lazarus playing Lincoln Osiris in Tropic Thunder .

Tom Cruise as Les Grossman

Tropic Thunder is already an unrivaled comedy by those chops alone , but to feature a cameo from Tom Cruise in a role so debauched as Les Grossman is just unbelievably awesome. Cruise has played in comedies before, such as his brief appearance playing Austin Powers in 2002’s Goldmember but never with the same commitment and depth as Tropic Thunder. Never before or since, sadly.

Originally, Cruise was supposed to play Ben Stiller’s agent Rick Peck ( ultimately played by Matthew McConaughey ). Instead, Cruise offered up a new character of his own invention. Wearing a fat suit, a bald cap, enlarged plastic hands, and a whole lot of chest and arm hair, Cruise became Les Grossman, the Studio Executive providing the money behind the movie who is also a raging foul-mouthed ogre. The personality of Grossman and the villainous role he would play in the film was all initiated by Cruise and developed alongside Ben Stiller. This proves that on top of everything else Cruise can do on camera , he can also be an original source of enormous comedy.

Les Grossman could be considered Tom Cruise’s best performance because he essentially erases himself in the character. If one was not told that Les Grossman was played by Tom Cruise, one would have a very hard time recognizing the actor. The mannerisms, the dance moves, the look are all out of the ordinary for a superstar like him, which is why the performance is such a magnificent sight to behold. Grossman is such a unique character it highlights the talent of Tom Cruise to a new degree. The fact that he never played a role like this again is a heavy loss for the greater movie-going public.

Tropic Thunder is a brilliant high watermark for comedy. To quietly contain Tom Cruise’s best performance ranks it even higher on the scales as one of the best movies ever made. Hopefully, after Tom Cruise finishes with the Mission Impossible franchise he launches the Les Grossman Cinematic Executive Universe .

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

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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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What is the song from Tropic Thunder Tom Cruise is Player?

Ludacris - Get Back

Flo Rida - Get Low

Get Back by Ludacris is the ending song! :D

Low by Flo Rida is the name of the song from Tropic Thunder that Tom Cruise dances to.

Tom Cruise dances to Low by Flo Rida and Get Back by Ludacris

The song is Get Back by Ludacris.

Get Back by Ludacris

The Crystal Method - Name of the Game

Add your answer:

Who is the song low by that Tom Cruise sings in tropic thunder?

Flo-rida by t-pain

What is the song is tropic thunder when Ben Stiller gets shot?

it is: You're my brother

What is the beginning dramatic song of tropic thunder when Ben Stiller is getting shot?

For the love of a princess soundtrack by James horneer for brave heart i believe.

What is the name of theme song in Thunder in Paradise?

What song did tom cruise dance to in risky business.

The song Tom Cruise danced to (in a white dress shirt and tighty-whities) in the movie "Risky Business" was "Old Time Rock 'n Roll" by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Does Nelly have a song in Tropic Thunder?

http://tvmov.info/tropic-thunder Enjoy!

Is 'Tell Me Something I Don't Know' a song made by Rise Against for the movie Tropic Thunder?

There is no song by Rise Against on the soundtrack to Tropic Thunder, nor is there a song called "Tell Me Something I Don't Know." In fact, I don't believe that Rise Against has a song by that name at all.

What is the song from Tropic Thunder that plays in the opening sequence with the three helicopters?

its the name of the game

What is name of song in Tropic Thunder when Fourleaf is shot and sergeant is going to rescue him?

the name of the song is and you can only get it on the album you're my brother

What is the song in tropic thunder when the helicopter is flying in to the jungle old Vietnam movie song?

The song in the helicopter scene is called "For what its worth" by Buffalo Springfield

What is the song played in tropic thunder after the guys finished the ambush scene?

Ten Years After - "I'd Love To Change The World"

What was the 3rd song in the tropic thunder movie trailer?

I think it was the song by Enigma. If the trailer was the one with Robert Downey's character as a monk, then its Sadness pt. 1 by Enigma

What is the song called that Jennifer Lopez sang at Mtv awards?

At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, JLo and producer Les Grossman (actually Tom Cruise reprising his "Tropic Thunder" character) danced to her 2005 hit "Get Right."

When was God of Thunder - song - created?

God of Thunder - song - was created in 1976.

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