“He’s Gone Beyond Extraordinary”: Two-Time National Award Winner Preetisheel Singh D’Souza on Kazu Hiro’s Work on Tom Cruise in Digger

Releases only in Cinemas on October 2, 2026. Also in IMAX

Tom Cruise’s striking transformation into oil tycoon Digger Rockwell has been one of the biggest talking points around Digger, with the actor appearing almost unrecognisable beneath the prosthetics created by four-time Academy Award-winning makeup and prosthetics designer Kazu Hiro. While the finished look may appear effortless on-screen, creating a believable prosthetic character on one of the world’s most recognisable faces requires extraordinary precision, artistry and restraint. Award-winning Indian professional makeup, hair & prosthetic artist, and character designer Preetisheel Singh D’Souza, whose work has shaped some of Indian cinema’s most memorable characters across films including Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Pushpa, Jawan, Dhurandhar and Chhaava, knows that process better than most. With two National Film Awards to her credit, including one for Nanak Shah Fakir and another for Gangubai Kathiawadi, Preetisheel brings the perspective of a fellow prosthetic artist to Hiro’s work on Digger, highlighting the intricate detail and restraint behind Cruise’s appearance.

Speaking about what makes Cruise’s look in Digger so remarkable, Preetisheel said, “When you look at Tom Cruise in Digger, that’s a major transformation. Yet so believable, and that to me is the ultimate sign of a great prosthetic transformation. You know, as a prosthetic artist myself, I know how incredibly difficult it is to take one of the most recognizable faces in the world and transform it while making it look , very realistic. What Kazu Hiro has done over here is nothing short of extraordinary. “

She further elaborated on the details that make Hiro’s work stand out, highlighting how the smallest elements of Cruise’s appearance contribute to the overall character design. Preetisheel said, “He hasn’t simply made Tom Cruise look older or changed the shape of his face. He’s completely completely reimagined his character. You know, through subtle changes in facial volume, skin textures, contours, hairline, and aging, and believe me, every single element feels incredibly incredibly considered. And what I really appreciate is the restraint. The prosthetic is not announcing itself. It just disappears into the transformation.”

Speaking about the technical precision required to make such a prosthetic work seamlessly on screen, she further added, “ I know how challenging it is to make silicone move convincingly with an actor’s face, especially through all the expressions and dialogues and close-ups. And when I look at this work, it is purely seamless, and how beautifully it is integrated is where I see the real craftsmanship is. Kazu Hiro has again proved himself. You know he’s gone beyond extraordinary. You know his work is, I’m a huge fan, and his work is impeccable. And honestly, this is what a great character design is all about.”

While Preetisheel’s perspective highlights the artistry visible in the finished result, Cruise has also spoken about the extensive process behind achieving the look. For the actor, the challenge was not only wearing the prosthetics but finding a way to work efficiently within the demands of a major production, ensuring that the time spent in makeup did not come at the expense of time on set. Speaking about the process in an interview, Cruise said, “When we started out, this, the makeup was six hours. And I was like, okay, there’s 24hours in the day. It’s two hours to take it off, six hours; that’s eight hours, that leaves me, you know, 16 hours. Now, I want to, the way that I look at it is going, I want everyone- the director to have every shot he can and have as much information in the editing room for us to play.”

Speaking about how he approached the challenge of reducing the time spent in makeup, Cruise explained how he developed a detailed system to make the process more efficient without compromising the look. He said, “So I’m going, and I’m going, okay, I have to be able to do this faster. So I designed a whole thing on how I could get it down, not changing the makeup, but I had a whole board. It was like Swiss watch and everything else to be able to get, I said, look, we’re going to get it down to an hour, not just because I want it down an hour. I’m thinking of, I want as much time on set. I’m thinking of the crew.”

He further added, “You have to understand all of those resources. You understand how much money, the big swing that this film is, how important it is, how much fun it is for me as an actor to be able to work with everyone. I’m also thinking about how do I help the studio? How do I deliver something and this bullseye, that they’re trusting us to do it, not just for us and for them, but also forfuture generations. For me, it’s like, I want you to be able to make this kind of movie. I want you to be able to understand how to do this, and for us to have these opportunities and for these films to be made. So how do we educate this new film-going audience that are very hungry for this kind of stuff? They want to know how movies are made and how it’s made practically and the artistry of this, the kind of artists that we bring in and educate. The only way you know how to do it is by doing it.”

Cruise stars in the title role alongside Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons. Robert John Burke, Emma D’Arcy, Burn Gorman and Sophie Wilde also star.

Iñárritu directed from a screenplay by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Oscar winners Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, from a story by Iñárritu and Berman. The film is produced by Iñárritu, Oscar nominee Mary Parent, Tom Cruise and Michael Sharp, and executive produced by Joshua Grode, Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, Jez Butterworth and Emmanuel Lubezki.

Joining Iñárritu behind the camera are previous collaborators including Oscar-winning director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki; editors Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirrione; Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West; Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi; and Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler; alongside Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner and production designer Richard Johnson, Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro, and composer Cosmo Sheldrake.

An Alejandro G. Iñárritu Film, Digger was shot entirely in VistaVision and will be released in Cinemas and IMAX® across India on 2nd October 2026. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.