Tom Cruise has made his position on AI in filmmaking clear: the human part still comes first. Speaking at BAFTA’s A Life in Pictures event in London, the actor said audiences continue to respond to real work, real experience and the people who spend their careers making movies.
Cruise did not pretend the technology will disappear. His point was that a new tool does not replace the reason people connect with a performance, a stunt, a set or a carefully built scene.
“There is nothing like human.”
Cruise wants the craftspeople to remain visible
Cruise spoke about the crews behind the camera, not only actors and directors. He said he does not want the industry to lose the craftspeople who build a life around production work.
That includes the people who design sets, prepare costumes, light scenes, operate cameras, create practical effects and handle the countless details that make a movie feel physical. Those jobs can disappear from the public conversation when the AI debate is reduced to software and studio budgets.
Cruise put the audience side just as simply: “People want human experience.” He also said, “People wanna see real things.” Together, the comments explain why he continues to make physical production and practical stunts a visible part of his films.
He did not call technology the enemy
The actor’s answer was not a speech against every digital tool. Modern movies already combine practical work with visual effects, computer systems and new production techniques. Cruise’s concern was what receives the attention and what the industry decides to protect.
“What you put attention on, you give life,” he told the BAFTA audience. In other words, the choices studios make now can decide which skills continue to have a future on film sets.
That distinction matters because generative AI is not only an abstract idea for Hollywood. Actors, writers, visual artists and crew members have all raised questions about consent, credit, training data and whether their work can be copied or replaced.
The comments arrived before Digger
The BAFTA event also looked across Cruise’s career and ahead to Digger, his next major film. Alejandro G. Iñárritu directs the dark comedy, with Cruise playing powerful oil baron Digger Rockwell.
Rockwell’s actions help create a global disaster. He then tries to convince the world that he is the person who can stop it. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons are part of the supporting cast.
Emmanuel Lubezki photographed Digger in VistaVision. The production detail fits the subject Cruise was discussing at BAFTA: a large group of people using old and new tools to create something together.
International theatrical releases begin September 30. Warner Bros. will release the film in North American theaters and IMAX on October 2, 2026. No streaming date has been announced.
A direct answer to the AI question
Cruise’s comments were short and easy to understand. He believes technology will keep changing, but people will still look for human decisions and real experiences inside art.
His argument is not that every effect must be practical. It is that movies lose something essential if the people making them become disposable.
The Digger movie page has the confirmed cast, release date, premise and current production details.
