Riz Ahmed reflects on upcoming Tom Cruise film shrouded in mystery

Amid the secrecy surrounding Tom Cruise’s upcoming cinematic vehicle with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Riz Ahmed has reflected on his experience from the set of the film titled Digger.

As one of the many actors among the film’s cast, Ahmed spilled the beans on what it was like working with the longtime Mission: Impossible star, as well as the exceptional skills brought to the set by others.

“Honestly, there’s nothing like that experience I've ever had before, just because of how motivated, focused, hardworking, and inspiring Tom Cruise is on set,” he told Collider during his latest appearance at the Sundance Film Festival.

“The energy he has and the positivity is crazy. It's like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Further reflecting on his director’s work, the British actor continued, “Then Alejandro, the attention to detail, the vision, the ambition of it, as well, every day is just like, ‘Wow, this is kind of nuts.’”

He also praised the film’s cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, saying that he “was doing things that were so different and unique.”

While sharing “a small example” about Lubezki’s talent, the Venom star narrated: “I’ll give you a small example, and maybe more and more cinematographers are doing this, it might be interesting for the camera team out here, but a lot of the time people use blacks or white reflective material to help amplify lighting or cut off lighting. He uses grays, and he doesn’t just have one kind of gray. He has, like, 16 or 10 different shades of gray that he puts up to reflect and create different nuances.”

“Just the level of craft and attention to detail is crazy. It just makes you want to bring your best to the table,” he added. “It’s inspiring. It’s intense, though. It’s definitely very intense.”

Riz Ahmed joins celebrated actors like Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Emma D’Arcy, and more in a cast led by Tom Cruise.

Digger, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, is scheduled to be released on October 2 this year.