Tom Cruise wearing a scuba outfit is a popular character. Yet nothing can get you ready for Tom Cruise dressed as Pumbaa. James Corden and Tom Cruise, who were cast as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively, in The Lion King at the Hollywood Pantages Theater in Los Angeles on February 23, surprised the audience with their understudy performances.
The two men sang “Hakuna Matata” and recorded it to be shown on The Last Last Late Late Show prime-time special as Corden’s final late-night performance.
At this point, Corden’s pop-up rodent musical performances are expected; Angelenos halt at crosswalks out of dread that he’ll suddenly appear in a mouse costume and hump their side mirror. But because the show permitted audience members to record it, you can watch Cruise sing and dance while wearing a warthog suit right now. This was Cruise’s musical stage debut.
Still can't believe this is real. He's definitely ready for that musical. #TomCruise #JamesCorden #LionKing pic.twitter.com/Ua60BWGzzl
— Tom Cruise News (@TCNews62) February 24, 2023
The Late Late Show with James Corden’s official Instagram account posted a photo of the two of them in costume, so you can really make out Cruise in a big warthog mohawk and cloven-hoof Tabis and chaps up close. He and Corden are probably just blissed out on the power of musical theater, but their expressions match their puppets. Captioned, “sleep paralysis demon” get thrown around a lot lately, but it really is giving “worries for the rest of your days.”
The show’s viewers got a special treat during the curtain call when Cruise removed the majority of the warthog corpse but kept the padding, emulating Sam Smith at the Brit Awards.
April 27 sees the premiere of The Last Last Late Late Show on CBS and Paramount Plus.
Sam Smith at The Brit Awards 2023.#SamSmith #TheBritAwards #BritAwards #BritAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/KiHNvAOdCl
— Humanity Bytes (@HumanityBytes) February 17, 2023