Tom Cruise Revives 'Risky Business' Dance for Jennifer Hudson's Spirit Tunnel

Tom Cruise slid back into his "Risky Business" persona — black Ray-Ban sunglasses included — for his long-awaited walk down "The Jennifer Hudson Show's" Spirit Tunnel.

The clip, posted to social media on Tuesday, shows Cruise stepping out of his dressing room into the hallway of Warner Bros.' Studio 1, where the show's staff, also wearing black sunglasses, sings a customized riff on "Old Time Rock & Roll." The song is the same Bob Seger track Cruise famously lip-synced to in his underwear and shades in the 1983 film that made him a star.

The producers rewrote the lyrics for the occasion. "We've got Tom Cruise at the Happy Place. He's in the tunnel walking to the stage," the crew sings. "He's a legend everybody knows. We've got that Tom Cruise rock and roll."

Cruise committed immediately. He pulled out his own pair of black sunglasses, danced along and drew staffers in to join him. Some of his hand claps landed off-beat, but he proved as game for the bit as he is for doing his own stunts in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.

The appearance is Cruise's latest stop on the press tour for "Digger," directed by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu. The Warner Bros. film opens in theaters Friday.

Jennifer Hudson booked the movie star as a guest during a chance meeting this summer at the World Cup final, she revealed in her Variety Power of Women cover story. "I was like, 'Tom, could you imagine your Spirit Tunnel? What do you think they're going to sing for you?'" Hudson said.

Cruise knew exactly what he had agreed to. "I watch the show, Jennifer," he told her. "I watch everything. I watched you on 'American Idol.'"

For the uninitiated: the Spirit Tunnel is a pre-show segment in which Hudson's staff lines a hallway and sings a bespoke song to welcome each celebrity guest to the stage.

"Digger" presents a different kind of test for the actor. He plays Digger Rockwell, a Texas oil tycoon whose company may have triggered an ecological disaster that could also spark a nuclear war. The role required Cruise to transform with prosthetics — including a fat suit and thinning white hair — and a put-on Southern accent. The absurdist satire also demanded his full acting range, and the result reads as a theatrical showcase built to return Cruise to the competitive Oscar race for the first time in decades.

"I have never had something that could challenge me in this way, and neither has Alejandro," Cruise said of the black comedy.

The studio has taken an unusual promotional approach for the film. Reviews have run wide-ranging, including Variety's, so Warner Bros. has gone on offense with a new ad that features both positive and negative reactions, inviting moviegoers to "decide for yourself."

Cruise's full interview with Hudson airs Wednesday. Until then, the Spirit Tunnel performance stands as the appetizer — and a reminder that, four decades on, the "Risky Business" dance still opens doors.