Tom Cruise's 'chaotic' way of eating popcorn is reminding everyone of the same thing

Tom Cruise, star of the Mission: Impossible and Top Gun franchises, renowned stuntman, and reported all-round legend has aged remarkably well. When you head to the cinema to check out Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, try to wrap your head around the fact the dude is 62 years old.

Despite having presumably happened upon the Holy Grail or the Philosopher’s Stone at some point in his illustrious career, he hasn’t been immune to reminding people of their dads.

There’s one thing he does that’s drawn a particularly high rate of ‘he’s just like my dad!’ comments online: the way he eats popcorn.

Considering his reputation for playing incredibly precise action heroes capable of flying fighter jets and clinging to them for dear life at 10,000 feet, you’d think he’d have a more efficient popcorn-eating style.

Speaking of that stunt, it was featured in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Cruise’s co-star, Simon Pegg, said of it at the time: “That was the first time I'd seen him nervous.

“There were a lot of variables involved in that stunt...a lot of things that could have gone wrong. Everything is managed to the micro detail. You know, the stunt team is amazing. Tom is obviously incredibly dedicated to making sure he's ready.”

But when it comes to popcorn... well, just look for yourself:

To add onto the Tom/popcorn lore: I need y’all to realize THIS is how he eats popcorn pic.twitter.com/TZ9UT3xcxb

— Seif 🇵🇸 (@seifwtf) May 19, 2025

Reaching into the pot, grabbing one or two popped kernels, swinging a downstroke then flinging his hand back up for a semi-violent mouth entry… at least it looks like he’s having fun with it.

It turns out it’s not so uncommon an approach, with social media users all saying it reminds them of the same thing – or person – in their own lives.

“This is how my dad eats popcorn,” shared one X user whose dad sounds like a cool dude.

“This is literally how every old dude/uncle/dad eats popcorn, “ said another. “My dad eats popcorn exactly like that.”

“My father eats popcorn like that,” shared yet another X user, and they were joined by one more for your viewing pleasure:

“This seems odd to y'all? It's exactly how my dad eats popcorn too.”

It’s not quite a universal dad characteristic, however: “I’ve never seen another human being eat popcorn like Tom Cruise,” said one X user.

“Why is it so chaotic?” asked another.

Why indeed. As far as the potential ravages of time go, adopting the dad method of eating popcorn is a pretty minor one for a guy looking that fresh at 62.