Tom Cruise once could not stop laughing about cutting a man’s oxygen mid-flight on Late Show with David Letterman. One of Cruise's most famous talk show interviews was from May 2005, in which he jumped up on Oprah Winfrey's sofa. The actor was discussing his new romance with Katie Holmes, whom he married a year later. Throughout the appearance, Cruise stood up whenever and struck victory poses to indicate how excited he was. 

While this remains one of the wildest things Tom Cruise has ever done on a talk show, nothing beats his uncontrollable laughter and the revelation of the most dangerous prank on David Letterman’s show.

In a 1999 interview on The Late Show with David Letterman, actor Tom Cruise recounted an incident in which he cut off oxygen for a passenger while traveling to Colorado. Cruise claims that because they were flying at high altitudes, he, his co-pilot, and a passenger were wearing oxygen masks. Cruise, however, claimed that he quickly realized he lacked the oxygen necessary to remain vigilant at that altitude.

Cruise went on to say that in order to continue their journey, he and the co-pilot agreed to switch off the mask for the passenger seated at the very back. Both Cruise and the audience laughed at this. Letterman looked uncomfortable as Cruise continued to laugh uncontrollably while he described how the passenger's lack of oxygen caused him to pass out.

“Looking at it from another direction, isn’t that attempted m***********? You just turned a guy’s oxygen off. You’re lucky you’re not doing time, for the love of God,” Letterman said.

Letterman's comments did not stop Cruise from laughing. However, later, Letterman also joined in with Cruise's laughter after being reassured of the passenger's safety. Cruise later revealed on The Late Show with David Letterman that the passenger complained of his hands tingling after they landed. This particular moment more often than not manages to resurface whenever the Mission: Impossible actor is in the spotlight.

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Currently, Cruise is a part of almost every other conversation due to his upcoming venture, Digger, which is a wild swing considering his brand as an action hero.

Tom Cruise's career has been dominated by prestige dramas and blockbuster action films; thus, Digger is another infrequent and apparently his most demanding foray into dark humor. Imagine that the millionaire who may have destroyed humanity in the first place now controls its destiny. That baffling irony feeds Tom Cruise's portrayal of a Southern oil tycoon, Digger Rockwell, in the absurdist black comedy Digger by director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. 

With an ensemble cast that includes heavyweights like Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, and Emma D'Arcy, Digger is Alejandro G. Iñárritu's first English-language film since The Revenant. With lofty expectations, the movie, which is billed as a "comedy of catastrophic proportions," opens in theaters on October 2, 2026.

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Do you think Tom Cruise’s prank was a harmless joke or some life-threatening measure that could have landed him in trouble? Do let us know in the comments.