Tom Cruise, Jimmy Fallon get all Maverick-and-Goose in 'Tonight Show' lip-sync battle - Los Angeles Times
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Tom Cruise, Jimmy Fallon get all Maverick-and-Goose in ‘Tonight Show’ lip-sync battle

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Tom Cruise can’t feel his face, but he loves it.

The “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” star joined Jimmy Fallon for a lip-sync battle on Monday’s “Tonight Show,” performing the Weeknd’s song of the summer, “Can’t Feel My Face,” and Meatloaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”

The movie star giggled his way through a spirited rendition of the R&B hit, posed for the various camera cuts, raked his hands through his hair and pivoted for the finale.

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Incidentally, the Weeknd released his song’s official music video on Tuesday, and there was no Tom Cruise to be found.

The action star capitalized on his 1980s heartthrob status, teasing the screaming audience with a few bars of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll,” played by the Roots. Cruise slid into position with “Risky Business” swagger before assuring a dumbfounded Fallon that he would not re-create the film’s iconic dress shirt-and-socks dance routine.

“That wouldn’t be fair, would it?” Cruise asked, taking off his coat as the song continued. “No, that wouldn’t be fair. So look, instead I’m going back to high school, the parking lot on Friday night. The Jersey girls would sing all the lyrics and the guys would just sit there and sweat, hearts pounding. This is for all those Jersey girls and those hot summer nights.”

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The 53-year-old then proceeded to do what Fallon called “a one-man duet” of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”

Fallon, who rocked along with the Rolling Stones’ “Under Cover of the Night,” brought it home with the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” a nod to Cruise’s “Top Gun.” But the actor didn’t let the host steal the spotlight for long: He jumped in for a Maverick-and-Goose-style duet dedicated to a lucky (or mortified?) woman in the studio audience.

During the interview, Cruise described how he did his own stunts in the upcoming film, particularly the number of takes — and opportunities for injury — it took to capture the airplane takeoff scene, and how he held his breath underwater for six minutes at a time for another scene.

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“I do it because it’s entertaining to you all,” Cruise said. “I want to entertain you!”

He could just keep singing songs by the Weeknd, though ....

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

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