I mean, he could’ve just gone with “Maverick,” but whatevs…

PublishedNovember 13, 2025 5:20 PM EST•UpdatedNovember 13, 2025 5:01 PM EST

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Nothing lets other people know that you’re tight with a celebrity like calling them by their nickname.

Like, whenever someone calls Robert De Niro, “Bob,” you know he pretends to remember who they are when they run into each other at an event.

But here’s the thing, everyone knows that nickname of De Niro’s. Imagine being so in with a celebrity that you get to call them by a nickname normies like you and me don’t even know they have.

Well, it turns out that Tom Cruise has a nickname, and his old Top Gun: Maverick buddy, Glen Powell, is spilling it.

READ: GLEN POWELL OVERCAME A HARROWING CHILDHOOD KETCHUP INCIDENT TO LAUNCH HIS OWN CONDIMENT BRAND

Powell is starring in the remake of The Running Man, and in an interview with IndieWire, he was asked about a previous interview in which he talked about getting advice from Cruise about running at night.

Apparently, that’s different from running during the day. Who knew?

But in that interview, Powell referred to Cruise as “TC,” something the IndieWire interviewer — like most people on the planet — said they’d never heard before.

“Oh, really? Everybody in his life calls him that,” Powell said.

They do?!

Actor Glen Powell (left) poses with his buddy, Tom “TC” Cruise. (Getty Images)

I can’t even picture that.

“Hey, nice job on that stunt, TC. Couldn’t even tell you shattered your ankle!”

“Congrats on the box office success of Mission Impossible 9, TC!”

“Hey, TC, why do you eat popcorn like that?“

But, apparently, that’s how it is.

“He’s TC,” Powell continued. “I’ll call him Cruise, TC. But yeah, TC is how most people refer to him.”

So, they needed a nickname for Tom Cruise, but what a missed opportunity not calling him “Maverick.” Maybe that’d be a bit corny, but it’s such a great nickname on its own merit.

But Glen Powell would know. He and TC are buds and have been through a lot, from Top Gun: Maverick to COVID.

“I got to see him the other night. It’s so wild the journey he and I have kind of been on together. From starting the journey of “Top Gun” and riding that wave through COVID, and figuring out what the theatrical landscape would look like on the other side of it. How he’s continually shown up for me in my life as a friend and a mentor — and really, just looking out for me.”

That sounds like TC.

What a guy, that TC.