The creator of the ‘creepy’ Tom Cruise deepfakes has been unveiled

One week after they took over TikTok, the identity of the person behind the ‘scary’ deepfakes of Tom Cruise has been revealed.

The Verge reported on Friday that Belgian visual effects expert Chris Ume created the videos, which have since gained millions of views on the social media platform.

Ume told the US news outlet: “You can’t do it by just pressing a button. That’s important - that’s a message I want to tell people.

“By combining traditional CGI and VFX with deepfakes, it makes it better. I make sure you don’t see any of the glitches.”

The artist also explained that he used the open-source software DeepFaceLab to pull off the digital trickery, and brought impersonator Miles Fisher on board to replicate the Mission Impossible actor’s mannerisms.

Ume has since released a YouTube video detailing the process behind the videos, showing how Cruise’s face was seamlessly edited over clips featuring Fisher.

The account currently has four deepfake videos of Cruise, with Ume saying the profile has now “fulfilled its purpose”.

“We had fun, I created awareness, I showed my skills. 

“We made people smile - and that’s it, the project is done,” he said.

Posting one of the videos to Twitter last week, user Lauren White argued that “every public figure” should have a verified TikTok account.

“Even if they don’t want to make content [they should have an account] to make it easier to identify their fakes,” she said.

It seems Cruise has since heeded her advice, with the actor now having his own TikTok profile with almost 20 thousand followers - despite not posting a single video on the platform.

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