At first glance, it looks like the sort of photo you might encounter on a dating app – another male in the ‘60 and over’ category posing with his shirt unbuttoned and his stomach sucked in.

But while the ‘bedhead’ hair and ultra-casual appearance might suggest otherwise, Tom Cruise has not joined match.com or Hinge. The photo was in fact taken for the cover of GQ Magazine, shot by no less distinguished a name than photographer Mario Sorrenti.

Never mind being the cover star of GQ’s October issue: Cruise looks more like ‘Mr October’ in a charity calendar put together on a shoestring.

Dressed in a second-hand black shirt, vintage Levi’s and a £1,088 Artemas Quibble belt, the 64-year-old actor looks disconcertingly casual, as though he’s taken a mirror selfie in the bedroom rather than posing in a studio with full lighting, a stylist, as well as a hair and make-up team.

With one thumb curled provocatively under his belt loop, depending on your view, his stance is either provocative, or a giant ick.

On the cover of GQ’s October issue, Tom Cruise looks disconcertingly casual, as though he’s taken a mirror selfie in the bedroom rather than posing in a studio with full lighting, a stylist, as well as a hair and make-up team

Cruise looks more like ‘Mr October’ in a charity calendar put together on a shoestring

Given it’s the actor’s first appearance on a GQ cover in 20 years, and his most significant interview in over a decade, his look is unlikely to be an accident – and is probably a nod to his latest film, Digger. 

Cruise is widely regarded as Hollywood’s most bankable leading actor, whose films have grossed roughly £9.42billion worldwide over a 40-year career that’s seen him star in blockbuster franchises such as Top Gun and Mission Impossible as well as the Oscar-winning Rain Man.

You don’t get to the summit of Hollywood – and stay there – by failing to control every detail. To paraphrase the late Dolly Parton: It takes a lot of money to look this casual. It also takes a lot of confidence.

While Cruise is busy doing his best impression of the dressed-down dad-next-door, his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, 59, is embracing a rather more polished look. 

Appearing on the cover of American Vogue’s September issue, the Practical Magic 2 star looks glamorous but almost unrecognisable, having been airbrushed to within an inch of her life.

But that’s Hollywood. While men can grab their crotches and fully embrace the tongue-in-cheek sexuality of their 64-year-old selves, women must look for ever flawless. And ageless.

Although there does seem to be one leveller in Hollywood – and that’s the tedium of being asked about the ageing process. When the interviewer remarks that Cruise is now 64 and asks what this means for him, he curtly replies: ‘It means I’m 64.’

Pressed whether his age has changed the way he thinks, Cruise says: ‘It doesn’t at all. I see life in a different way. I see it in a way of stories. It’s something where I see possibilities. I see future…

‘I never want to be like, “You hit that peak”. There’s always a new dream.’

If his new dream is to look like Mr October, he’s succeeded. Even if the look may be more than some fans can stomach.