The Weeknd sat for his first-ever interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday night and credited Tom Cruise‘s appearance on the show back in 2015 with boosting his career.
Cruise took part in the ongoing “Lip-Sync Battle” segment of the program, performing Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” and calling the singer “enormously talented.”
“It actually helped the song,” Weeknd told Fallon. “It helped it peak to the record-breaking top, thanks to him, obviously. The biggest movie star in the world.”
The singer may actually be correct: Cruise performed the song on July 27, 2015, and “Can’t Feel My Face” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Aug. 22, 2015.
Weeknd noted that, while he’s never met the actor, “I’m a huge Tom Cruise guy. I love The Color Of Money, love Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Rain Man and Mission: Impossible.”
He continued, “He did that for me, it wasn’t a favor … so I thought that maybe, to return the favor, I thought that I’d promote Mission: Impossible.” He then donned a Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning ball cap and excitedly read a description of the film off a card.
Also during his Tonight Show appearance, Jimmy and The Weeknd surprised graduating seniors at a party at Fordham University. Jimmy was announced as the special guest, and then he brought out The Weeknd, who sang “Blinding Lights” and “Can’t Feel My Face” for the kids.
Weeknd’s appearance came as part of the promotion for his new film, Hurry Up Tomorrow.
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