What's happening here?
Social media is in a frenzy over a scene from Mission: Impossible — Fallout which appears to show star Henry Cavill growing a beard in a matter of seconds. In the scene, Cavill, who plays August Walker in the movie, prepares to fight by throwing a few test punches, seemingly reloading his arms, and walking forward. But as he walks, Cavill's beard looks to be getting thicker with every step.
"There's a scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout @MissionFilm in which Henry Cavill has a growing in beard, then he doesn't, then he does again. In... seconds. I thought I was imagining it," April Reign tweeted Tuesday, also noting that his shirt also seems to grow a pocket during the scene.
In response, one Twitter user offered a possible explanation, writing, "He's moving from direct light into a slightly darker shadow, and the movement of his arms stretches and relaxes the shirt."
Cavill, who has seen the GIF of the scene, also recently gave an explanation for the growing beard, telling Fox32News' Jake Hamilton, "It's because I punch so hard when reloading my fists that I actually grew a beard in that moment. I made facial hair history."
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Cavill's facial hair throughout production on this Mission Impossible movie. Cavill actually grew a mustache for his role in the film, but wasn't able to shave it when it came time for extensive Justice League reshoots. As a result, Warner Bros. had to digitally remove his mustache from the scenes. Back in May, Cavill addressed his movie mustache drama in an interview with Empire.
"When we decided to go for the mustache, I certainly wasn't expecting all the events to unfold as they were going to unfold," Cavill shared. "I wasn't expecting Justice League reshoots to be as extensive as they were."
He went on to explain, "As you will see when [Mission] comes out, to have a fake mustache on would not have been a possibility."
Mission: Impossible — Fallout is in theaters now.