Tom Cruise’s unwavering dedication to stunt work has become legendary in Hollywood. Renowned for his relentless pursuit of authenticity, Cruise continuously pushes the limits of physicality and embraces calculated risks to create truly awe-inspiring moments on the silver screen. And his Mission Impossible films are no different.
Cruise has earned a stellar reputation for fearlessly tackling his own audacious stunts, regularly challenging the limits of gravity itself. Whether clinging to the payload of a helicopter or fearlessly leaping across towering skyscrapers, he fearlessly defies conventional boundaries. However, his death-defying stunt in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation could’ve made him blind.
Tom Cruise Surpassed Expectations In Mission Impossible 5
In the film Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt, finds himself gripping the side of a cargo plane in a daring attempt to gain entry. However, the plan doesn’t go as intended, and the plane begins its ascent with Hunt clinging precariously to the exterior.
To execute this heart-pounding sequence, Cruise personally convinced Airbus to provide one of their planes for the stunt. With the aircraft ascending to a height of 5,000 feet at a speed of 184 mph, Cruise wore specialized contact lenses to keep his eyes open, facing numerous risk factors that elevated the danger level of the stunt to an extraordinary degree.
In the final cut of the film, the removal of safety lines adds an extra layer of intensity to the already mind-boggling stunt, even though it’s revealed that Cruise was securely harnessed throughout. Despite the knowledge of being tethered, the stunt remains undeniably daring. Reflecting on the experience at CinemaCon, Cruise candidly admitted, “I was scared s***less” (as reported by The Hollywood Reporter).
Tom Cruise’s Stunts Scare His Co-stars
In a recent interview with Variety, Hayley Atwell provided insights into the most nerve-wracking scene she filmed for Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The scene in question involved her character, Grace, alongside Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, navigating the daunting task of climbing multiple train cars. Atwell revealed that this particular stunt sequence proved to be quite challenging.
Each train car had to be constructed and filmed separately, making the entire process a year-long endeavor. Achieving the desired sequence necessitated multiple reshoots and meticulous coordination, highlighting the dedication and precision involved in bringing this thrilling scene to life.
“I’d see on the call sheet a year later that we’re going to spend the afternoon on that vertical train carriage again and be like, ‘Oh God, no, I’m so tired from that.'”
While Atwell admittedly experienced trepidation during those sequences, she revealed that Cruise reassured her by expressing that fear was a natural emotion, even for him.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is currently running in theaters.
Source: Nicki Swift
