Tom Cruise is a living legend in Hollywood, who is immensely popular around the world for his acting prowess, success at the box office, and performing death-defying action scenes without any worry in the world. Over his decade-long career, the actor has performed several action sequences in movies like Top Gun, Jack Reacher, The Mummy, Edge of Tomorrow, and his most famous Mission Impossible franchise, where he has done several stunts which have made the audience sit at the edge of their seats.
No matter risky the stunt is Tom Cruise prefers doing all his stunts by himself as it brings more realism to the movies, also he tends to enjoy doing it. However, his co-stars do not prefer it and share how Cruise performing a death-defying stunt for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, made Simon Pegg worry for his co-star and made him stand in awe of the Risky Business actor.
Tom Cruise’s Viral Stunt Made Simon Pegg Feel Agitated
Having been a part of the Mission Impossible franchise since the third sequel, Simon Pegg has been reprising the role of Benji Dunn. Recently, the actor shared his opinion on Tom Cruise’s viral stunt for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, where he was seen jumping off a cliff while riding a motorcycle. While talking to Entertainment Weekly, Pegg shared how Cruise’s stunt gave him a “nail-biting experience,” and how it sounds amazing, when they were talking about this stunt.
“All the cast that were in Norway at the time, we all went up there together. It was a genuinely nail-biting experience.”
“Obviously, you hear the idea, and you get an idea of what it is in your head. But it wasn’t until I got up there on the mountain that I realized just how death-defyingly awesome the whole thing was.
The viral stunt took place in Norway’s Helsetkopen mountain on Sep. 6, 2020. The Hot Fuzz actor shared that even though Cruise had well-prepared for his stunt, the gap between his jump and his first message “felt like an eternity,” as the franchise could have lost their “lead man.” But what made the stunt all the more amazing was that Tom Cruise delivered a dialogue in the midst of his career-defying stunt.
“That gap between his vanishing behind the rock to that radio message felt like an eternity. We could be facing losing our leading man. It was genuinely a fear. But, my god, it was exciting.”
“When we see the stunt in the trailers, all we see is Tom go off and go down. Tom delivers a line in free fall. I mean, who’s ever done that? Who’s ever BASE-jumped and acted at the same time? Nobody.”
While jumping off a clip seemed relatively easy, the iconic cable scene from the first installment proved to be the most difficult stunt for the actor in the entire franchise.
The Iconic Cable Scene Felt Like A Lifetime To Tom Cruise
The first installment of Mission Impossible was a massive hit, the action-spy movie started the franchise with a massive hit collecting $450 million worldwide at the box office, with a puny budget of $80 million. The movie became a fan favorite, featuring many iconic scenes which include the cable drop scene, where Cruise was just a few inches away from the floor.
However, the scene soon turned into a nightmare for the actor as he kept hitting his face on the floor. But he did not give up and came up with a unique solution that stopped him from hitting his face.
“I remember we were running out of time and I went down to the floor and I kept hitting my face and the take didn’t work. I put the pound coins in and I hung on the cable to see if I was level. And I had to make it. Brian [De Palma] was like, ‘One more and I’m going to cut into it,’ and I said, ‘I can do it.’ I was holding it, holding, holding it, holding it, and I’m sweating, and I’m sweating, and he just keeps rolling.”
Even though the solution worked, the scene was quite excruciating for Tom Cruise, and after hearing “Cut!” from the director, he gave a sigh of relief.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One will release in theatres on 10th July 2023.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
