Tom Cruise, the actor, has become synonymous with Tom Cruise, the brand. Fans know that when they buy a ticket to see one of his films, then they’re getting a genuine action film. CGI and other effects have become the go-to way to create massive leaps and bounds in films across Hollywood, but Cruise insists on defying the limits.
Cruise has been performing his own stunts dating back to at least the year 2000 with Mission Impossible 2, according to Variety, but it didn’t become a hot topic until his 2011 filming of Ghost Protocol. An exhilarating fight scene nearly 2,700 feet high on Burj Khalifa in Dubai was more than enough to capture the attention of fans and non-fans alike.
In 2018 Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt for Mission Impossible: Fallout. He was quoted on Jimmy Fallon after Fallon asks which scene did he break it in? Cruise claims, “It was an easy one– where I’m running, and I jump from one building to the next.”
While Cruise might laugh off the dangers of his stunts, co-actor, Simon Pegg, says, “It’s terrifying.” With an appearance on Conan, Pegg was asked if he was on set for Cruise’s stunts, where he replied, “… When we watch him do it, we have no idea if he’s going to survive. So, he rides a bike off a cliff, and everybody’s just waiting…” Pegg voices his concerns for the actor in the heat of the stunt saying, “When we watch him do it, we have no idea if he’s going to survive.” as opposed to the rest of the world who knows that he’s fine because “he’s on Good Morning America that day.”
Pegg says, “He loves it. He trains and literally becomes the best.” He continues the interview by explaining that Cruise trains for many hours for these stunts, and he wouldn’t perform them without first accomplishing enough training that he is comfortable with before performing. Cruise says, “I trained a year and a half to fly a helicopter,” which was for the chase he performed in Fallout.
It seems that Cruise is never satisfied and loves to give back to the fans in only a way that Tom Cruise can, with fantastic death-defying stunts. And he’s not done yet. Cinemablend reports at least three massive stunts are rumored for the next Mission Impossible 7 film, including a motorcycle stunt, a car chase ending in a crash, and another with a train. As these may sound like average or boring stunts, you can count on Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible team to blow you away when all is said and done. A video from Cinema.Magic can be viewed here or by searching for the #MissionImpossible7 on Instagram. Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle off train tracks and parachutes into the ocean.
No worries about any pandemic halt; Cinemablend also reports that Tom Cruise has rented a massive ship for the crew to avoid any filming shutdowns.
