There are barely, if any, stunts Tom Cruise won’t do — and go to great lengths for.
The Top Gun actor proves as much in his latest installment of Mission Impossible, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, long rumored to be the eighth and final movie in the franchise, 30 years after the first one premiered.
And though he is certainly a master of his craft, that’s not to say certain stunts haven’t pushed him too far.
© GettyWade Eastwood, Tom’s longtime stunt coordinator and second unit director recently told The Times of London that a particular stunt while filming the latest MI movie, one which involved Tom walking on the wing of a small biplane mid-air, left him so drained he had to be carried off of the aircraft.
“The audience will never really appreciate how dangerous that plane chase is,” he first noted, adding: “I have to do what I can to eliminate as much risk as possible, but there is still a lot of risk.”
“It beat the hell out of him. The wind hitting him, and the blast of the propeller, particles hitting him,” he then shared. “It was the hardest workout you could ever do, it was very dangerous and very exhausting for him.”
“Many times we were carrying him off the wing because he was so tired. And he was flying all day,” he revealed.
In addition to several stunts in the air, Tom and the Mission Impossible franchise have also become known for their underwater stunts. Recalling another one in the latest film, in which Tom wore a diving suit that weighed more than 125 pounds, Wade said: “It was absolutely hectic and chaotic underwater.”
© Getty Images“We rehearsed as much as we could, but it’s like having an animal on set: they always react slightly differently, no matter how much you rehearse, and filming underwater was the same,” he further shared.
Still, Wade added: “Tom doesn’t show fear, Tom shows competence,” and maintained: “He had fun during all his stunts, even when it was exhausting. He’s always positive, he’ll always put on a smile, and he genuinely enjoys it.”
© GettyPlus, addressing Tom’s age, 62, and his recent comments saying he’ll be acting and doing stunts into his 100s, Wade insisted there’s “no chance” age gets in the way of whatever stunt Tom sets his mind to. “He’s a machine … He acts like a 20-year-old. And there’s no magic there, it’s just hard work and discipline with his food, nutrition and training,” he said.
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is out in theaters now, and also stars Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Tramell Tillman, Hannah Waddingham, and Ving Rhames, among others.
