There is no denying that Tom Cruise is a legend – he performs death-defying stunts on his own with no second thoughts. As Ethan Hunt from the long-time-running movie franchise Mission: Impossible, Cruise shows the audiences what the character’s regular day looks like, from jumping off roofs to hanging by a plane!
With all the safety measures and precautions, accidents happen on movie sets, and Cruise is not an exception despite his incredible skills. In one scene from Mission: Impossible – Fallout, he accidentally broke his ankle, which required months to recover.
Tom Cruise Performed Dangerous Mission: Impossible Stunt Despite Bone Fracture
In an exclusive interview with ET Online during CinemaCon, Tom Cruise expressed his annoyance at the production mishap that occurred while filming for Mission: Impossible – Fallout:
“First of all, I was pissed, I was really angry. [My foot was out] just a split second too long, and I fractured the talus, and I knew instantly. I said, ‘It’s broken.’”
The stunt mistake caused a delay in production for nine weeks. The doctors recommended him to take nine months off for recuperation, but he was adamant to return to work despite his broken bone.
“I was nervous about it. I definitely was… but I really tried to work hard. I worked 10 hours a day on rehab, seven days a week.”
Cruise was resolute about getting the movie done on time, prioritizing his fans’ happiness over his health:
“I had all the running left [to do] in the movie, so when you look at the film, I actually have a broken foot. [But] the things I do, I do it to entertain people… I just thought, I’m going to do it no matter what. I’m going to come back, and I’ll be able to run. I gotta finish this movie, and I have release dates and audiences, and I’m going to get it done.”
Eventually, the 60-year-old Top Gun: Maverick star returned to the set and performed another unbelievable stunt – the epic helicopter scene:
“[I was thinking], ‘Don’t die. Please don’t make a mistake, don’t make a mistake.’ I’m acting in it also as we’re going through it, so I’m performing, but underneath it’s a very technical move, it’s a very risky move. The adrenaline was flowing, let me tell [you]. We were pushing the envelope, I know it.”
Tom Cruise has been doing the impossible for 27 years after the first installment came out in 1996. For almost three decades, the actor has been performing his own stunts as an act of commitment to the art of acting and filmmaking.
Tom Cruise Will Perform The Deadliest Stunt Of His Career In Mission: Impossible 7
Defined by his daredevil choreographies, Tom Cruise is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning with more out-of-this-world moves. In the film, the actor is expected to perform the most dangerous stunt of his career.
The motorbike stunt, which Cruise said they shot eight times, will see the actor ride a motorbike off a cliff, jump to a free-fall, and open a parachute in “six seconds” before he hits the ground. All precautionary measures were done to make sure he was not attached to the bike.
He told Empire what was going through in his head before he launched himself into the open air:
“If the wind was too strong, it would blow me off the ramp. The helicopter [filming the stunt] was a problem because I didn’t want to be hammering down that ramp at top speed and get hit by a stone. Or if I departed in a weird way, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the bike.”
This sounds too dangerous, but luckily, Tom Cruise was able to pull it off. Now, fans will have the chance to see this much-anticipated stunt once Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning hits theaters on July 12, 2023.
