‘I could have impale my skull': Tom Cruise recalls death-defying Mission Impossible scene, reveals why he kept harnesses in wardrobe

Indian Express

15-05-2025

Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning made a stellar debut at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, even receiving a five-minute standing ovation. With this film, the team also said goodbye to the beloved franchise. Cruise's death-defying stunts at 62, his helicopter antics, and acrobatics born from 'decades of knowledge' of flying planes kept the audience hooked during the screening, even though the long runtime left some exhausted. Before that, the Hollywood heartthrob received the BFI Fellowship at the annual BFI Chair event and sat for a one-hour conversation, detailing every bit of his filmmaking passion that started when he was just four. Cruise spoke about how he moved from one rented house to another but kept writing his dreams in a diary. The actor also shared stories, giving us a peek behind the scenes, including a crazy moment when he almost seriously hurt himself doing a stunt.
Also read: Tom Cruise gets emotional as Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning receives five-minute standing ovation at Cannes: 'The big-screen experience is why we do it
Speaking to BFI, Cruise mentioned how he got involved with producing films, although he revealed he was more interested in how the movie was made. Mission: Impossible was the first film where he officially took a producer credit. According to the Top Gun star, the thought of producing the movie crossed his mind because he loved the original TV show's music and thought it would be cool to turn a Cold War spy series into a thrilling, action-packed film.
The 62-year-old described how he's always been a 'physical actor' and that 'he studies movement and behaviour to make his scenes real and exciting.' Recalling an incident where he nearly impaled his skull, he described a running train sequence where he was standing above it after jumping from a helicopter. The cameras were close, and there were pipes along the track. Cruise recalls, 'there's pipes, you know, the rigging pipes are out there, and I was like, guys, I'm going to go—I might impale my skull on this pipe,' and no one had thought about stuff like that because the team was still learning and experimenting as they went.
Also read: Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning advance booking: Tom Cruise's actioner expected to mint Rs 20 cr on opening day
To master the stunt, not only did Cruise learn stunt skills and work closely with the camera team to get shots from up close, which was still pretty new back then, but he actually kept harnesses in his wardrobe for practice. According to the actor, back in the time, the harnesses he wore for stunts were new technology, so the team was still figuring out how to hide them under the clothes, and he took the challenge personally and came up with the idea to do it. 'The cables were very new, and we were all experimenting and testing, and I was like, I'm going to wear this harness in the CIA room, but that's also a harness that I used under my wardrobe. So I was developing how do we handle the wardrobe,' he said. During the interview, Cruise also gave a shoutout to his creative team, including Christopher McCoy and editor Eddie Hamilton, for turning his dream project into a phenomenal success.
The new Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning just premiered at Cannes and hits theatres on May 23.