Latest news with #SCUBA
Los Angeles Times
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Vehicle loses control on Pacific Coast Highway, drives into waters near Bolsa Chica Conservancy
Huntington Beach police's rapid deployment unit was called to the wetlands near the Bolsa Chica Conservancy early Thursday, where a vehicle was submerged under water after driving off Pacific Coast Highway, officials reported. The crash happened shortly before 6 a.m., when a vehicle traveling northbound on the highway, just south of Warner Avenue, lost control and careened into the wetlands, Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jessica Cuchilla said. The driver, an unnamed man, was able to exit the vehicle as a marine safety specialist equipped with SCUBA gear conducted an underwater clearance to ensure no additional occupants were trapped inside the vehicle. It was determined the driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle. He sustained no injuries from the crash, and impairment does not appear to have been a factor in the incident, Cuchilla said Thursday. The vehicle, the make and model of which were not immediately reported by responding officers working the night shift, was successfully removed from the waters. The 1,445-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve, one of the largest and last remaining coastal wetlands in California, is home to more than 1,000 documented species of wildlife and is stewarded by the nonprofit conservancy, which offers classes, exhibits, displays and tours in the Interpretive Center located near the scene of Thursday's incident.
Express Tribune
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Man behind the madness
When it comes to stunt work in Hollywood, no one quite compares to Tom Cruise. The 62 year-old icon, who's been leaping from buildings and hanging off airplanes as superspy Ethan Hunt since 1996, is once again pushing the limits in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, out May 23. But in a rare and candid interview with PEOPLE, Cruise pulls back the curtain on the sheer intensity behind those jaw-dropping scenes, and how he unwinds when the cameras stop rolling. "If it was easy, I guess we wouldn't want to do it," Cruise says simply, summing up the daredevil ethos that has fueled the Mission: Impossible franchise for nearly three decades. "We want the audience to feel the stakes. And that means I've got to actually do it." Cruise's latest feat is climbing along the wings of a 1940s-era biplane soaring over South Africa's Drakensberg mountains, an aerial stunt he's dreamed of since childhood. "I remember watching those old wing-walking reels from the 1930s," Cruise says. "They were slow, almost theatrical. I thought: What if we did that but at modern speeds, with modern cameras, and no wires?" Modern speeds, indeed. "Those aircraft were only going 40 or 50 miles an hour. This one was going over 120. Going out there, I was realising, it takes your breath away. Literally." Director Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise's longtime collaborator, adds: "Tom rehearsed that stunt for months. He practiced on a mock-up wing in wind tunnels, then graduated to actual flights. He's relentless." Zero green screen For Cruise, realism is non-negotiable. "We don't cheat the audience," he says. "When you see me on a wing, or hanging off a cliff, or under water; it's all happening. No green screens. No CGI crutches." Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood echoes that commitment. "Everyone assumes there's some safety trick. But every single frame was done practically. If Tom's flying a plane, he's the one flying it. If he's underwater, he's holding his breath." So how does one prepare to dangle from a cliff or walk on a wing in high-speed air? "I eat a massive breakfast," Cruise reveals with a grin. "We're talking sausage, almost a dozen eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, fluids. When you're flying at high altitude, your body burns through calories like crazy." He adds that stunt days often start as early as three in the morning "We're losing light, we're chasing wind conditions; it's like a ballet, but with a thousand moving parts and no margin for error." Underwater mayhem Not all the danger happens in the air. One of Final Reckoning's most harrowing sequences was filmed in a specially built 40,000-gallon water tank rigged to rotate 360 degrees, mimicking the interior of a capsizing submarine. "We called it 'the washing machine,'" Cruise says. "Everything in the scene, including me, gets turned upside down, over and over." To keep his face fully visible on camera, the star opted for a minimalist SCUBA mask and breathed in his own CO?. "It's about the connection," he explains. "A full-face mask would've created a barrier between Ethan and the audience. I wanted people to see the fear in his eyes." His training as a jet pilot helped. "When you fly jets, you learn to monitor oxygen levels, deal with hypoxia, and control your breathing. That awareness saved me more than once during the underwater shoots." Despite his high-octane film life, Cruise finds peace in quiet creative pursuits. He's always learning new skills, whether or not they make it into a movie. "I will learn a skill, and I know eventually I'm going to use it in a film," he says. "It might not be today or tomorrow, but it becomes part of the toolbox." He enjoys piano, "I wouldn't say 'play.' I enjoy hitting the keys I find it relaxing," and is currently studying contemporary dance. "It's an emotional language. Teachers understand how movement creates feeling. That helps me as an actor." He even practices mime. "There's something about controlling every part of your body; it makes you more precise on camera." Saying goodbye to Ethan Hunt? Now in his eighth outing as Ethan Hunt, The Final Reckoning may mark the end of an era. But Cruise doesn't seem nostalgic, just deeply grateful. "I love making movies. It's not what I do. It's who I am," he says. "And I'm still learning. Still growing." Asked if he'll miss Ethan Hunt, Cruise smiles. "I'll miss the team. I'll miss the rhythm of it. But we've told the story we wanted to tell." Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning premieres May 23 and will debut at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Greg Tarzan Davis, Hannah Waddingham, Nick Offerman, and Angela Bassett. If this really is Cruise's final mission, he's ending it with a bang and a perfectly executed dive, sprint, or sky-high somersault.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tom Cruise spills secret to preparing for death-defying aerial stunts
Tom Cruise always eats a 'massive breakfast' before doing any daredevil stunts. The 62-year-old Hollywood legend famously hanged off a military plane in the opening scene of 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation', and has done numerous jaw-dropping aerial sequences in the film series where he plays Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt. Cruise has now revealed that he has to be fuelled with energy before he does his stunts and he'll eat "almost a dozen" eggs with bacon and sausages and down several cups of coffee before the cameras start rolling. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine's 'Mission: Impossible' issue, he said: "I actually eat a massive breakfast 'The amount of energy it takes - I train so hard for that wing-walking. "I'll eat, like, sausage and almost a dozen eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and fluids. "Oh, I'm eating! Picture: It's cold up there. We're at high altitude. My body is burning a lot.' Despite Tom dubbing the opening stunt to the 2015 flick as one of the least-safe stunts, his late mom Mary Pfeiffer is glad she did not know about it before she saw the footage. She said: "Oh, honey, I'm so glad you didn't fill me in on that one beforehand." In the eighth instalment of the critically acclaimed series, 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' - which is released in May - the 'Top Gun' icon experienced what it was like to spin inside a washing machine as the crew built a tank to shoot a submarine interior that tilted and spun 360 degrees. Tom - who was wearing a SCUBA mark - breathed in his own carbon dioxide but he did not need to worry as the pilot had trained for carbon dioxide build-up for when he earned his wings in 1994. The Oscar-nominated actor explained: 'You're not going to feel as connected with the character if I went with a regular mask and a thing in my mouth to breathe. 'Luckily when you're flying jets you train for hypoxia and for carbon dioxide build-up. You start to be able to perceive your body and how it's reacting so that I knew when to stop.' Cruise - who was inspired to do stunts after seeing footage of wing-walkers as a child - has said he "loves" making the movies, even if it does mean dicing with death. He said: 'I love making movies. It's not what I do. It's who I am.'
Metro
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Tom Cruise breathed in his own carbon dioxide filming terrifying stunt
Tom Cruise has detailed his latest death-defying stunt undertaken for the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible film. The action spy franchise is based on the 1966 TV series of the same name and star Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Mission Force who is faced with stopping enemy forces and stopping global disasters. The first – Mission: Impossible – was released in 1966 and has since been followed by six more. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth movie, will be released this month. Over the years Tom, 62, has undertaken countless spine-tingling stunts, including scaling the Burj Khalifa, diving without an oxygen tank and hanging onto the side of an airborne plane. However, he's now spoken about what might be one of the most dangerous stunts he's ever performed. In the latest movie, a huge water tank was built to film a submarine interior. The tank was able to tilt and rotate 360 degrees, however it tumbled Tom and everything inside it like a front-loading washer. But to feature the actor's unobstructed face in a SCUBA mask, Tom breathed his own carbon dioxide. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning cliff jump The last Mission: Impossible film Dead Reckoning, which was released in 2023, saw Tom stare death in face when driving himself off a cliff on a motorbike as part of a wild stunt. It was described as 'the biggest stunt in cinema history'. Mission: Impossible – Fallout – the broken ankle While filming Mission: Impossible – Fallout Tom jumped across several high-rise buildings but during one filming sequence, he slammed into a wall and broke his ankle. Although he 'instantly' knew it was broken, Tom later revealed he didn't want to do the take again so 'just got up and carried on' before going to hospital. Breaking his ribs in Mission: Impossible III One of the defining sequences of Mission: Impossible 3 is the bridge attack when fighter jets bomb the Chesapeake Bay Bridge while Ethan Hunt is on it. In one shot he is pushed into the side of a car on the bridge, a stunt that left Tom with two broken ribs. 'You're not going to feel as connected with the character if I went with a regular mask and a thing in my mouth to breathe,' he told People. 'Luckily when you're flying jets you train for hypoxia and for carbon dioxide buildup. 'You start to be able to perceive your body and how it's reacting so that I knew when to stop.' Although director Christopher McQuarrie admitted 'if we knew what it took to do it, we would not have done it', Tom said he was up for the challenge. 'On Mission, if it was easy, I guess we wouldn't want to do it,' he added. Doing this stunt put Tom at risk of hypercapnia, which is when you have too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in your blood. According to the Cleveland Clinic hypercapnia, also called hypercarbia, is when you have too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in your blood. Your body creates CO2 when your cells make energy. Your red blood cells carry it from your organs and tissues to your lungs, where you breathe it out. If your body can't get rid of carbon dioxide, a waste product, it can build up in your blood. Hypercapnia can be chronic (long-lasting) and cause symptoms like shortness of breath (dyspnea) and daytime tiredness or fatigue. It can also be acute (sudden or all at once), with much more serious symptoms. Acute hypercapnia is a medical emergency and can cause neurological (brain) symptoms like confusion, disorientation and paranoia. If your body can't get rid of carbon dioxide, a waste product, it can build up in your blood and cause symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue, as well as more serious issues. In Final Reckoning, Ethan also hangs from and crawls along the wings of a 1940s-era biplane flying above South Africa's Drakensberg mountain range. Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood told People while 'everyone will think we did some on green screen on the ground…I guarantee there was not one single shot that was not on a plane flying for real.' In 2021 stuntman Greg Powell spoke about how Tom was 'an exception to the rule' while he would otherwise discourage actors from trying to take on too many intense stunts, due to the risks it poses to them and the delays that it could cause to production if they get injured,. More Trending 'The thing is, if he wasn't an actor, he'd be a very good stuntman,' he told Metro. 'He can actually do it. He's very safe, he knows what he can do and what he can't do. You're there watching him doing it. Tom's a very sensible guy – and he can do more than most. 'He is an exception to the rule because there's not too many Hollywood actors as big as him, worth as much money as him, who want to be hanging off the side of a plane or the building in Dubai – let someone else do it! But he gives the audience what they want – Tom Cruise.' Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will be released in cinemas on May 23. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Sheryl Crow reveals terrifying break-in after rallying against Elon Musk's Tesla MORE: Gossip about Sydney Sweeney and her co-stars is sexist MORE: Creepiest horror trailer in years leaves fans 'struggling to sleep'
Perth Now
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Tom Cruise spills secret to preparing for death-defying aerial stunts
Tom Cruise always eats a 'massive breakfast' before doing any daredevil stunts. The 62-year-old Hollywood legend famously hanged off a military plane in the opening scene of 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation', and has done numerous jaw-dropping aerial sequences in the film series where he plays Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt. Cruise has now revealed that he has to be fuelled with energy before he does his stunts and he'll eat "almost a dozen" eggs with bacon and sausages and down several cups of coffee before the cameras start rolling. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine's 'Mission: Impossible' issue, he said: "I actually eat a massive breakfast 'The amount of energy it takes - I train so hard for that wing-walking. "I'll eat, like, sausage and almost a dozen eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and fluids. "Oh, I'm eating! Picture: It's cold up there. We're at high altitude. My body is burning a lot.' Despite Tom dubbing the opening stunt to the 2015 flick as one of the least-safe stunts, his late mom Mary Pfeiffer is glad she did not know about it before she saw the footage. She said: "Oh, honey, I'm so glad you didn't fill me in on that one beforehand." In the eighth instalment of the critically acclaimed series, 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' - which is released in May - the 'Top Gun' icon experienced what it was like to spin inside a washing machine as the crew built a tank to shoot a submarine interior that tilted and spun 360 degrees. Tom - who was wearing a SCUBA mark - breathed in his own carbon dioxide but he did not need to worry as the pilot had trained for carbon dioxide build-up for when he earned his wings in 1994. The Oscar-nominated actor explained: 'You're not going to feel as connected with the character if I went with a regular mask and a thing in my mouth to breathe. 'Luckily when you're flying jets you train for hypoxia and for carbon dioxide build-up. You start to be able to perceive your body and how it's reacting so that I knew when to stop.' Cruise - who was inspired to do stunts after seeing footage of wing-walkers as a child - has said he "loves" making the movies, even if it does mean dicing with death. He said: 'I love making movies. It's not what I do. It's who I am.'
