Tom Cruise truly knew no bounds with the death-defying stunts for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”
Cruise already opened up about achieving the most dangerous stunt of his career: riding a motorcycle off a cliff and narrowly escaping a potentially fatal end. Now, in a new behind-the-scenes featurette for the upcoming Paramount film, Cruise shares how he learned how to speed-fly.
“It’s a very beautiful and delicate sport,” Cruise said of the intense sport he spent years training for. “We’re gonna do spirals, and we’re landing at an incredibly high speed, over 80 kilometers an hour.”
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” director Christopher McQuarrie noted that speed-flying is “one of the most dangerous sports in the world.” While visually similar to paragliding, speed-flying occurs closer to cliffs to achieve more acceleration; however, there is also a higher probability of crashing.
“While it may look similar, speed-flying is not skydiving,” McQuarrie said. “Skydiving is fairly predictable. Speed-flying is very unpredictable. Behind the scenes, we were all in absolute terror.”
McQuarrie added, “With Tom, there are no limits.”
Lead star Cruise admitted earlier this year that with his motorcycle stunt, he was worried it was “not going to end well” if he didn’t pull the parachute in time.
“I had about six seconds once I departed the ramp to pull the chute and I don’t want to get tangled in the bike,” Cruise said. “If I do, that’s not going to end well.”
The “Eyes Wide Shut” actor previously shared that his favorite element of filmmaking is the practical stunts.
“I am a very physical actor and I love doing them. I study and train and take a lot of time figuring it all out,” Cruise said in 2021. “I have broken a lot of bones! The first time of any stunt is nerve-wracking, but it’s also exhilarating. I have been told a few times during shooting a stunt to stop smiling.”
With a burgeoning stunt category rumored to be recognized by the Academy Awards, it seems like Cruise’s chances of an Oscar just might prove to be true.
“Dead Reckoning Part One” opens July 12 from Paramount Pictures.
