Playing with death
After more than four decades of (pretty much) uninterrupted success, Tom Cruise is probably one of the biggest stars in all of Hollywood.
No stuntmen
His knowledge of the industry, his charisma, his smile, his talent, and his flair for scripts have made him a Hollywood legend. But, all these qualities seem to fade into the background if you compare them to his commitment in action scenes.
The Russian roulette of filming
Tom Cruise mixes being methodical and a perfectionist to the risk of doing his own action scenes. Obviously, watching his movies, it isn’t surprising to know that he has risked his own safety hundreds of times. In fact, he has at times risked his entire life – and he has been on the verge of losing it on several occasions.
Top Gun (1986)
In the crucial scene where Goose (Anthony Edwards) dies, he is in the water next to Maverick (Tom Cruise), after they both ejected from their planes. When both actors were in the sea, Tom Cruise’s parachute began to fill up and suck him under the water.
Top Gun (1986)
Tom Cruise’s history in Hollywood could have been short-lived if a diver had not noticed what was happening and saved his life, freeing him from the deadly parachute.
Days of Thunder (1990)
Tom Cruise took on the role of NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, learning how to drive NASCAR cars but skipping the main rule: no right turns.
Days of Thunder (1990)
Huy Sticklin, NASCAR driver and consultant on the film, told USA Today that Tom Cruise was warned not to turn right, only left. He didn’t listen and had a serious accident from which, luckily, he escaped unharmed but took a $100,000 camera with him. That’s $100,000 in 1990 dollars.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
In the first installment of the well-known franchise, there is a scene in which Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) blows up a giant aquarium inside a restaurant. Obviously, the actor did not want a double to replace him.
Mission: Impossible (1996)
However, it was impossible to predict the direction of the glass when the fish tank exploded, which could have caused serious damage. But it was also difficult to predict that about a thousand of liters of water could have drowned the actor. In the end, Tom Cruise only injured his ankle, as the actor himself revealed at the presentation of the film in Los Angeles.
The Last Samurai (2003)
Millimeters separated Tom Cruise from death in Edward Zwick’s film. A mechanical malfunction almost cost the actor his head.
The Last Samurai (2003)
Tom Cruise was rehearsing one of the fight scenes with Hiroyuki Sanada, a martial arts expert. Both were on mechanical horses but one of these horses did not respond as it should and hit Tom Cruise, who came within a hair’s breadth of Sanada’s sword blade. Luckily, it was just a scare.
Photo: Warner Bros.
Collateral (2004)
Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) was supposed to do a stunt with his cab but instead of doing that, he stepped on the gas and drove straight into Vincent’s (Tom Cruise) Mercedes, knocking his partner’s car off the set.
Photo: Dreamworks
Collateral (2004)
Jamie Foxx himself told ‘Today’ and took the blame. He remembered that everyone went to check on Tom Cruise before he did, which gave him an idea of who the star was. By the way, both were unharmed.
Photo: Dreamworks
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Again, a car.
And, once again, a co-star almost killed Tom Cruise. The sweet and talented Emily Blunt confirmed to Conan O’Brien what everyone already knew: “I almost killed Tom Cruise”.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
It was in a scene in which Emily Blunt is driving a vehicle – fast, of course, for the movie. Tom Cruise began to tell her in a low voice to slow down, just as long until he ended up screaming. But to no avail: they crashed into a tree. Nothing serious, just another day at the Cruise office!
Photo: Warner Bros.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
On average, a normal person can hold their breath for 30 seconds underwater. Tom Cruise trained himself to reach 6 minutes so he could last longer in underwater scenes.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
The problem was that Tom Cruise fainted on several occasions during that training. Without the right people around him, this could have been fatal.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
There is a scene in which Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) runs after August Walker (Henry Cavill), crossing the roofs of several buildings. In a jump from one building to another, Tom Cruise misjudged the distance and broke his ankle, as he recounted on ‘The Graham Norton Show’.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
“I knew instantly that my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again, so I got up and went on with the take.” Yes, he shot the take with a broken ankle and, when he was done, they went off to the hospital. Ethan Hunt in real life.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
In the same movie, Tom Cruise hung from the 130th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, with the wind pushing him against the building several times. In another moment, this could have been fatal. Luckily, the actor remains alive and well and moves on to deliver success after success.
