tom cruise real plane stunt

Simple Flying

How tom cruise held onto the side of a flying airbus a400m.

The actor is known for his love of high-octane stunts.

US actor Tom Cruise is known for starring in the action-packed Mission: Impossible film series. These movies often feature a range of daring stunts, with Cruise well known for performing these thrilling sequences himself rather than relying on the use of a body double. One of these saw him hang onto the side of an Airbus A400M in flight, but how was this done? Let's take a look and find out.

What is the Airbus A400M?

It is a scene in the fifth Mission: Impossible film, known as Rogue Nation , that involves an Airbus A400M 'Atlas.' This four-engine military transporter first flew in December 2009, before entering service with the French Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Force) in 2013. According to its website, Airbus has produced 116 A400Ms from 178 orders (including prototypes).

The A400M is a versatile transport aircraft capable of landing on runways comprising all different kinds of surfaces, including gravel and sand. The German Luftwaffe is the largest operator of the A400M, which ranks between two of its fellow transporters, the Lockheed C-130 'Hercules' and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster in terms of size. For more on the aircraft, see our guide to the A400M .

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The Mission Impossible movie scene

In order to get an idea of the task at hand, let's start by taking a look at the finished version of the scene in question. The incredible sight of Cruise hanging off the aircraft surely had many viewers questioning just how such a shot could be filmed without a green screen.

Keeping Cruise safe

Film and aviation are two very similar industries when it comes to their focus on safety. As such, when the two worlds collided to film this scene, there were plenty of procedures in place to keep safety levels high. The film's Director of Photography, Robert Elswit, explained to The Hollywood Reporter that Cruise was securely fastened to the plane while filing the daring stunt. Specifically, he states:

" Tom was in a full-body harness, and he’s cabled and wired to the plane through [its] door. Inside the aircraft was an aluminum truss that was carefully bolted to the plane, which held the wires that went through the door, which held Tom ."

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You can also see at the end of the clip below that Cruise removes special contact lenses from his eyes after shooting the scene. Additionally, Elswit also noted that " if anything hit him at those speeds it could be really bad. They were very careful about cleaning the runway so there were no rocks ."

A limited window

What made the scene even more impressive was the limited amount of time that the team involved had in which to pull it off. Overall, there were just 48 hours at their disposal to perfect the shot using F-WWMZ, one of five A400M testbeds. According to ATDB.aero, it later bore registration EC-406. Today, ch-aviation.com shows that it remains in the hands of Airbus under the registration A4M006.

During this period, the aircraft took off with Cruise attached eight times before the team got the sequence that they wanted. The filming took place at RAF Wittering, where, at times, the plane was 5,000 feet above the ground. Elswit adds:

" They go up, get altitude, make a complete circuit, and land. I think it’s up in the air for about 6-8 minutes before it lands again. It had to be at least 1,000 ft. up ."

The final task was to digitally remove the harnesses from the shot. This gave the impression that Cruise was holding on to the plane with nothing more than his bare hands. Even with the harness, the daring stunt was one that no doubt even got experienced stuntman Cruise's blood pumping even more than those watching!

Carrying on with Top Gun

Of course, this was not Cruise's first or last move with aircraft feats and stunts. He is perhaps even better known for Top Gun in 1986. This went further with the sequel Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, which really demonstrates his love of aircraft. This sees Cruise fly in several different aircraft, including his own P-51 Mustang aircraft.

This saw Cruise, and other actors, flying in the F-18. For this, they undertook an intensive training program , with flying moving from Cessna 172 aircraft right up to fast jets. This was undoubtedly a success and makes the movie extremely realistic. Speaking to Simple Flying about the program, Kevin LaRosa Jr , he film’s aerial coordinator , explained:

“When I would watch the footage it would literally look like they were flying… In a way they were seasoned pilots from going through this training program. They knew where to look, how to talk. Without that training, I don’t think the footage in the movie would look like it looks today... I think that training was the right thing to do, and we all see it when we watch the movie.”

What do you make of Tom Cruise's A400M antics, or his flying in Top Gun? Do you know of any other similarly thrilling plane-related movie stunts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Sources: Airbus , ATDB.aero , ch-aviation.com , The Hollywood Reporter

How Tom Cruise Did That Insane Plane Stunt For Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

The first full trailer for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation ends with quite a bang, and a stunt that easily rivals the Burj Khalifa sequence in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol . The sight of Ethan Hunt hanging on to the side of taking-off airplane is an unbelievable one to behold - and it's only made more impressive when you remember that Tom Cruise actually performed the real stunt himself. But how did this stunt actually get done? The star and director Christopher McQuarrie have revealed all in a recent interview.

Timed with the release of the new trailer, Yahoo! UK has posted an extended interview they did with both Cruise and McQuarrie, in which the two men discuss the details behind what looks to be Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 's biggest spectacle sequence. Apparently the idea of riding on the side of a plane is something that the actor has been thinking about doing for a while, and he describes it as "undoubtedly the most dangerous thing [he's] ever done." He and his Mission: Impossible 5 director knew that they needed to top what Ghost Protocol brought to the table, and it was McQuarrie who ultimately brought the idea to the table for the blockbuster. The filmmaker explained,

While searching for different locations, the production designer James Bissell bought me a model of this Airbus airplane and presented it as something we could use in the movie. I suggested to Tom, ‘What if you were on the outside of this thing when it took off?' I meant it as sort of a half joke, but he said back to me, ‘Yeah I could do that!’

From there it was all about figuring out a way to attach a camera to the side of the airplane that would A) get an appropriate angle on the shot, and B) not detach during take-off and smash into Tom Cruise. The actor met with not just a test pilot, but the guys who created the A400m Airbus, and made sure that everything was doable and safe.

You can watch the incredible stunt performed at the end of the trailer embedded below:

So what was the biggest fear in this situation? While many of you might guess that it would be Cruise losing his grip and falling, apparently that wasn't the case. Instead, the larger concern during shooting was bird strikes and random debris flying through the air. As Cruise told the site,

I remember one time we were going down the runway and there was just a little particle that just hit me, it was smaller than a finger nail. I was thankful it didn’t hit my hands or face, if it did I’d have a problem because those parts were exposed, but it still could have broken my ribs!

Perhaps the most impressive part of all this is that the airplane ride won't be Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 's only breathtaking sequence. In the interview, Christopher McQuarrie teases that this death-defying stunt is actually one of two "incredibly physically punishing things" that he had Tom Cruise do for the movie, and that the other one is merely teased in the above trailer. I'm sure when we see the finished film it will stand out from the pack and we'll recognize exactly which stunt the director is being alluded to (I'm personally hoping it's the dive into the sand vortex).

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation will be in theaters on July 31st.

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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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The Film Bandit

Behind tom cruise’s insane ‘rogue nation’ airplane stunt.

Tom Cruise , known for executing his own stunts, once again pushed boundaries in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation , the fifth mission for Ethan Hunt. In an era when green screen and CGI dominates cinema, Cruise’s decision to perform the heart-stopping airplane stunt was admirable. Let’s dive deeper into the famous Tom Cruise airplane stunt and how it was shot and check out the crazy behind the scenes footage below:

From Top Gun to Rogue Nation

Many recall the days of Top Gun , where Cruise made a name for himself flying the skies in a fighter jet. However, it was in Rogue Nation that he defied gravity. While the Mission Impossible movies are known for its stunts, this particular stunt took things to a whole new level.

Behind the Scenes of the Tom Cruise Plane Stunt

For this particular scene, Cruise clung to the side of a massive Airbus as it took off. You might assume this was shot using a green screen, but in reality, it was Cruise himself attached to the wing at take-off.

The film’s director Christopher McQuarrie , made sure every safety measure was in place. Under the watchful eye of a stunt coordinator and an experienced crew, Tom was secured with a full-body harness. This safety harness was concealed beneath his attire, ensuring the intensity of the moment was captured by the filmmakers without any visual distractions.

Tom Cruise behind the scenes of Rogue Nation.

A specialized aluminum truss was also constructed to securely hold the camera. And to protect the actor’s eyes from the rushing wind and debris, special contact lenses were made.

But why would an actor risk so much when a green screen might suffice? The answer is, it’s Tom Cruise. When the clip was unveiled at CinemaCon , the audience was left speechless.

Comparing Rogue Nation to Past Mission Impossible Films

The airplane scene in Rogue Nation wasn’t the first time Cruise attempted a death-defying stunt. In Ghost Protocol , he scaled the Burj Khalifa , the tallest building in Dubai. This was yet another insane sequence. No wires, no CGI – just a dangling Cruise, 130 floors high. See the terrifying behind the scenes footage of the Burj Khalifa stunt here .

Tidbits from the Cast

Simon Pegg , a regular in the Mission Impossible franchise, expressed his amazement at Cruise’s dedication. Rebecca Ferguson , Ving Rhames , and Hayley Atwell also shared behind-the-scenes video clips on their social media platforms. Fans eagerly awaited the release of Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which hit theaters in July, wondering if Cruise would attempt to top the airplane and Dubai stunts.

Beyond Rogue Nation

Apart from Rogue Nation , Tom Cruise piloted his own biplane during the shooting of a PSA in April , while flying over Blyde River Canyon in South Africa.

From Top Gun to Rogue Nation , Cruise signifies the golden age of cinema, where real stunts beat digital effects. As audiences are once again hitting theaters for Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning , one thing remains clear: Cruise’s commitment to authenticity remains unmatched.

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AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Tom cruise hangs on to a flying airbus (really) in the next mission impossible.

He wore a safety harness, but that’s really him on a real aircraft, 5,000 feet off the real ground.

This is not what we usually mean by “flying standby.”

The recently-unveiled trailer for the summertime action extravaganza Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation builds to a shot of what is presumably the movie’s blue-chip stunt: Star (and producer) Tom Cruise hot-foots his way across the wing of a taxiing Airbus A400M, then grabs hold of the military airlifter and holds on for dear life as it takes off and climbs, the ground beneath him falling away like taillights in a rearview mirror.

As with the prior instances of gravity-defiance in the five-film-deep, 19-year-old franchise—most notably, a stroll up the side of the world’s tallest building in 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol —the aircraft-hang is no greenscreen-enabled illusion. It’s a genuine feat of (meticulously planned and rehearsed) derring-do by Cruise, now 52 years old but determined to maintain his much-publicized habit of keeping stunt doubles in the unemployment line.

In an interview with Yahoo! Movies last week, Cruise and Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie discussed the genesis and execution of the set piece, which was shot at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England, last November. Preparation involved the creation of a special frame to mount a camera under the wing of the airlifter and withstand wind resistance, as well as a pair of full-eyeball contact lenses for Cruise so that he could open his eyes while the aircraft was in flight. As the actor told Yahoo! Movies :

The things we were all very concerned about were particles on the runway and bird strikes. We spent days clearing out the nearby grass of any birds, and they brushed the runway as best they could. My stunt coordinator would poke me if he got reports of bird strikes. The pilot had to be on the lookout for anything in the air that could impact me in any way. I also was testing how to keep my eyes open so you have a shot—I can’t have my eyes closed the entire time. The thing that no one else was thinking about, but I was, was the fuel. You have jet fuel coming right out of the back at me because I’m on the wing above the engine. Even when we were taxiing, I was also inhaling the fumes and they were going in my eyes.

Because the script called for Cruise’s character to wear a tailored gray suit, there was no protection from the cold at 5,000 feet. He performed the stunt eight times before he and McQuarrie were satisfied they had enough footage to create a thrilling action sequence.

The movie’s first poster features an image of the airplane-hang in progress. When it was unveiled, I wondered why a military cargo airplane would have a suspiciously-handhold-sized lattice on its side. The piece of equipment Cruise is holding onto, prominently visible in this Daily Mail photo gallery , is a “deployable baffle,” intended to give paratroops an instant to get clear of the massive aircraft when jumping before they’re caught in the Jetstream. Airbus’ website notes the A400M—a four-engine turboprop design that had its first flight in 2009—can be configured to carry up to 116 paratroops. Dispersing that many soldiers quickly would likely necessitate the use of the cargo ramp as well as the spoiler-protected paratroop doors on either side of the fuselage.

While the stunt represents Cruise’s first flight, or eight flights, on the outside of an aircraft, he’s held a pilot’s license since 1994, according to Forbes contributor Matthew Stibbe. The star’s personal fleet includes a World War II-era P-51 Mustang. No pilot license is required for PC users to download Airbus ’ A400M — The Game . I’m using a Mac, so I can’t tell you whether or not the game includes a level where you must try to shake off an unusually determined secret agent who’s fixed himself to the side of your airplane.

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How Tom Cruise and Miles Teller pulled off those insane, high-flying stunts in Top Gun: Maverick

By Jack King

Image may contain Helmet Clothing Apparel Human Person Crash Helmet Nature and Outdoors

According to the aviation website Aerocorner , in today's money, a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet — the fighter jet du jour used by the U.S. Navy since 1995 — costs the American government $67.4 million. That isn't a bulk deal, folks: it's per plane. It should come as no surprise to anyone with a sliver of critical thought, then, that Tom Cruise , Miles Teller and Co. didn't actually pilot the vehicles we see in Top Gun: Maverick .

“But it looks real!” Yeah, it does. That's movie magic, baby.

Nevertheless, Tom Cruise knew from experience on the first Top Gun just how physically taxing the face-melting forces of extreme flight can be: on his debut test run, rocketing up to double the speed of launching astronauts, he hurled inside his oxygen mask. While they might not have actually hit the throttle and handled the joysticks, Cruise did insist that they actually go up into the air, albeit as passengers, not pilots.

Ergo, he put the ensemble of Top Gun candidates through an intensive training course in the run-up to production. Going from smaller prop planes to, eventually, actual F-18s — loaned to the filmmakers by the Department of Defence for a measly $11,000 an hour — they learned not to fly the things, but how best to mitigate the ill effects of jet flight. In part, this was a three-month boot camp to avoid air sickness en masse.

But it worked: “There was never a time on Top Gun: Maverick where we had to delay or stop filming because somebody felt sick,” says Kevin LaRosa II, the movie's aerial stunt coordinator. Sitting down with LaRosa for just under an hour, we got all the goss from the making of the Top Gun sequel.

The first rule of Top Gun: Maverick ? It had to be real, even when it couldn't be

"We had what I like to call rules on Top Gun: Maverick as far as aerials were concerned. And the first and foremost rule, it all had to be real. However: not every aircraft we used in the movie is readily available in the United States, or they're not flyable here, and we show their aircraft flying.

“So here's the other rule: there has to be an aircraft in front of the lens, but a subject [stand-in] aircraft could be used — like another F-18. And then visual effects comes in, they tweak or retexture it to look like a different aircraft. [See: the ambiguously-defined ”fifth-generation jets" the equally nebulous bad guys fly.]

“But the beauty of that is the audience should know that there really is an aircraft out there — the vapour's going to be real, the flight dynamics are going to be real, it's simply a digital reskin of a real fighter. When it came to VFX plane shots? Always a real aircraft.”

And yes, that includes the cast actually being inside the cockpit

"Our cast had to be in the aircraft for every shot. So when they're delivering those epic performances, they are really in there pulling those Gs. Production went to great lengths to design that in-cockpit IMAX camera set up so those actors could be in there, doing that.

"This was a process that was built in and heavily driven by Tom Cruise. They had me build the training programme: we started them in Cessna 172s — my father and I were actually the first cast flight instructors — and those little single-engine aeroplanes are entry-level aircraft that anyone would learn to fly.

"This gave the actors spatial orientation, and an understanding of what flying was all about, where to look where, where to move their hands, what all of the gauges do, the basic things. How to turn, land, takeoff.

"We graduated from there to an aircraft called the Extra 300. Their new instructor there was Chuck Coleman, a great friend of mine — again, this is all being heavily monitored by Tom Cruise every day, every step of the way. [Cruise earned his pilot license in the mid ‘90s.]

"This is the aircraft the general public would’ve seen in Red Bull Air Races or other stunt shows. It's a single-engine, piston-driven aeroplane that's extremely manoeuvrable and capable of pulling a lot of Gs. This part was to build up their G tolerance.

"From there, we moved on to the L-39 Albatross, a Czechoslovakian fighter trainer jet imported to the US — it's readily available, very manoeuvrable, very fun. And this was for the cast to learn how to pull heavy Gs. By the time they graduated from this one, and got into the F-18s, they were seasoned pros.

“This process lasted for three months, all in parts of Southern and Central California. That's why even for a guy like me, who can watch something and pick it apart, I watched Top Gun: Maverick and it looks like they're real naval aviators.”

Before Top Gun: Maverick , the technology to shoot it didn't exist

"The Cinejet platform is something that I dreamt up: I needed a camera platform that would match the story quality of Top Gun: Maverick , something that'd really let us get in there, into the dogfights and canyon runs, really put the audience through a thrill ride.

"I was struggling to find the right platform and, again, I landed on the L-39 Albatros. I put a picture of a camera gimbal over the nose of the jet — in an old programme called Microsoft Paint — and said, you know what, that's it. We had to work with the manufacturers to make it a reality but, a year later, the L-39 Cinejet was a real thing.

"Previous jet-based platforms worked with partially stabilised camera technology, meaning that if I'm flying that aircraft, and I rock my wings at all, it could disturb the shot. It was a lot harder for the aerial director of photography, or the camera operators sitting in the back of the jet — they'd have to stabilise my movements, which is very difficult to do.

“With the Cinejet, the gimbal is fully stabilised. It doesn't matter what I do while I'm flying, that thing's gonna be rock steady. Now you can get very aggressive, really get the camera in there so we're shoving the audience in the face of these afterburners.”

In the cockpit, the actors became their own directors, make-up artists and cameramen

"We were working with F/A-18 F Models, which are two-seat F-18s — basically a pilot up front, and typically a weapon system operator in the back seat. They look very, very similar. So we'd have forward-facing cameras over the shoulder of actual naval aviators in the front seat at the controls, and four rear-facing cameras [facing the cast] in the back.

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"For the exterior sequences — say when we see Tom flying an F-18, we're enhancing that F-18 with CGI to change it from a two-seat to a single seat. The beauty is that really is a shot of Tom in the back seat of that F-18, so he is there, being piloted by a genuine naval aviator.

"The cast would have an hour and a half to two hours in the morning, and another period in the afternoon, but typically no more than four hours a day. But that's a lot of flying. When you're pulling those days and doing the type of manoeuvres that we were doing, that's a lot.

“Obviously everything in the cockpit needs to be stowed away. They would unzip their flight suit, pull out whatever they need to do their own hair and makeup — you know, spray their face if they needed extra sweat, make sure their mask was centred, their googles were clean.

“Once that was all done they'd stow all that stuff, hit the big red button and start rolling the camera. This is where they became like a [director of photography]: they'd tell their pilots, 'Hey, I need the sun back here at five o'clock, I need a thirty-degree right bank, and I'm gonna hit these lines!'

"Remember, in a jet, you're moving really fast, you're covering a lot of terrain — it's not like you can just get the perfect background and leave it there, you have to hit it, say your line, and come all the way back to get [another take]. By the time we'd get to the debrief, we'd sit there and watch maybe ten takes, and two would be perfect.

“So it's a lot of work — not just sitting there taking a joy ride!”

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Screen Rant

Top gun 2: tom cruise's near-impossible aerial stunt explained.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explains the dangerous and near-impossible aerial stunt Tom Cruise performed in the long-awaited sequel.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explains Tom Cruise's dangerous and near-impossible aerial stunt in the long-awaited aviation sequel. More so than any of this year's releases, Top Gun: Maverick has gone through an incredibly long and difficult journey to finally get to the big screen. The movie was originally scheduled to be released in July 2019, but was first delayed to give Kosinski and his production team more time to choreograph and shoot Top Gun 2's stunts and complex dogfight sequences. After that, Maverick suffered a multitude of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the long-awaited sequel to Tony Scott's 1986 classic Top Gun is finally hitting theaters this Memorial Day weekend. In addition to seeing Cruise reprise his iconic role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell alongside a star-studded cast that includes Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Ed Harris, one of Top Gun 2 's biggest draws is its high-flying action. Many of the film's aerial sequences were filmed practically without the use of CGI, which has become a defining aspect of Cruise's tentpoles.

Related: Does Tom Cruise Fly The Plane In Top Gun 2?

During an interview with ComicBook.com , Kosinski talks about one near-impossible aerial stunt from the film that he wasn't sure Cruise could pull off. The scene occurs about mid-way through the movie and sees Maverick " run the low-level course by himself ." The Top Gun 2 director says they had to get special permission from the Navy to film the sequence, which required Cruise to fly below 50 feet at a whopping 600 miles-per-hour, a feat Kosinski doesn't think will ever be done in a movie again. Read his full explanation below:

There's a sequence in the middle of the film where Maverick runs the low level course by himself. For that sequence we got special permission from the Navy to fly under 50 ft at about 600 miles per hour. So that's one of those things that I don't think will ever be done again.

One doesn't have to be an aviation expert to understand how dangerous flying a fighter jet at such a low altitude can be. Generally, aircraft are never flown lower than 500 feet above ground level, even in rural areas, and low-flying military training usually doesn't require pilots to go below 100 feet. The fact that the US Navy permitted Cruise to fly so absurdly close to the ground is a wonder in and of itself, let alone the fact he pulled it off flawlessly.

This near-impossible aerial stunt can be added to the long list of death-defying feats Cruise has performed throughout his career. While it seems at this point like Cruise enjoys attempting various unprecedented stunts merely for his own enjoyment, his commitment to realism does absolutely benefit his movies. Top Gun: Maverick reviews have been praising the film as a pulse-pounding thrill ride, which audiences will be able to experience themselves on May 27.

Next: Tom Cruise’s Reason For Doing His Own Stunts Makes Top Gun 2 Better

Source: ComicBook.com

Key Release Dates

Top gun: maverick.

Watch Tom Cruise Hang Outside a Plane in Insane MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5 Video

Raw video proves that this is one of Cruise's craziest stunts ever.

By now we’re all familiar with the fact that, whenever possible, Tom Cruise does his own stunts. Your script calls for the character to run around outside the tallest building in the world? Tom Cruise will do it (though that one almost didn’t happen ). For Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation , Cruise takes on one of his biggest stunt challenges yet: standing out on the outside of a plane while it takes off. The plane doesn’t just go fast down the runway and then stop—it literally takes off into the air, with Tom Cruise, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise , hanging outside on the wing.

We’ve been inundated with so many CG-enhanced stunt and set pieces recently that it’s become hard to be really “wowed” by something, but with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation , Paramount Pictures wants everyone to know that this is the real deal. As such, they’ve released a brief featurette that includes raw video of Cruise performing the stunt, and it’s insane. When someone like Tom Cruise admits that this stunt had him “scared shitless,” you know it’s a little intense.

And this is only one piece of the film! For another stunt, Cruise learned how to hold his breath for six minutes so director Christopher McQuarrie could shoot an underwater sequence in one take. I can’t wait to see this movie.

Watch the stunt video below. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opens in theaters on July 31st and also stars Rebecca Ferguson , Simon Pegg , Ving Rhames , Jeremy Renner , Alec Baldwin , and Sean Harris .

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Yes, That Really Was Tom Cruise Hanging From an Airplane

Paramount UK tweeted this is indeed one of the biggest movies stars in the world hanging off a plane

We weren’t positive yesterday, but Paramount UK has confirmed that the crazy guy hanging off an airplane was indeed Tom Cruise. Performing one of his signature stunts for the fifth Mission: Impossible film, Cruise was suspended 5,000 feet in the air from an Airbus A400M — while wearing a tailored suit and wingtips, naturally. Newly released photos from September show the actor hanging from a dual safety harness on the door of the military plane, which was flown over the British countryside with the movie star attached.

Cruise’s Ethan Hunt dangles from the tallest building in the world for Ghost Protocol

This was a risky stunt even for Cruise, who free-climbed the cliffs of Dead Horse Point, Utah for Mission: Impossible 2 and dangled from the world’s tallest building , the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, while shooting Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. Basically, Cruise has used his role as super-spy Ethan Hunt as an excuse to indulge his inner daredevil. “I’m always thinking of different stunts,” Cruise said in 2010 . “I look at buildings and think, how could I climb it? How could I jump out?… When I was a little kid, I used to go up on a roof and jump off the roof into the snow and do flips and stuff, and now I get to do it in movies.” Jumping into the snow, hanging from an airborne plane — it’s all the same when you’re Tom Cruise. We’ll get to see his outdoor airplane ride next December when Mission: Impossible 5 hits theaters.

Photo credit: @FAMEFLYNET PICTURES, Paramount Pictures

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Tom Cruise reveals how the amazing flight stunts in Top Gun: Maverick were shot

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Tom Cruise reveals how the amazing flight stunts in Top Gun: Maverick were shot

Top Gun : Maverick is a ‘barrier-breaking sequel’ whose real-life jet-flying scenes will, ahem, ‘take your breath away’, according to rave reviews. But just how real is real?

Fans had demanded a sequel to the 1986 classic for decades but star Tom Cruise had held off until the studio could meet his non-negotiable requirement.

‘If I’m ever going to entertain this, we’re shooting everything practically,’ Cruise told them. ‘I’m in that F/A-18 [jet], period. So we’re going to have to develop camera rigs. There’s going to be wind tunnels and engineering. It’s going to take a long, long time for me to figure it out.’

Then came the small matter of convincing the US Navy to let them shoot a film live in $67.4 million military jets. Initially the Navy was resistant – couldn’t the studio just use CGI special effects like everyone else?

But Cruise was determined. Every time you see an actor in an aeroplane in Top Gun: Maverick, there is an actor in an aeroplane.

2J280C8 RELEASE DATE: June 26, 2020 TITLE: Top Gun: Maverick STUDIO: Paramount Pictures DIRECTOR: Joseph Kosinski PLOT: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. STARRING: MONICA BARBARO and TOM CRUISE on the set. (Credit Image: ? Paramount Pictures/Entertainment Pictures)

The only visual effects used were for manoeuvres involving safety considerations.

‘There will be speculation that, “well, there was no way an actor was in that airplane at 50ft inverted, going over the ridge at 580mph at seven Gs.” But there was!’ confirms the US Navy’s technical adviser for the film, Captain Brian Ferguson.

That was fine for Cruise, an experienced pilot who flies warbirds for fun (the vintage silver Red Tail plane Cruise flies with Jennifer Connelly in the movie is actually his), but he then had to enlist and train his young cast to fly planes.

Tom Cruise on the set of Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

‘You had to sign a paper basically saying you weren’t afraid to fly,’ Danny Ramirez, who plays new character Fanboy, said. ‘And I was like “Well, I’m definitely terrified of being in the air, but I can’t pass this up.”’

‘I wouldn’t let an actor walk my dog, let alone fly a plane,’ Miles Teller, who plays the son of Top Gun character Goose, has joked. ‘Everybody thought it would be impossible and that’s what drove it.’

Cruise created an intense five-month aviation programme for his cast, complete with daily targets. Each evening they had to record their progress so Cruise could adjust their training.

2J8WWE2 TOP GUN: MAVERICK, (aka TOP GUN 2), director Joseph Kosinski (left, gray sweatshirt), Jay Ellis (left of center), Tom Cruise (hand on chin), Glen Powell (front right), on set, 2022. ph: Scott Garfield /? Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

‘I read every form, every night,’ Cruise has attested.

It was all necessary. The cast had to withstand extreme G-force without throwing up or blacking out. The G-force distortion of the actors’ faces is unfaked.

More than that, they were required to act under those conditions, with no margin for error.

The US Navy was keen to collaborate – after all, the original Top Gun boosted recruitment by 500% in the year after the movie’s release.

But it’s not like Hollywood had them at their beck and call. Time in the air was limited and if they looked through the rushes and realised the lighting or make-up wasn’t right or the actors fluffed lines, it’s not like popping back up to do reshoots was an option.

Each flight demanded hours of briefing. Ground-to-air units shot simultaneously and there were days where 27 cameras were constantly deployed to ensure full coverage.

So where to go from here? With Cruise collaborating with Elon Musk and Nasa on a movie that will be shot in space, the only way is up, up, up.

Top Gun: Maverick is out in cinemas on Friday.

MORE : Top Gun: Maverick cast praise sequel’s ‘awesome’ diversity: ‘It was great to see folks who look like you’

MORE : Tom Cruise opens up on powerful reunion with Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick after going head-to-head with Iceman in original film

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Tom Cruise Performs Harrowing Airplane Stunt On ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Set

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Tom Cruise continues his quest to be America’s most death-defying stuntman in a leaked promotional video that shows him harnessed to an airplane hurtling toward earth.

The video was used to introduce “ Top Gun: Maverick ” at CinemaCon in April, then was shared online last weekend, according to EW .

“Hey everyone!” Cruise yells in the video . “Wish I could be there with you. I’m sorry about the extra noise. As you can see, we’re filming the latest installment of Mission: Impossible right now. And right now we’re over the gorgeous Blyde River Canyon in stunning South Africa.”

Cruise adds he was “making this film for the big screen” before “Maverick” writer Christopher McQuarrie appears alongside him in a separate biplane. McQuarrie directed the last two “Mission: Impossible” films and is helming the next two: “Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Part Two.”

“Hi everybody,” McQuarrie says from the passenger seat. “Listen, I hate to interrupt but we really gotta roll, we are losing the light.”

The video shows Cruise standing up and urging viewers to have “a great summer” before the two biplanes veer off and screech toward earth.

The sweat-inducing footage was posted on social media by several people over the weekend, including Stephen Ford, an actor and director.

I just really love Tom Cruise okay pic.twitter.com/DTDk5erIsR — Stephen Ford (@StephenSeanFord) September 5, 2022

“Maverick” was Cruise’s biggest success and marked his first $100 million opening weekend ever . It surpassed $700 million at the domestic box office last weekend to become the fifth-highest grossing film in U.S. history, according to The Wrap .

The new aerial video starkly contrasts with a more grounded one filmed by Cruise and McQuarrie in 2018, in which the duo urge people to reconfigure their TVs to turn off motion smoothing .

As for Cruise’s relentless mission to one-up himself with every stunt, his costar Simon Pegg said he was both impressed and concerned.

“There are no stunt doubles for him,” Pegg told SoHo House in June . “There’s a frisson you get when there’s authenticity: the idea that this guy is actually jumping off a cliff on a motorbike and deploying the parachute 100 feet from the ground? It puts the willies up you.”

“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” hits theaters on July 14, 2023.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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How did they complete the scene?

Tom Cruise: “Once I was on the side of the airplane that was it. We had a loading station where everyone got in and checked the cameras. Then they wire we me up for sound. Then I’m on. There’s no way to get me off the airplane half way through!

“I’m on the side of the plane from the moment the engine starts to the moment the engine shuts down. The climb, the taxi, down the runway, getting the shot, leveling off, turning around and landing. And I did it EIGHT TIMES to get the shot.”

Christopher McQuarrie: “I’ve never been more stressed my entire life than I was watching that plane take off and land. True to form the big note that Tom gave me before we took off was ‘Just remember if I look like I’m panicking, I’m acting! Do not cut unless I do this’ and he touched the top of his head. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. But the truth of the matter is he had a great time doing it.”

Tom Cruise: “I fly warbirds (vintage military aircrafts), I fly aerobatic airplanes, but this was pretty damn exciting and exhilarating. The adrenaline was flowing!

“When that thing was going down the runway it was everything to keep my feet down, then it went up and my body was slamming on the side. I was like whoa, this is intense.

“It’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done to be honest. The Burj Khalifa scene [from Mission: impossible - Ghost Protocol] was incredibly dangerous, so was Moab [the climbing scene in ‘Mission: Impossible 2’].

“Motorcycle scenes are dangerous because I can’t wear pads and I don’t wear a helmet. I’m going at high speeds and anything can happen. But I’m in control on a motorcycle… I can put the breaks on.

“But outside the airplane there’s so many factors. Just too many things can happen. You don’t want to do it. Once we had it, it was ‘We’re not doing it anymore’!”

‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ co-stars Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg. It is released in the UK on 31 July 2015.

- Tom Cruise’s Most Dangerous Stunts - First & Furious 7 First Clip Image credits: Famefly.net/Paramount/

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Tom Cruise's 10 best stunts of all time, ranked

Tom Cruise does his own stunts and it's remarkable what he's been able to pull off.
Hanging on the side of a plane, skydiving, climbing the world's tallest building — he's done it all.
Here's a recap of his greatest stunts.

10. For the cargo-plane crash in "The Mummy," Cruise did the stunt inside a NASA plane that trains astronauts for zero gravity.

In 2017's "The Mummy," Cruise finds himself stuck in a cargo plane as it crashes. To pull off a scene like this, actors would typically film it in a controlled setting like a sound stage surrounded by a green screen.

Not Cruise, though.

The star shot the scene in a plane that NASA uses to train astronauts .

The scene was filmed in the plane which had to go up to 25,000 feet to get the look that Cruise was in zero gravity. The plane then did a free fall for 22 seconds.

Cruise did the flight four times to pull off the scene.

9. Cruise flew a helicopter in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

For the thrilling helicopter-chase scene in the finale of "Fallout," Cruise spent 16 hours a day training to get to the required 2,000 hours to fly a helicopter on his own.

But Cruise didn't just fly the helicopter. He also pulled off a 360-degree corkscrew dive in it, which would challenge even the most veteran pilot.

8. Cruise is really in a F/A-18 jet for the flight scenes in "Top Gun" Maverick" and had to deal with the G-forces.

When you see Cruise and the cast looking like they are battling G-forces in the jets, complete with distorted faces, it's because they really were.

Cruise and the cast went through training so their dogfight scenes could look as realistic as possible — which meant sitting in the F/A-18 jets as they were spun around and took dramatic dives.

7. Cruise climbed a 2,000-foot cliff in "Mission: Impossible 2."

In the opening scene of 2000's "M: I 2," Cruise is seen climbing a cliff. And yes, that's really him.

Cruise scaled the cliff in Utah with nothing but a safety rope . He also did a 15-foot jump from one cliff to another.

6. Cruise held his breath for six minutes for an underwater stunt in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

In one scene, Cruise's Ethan Hunt has to dive into an underwater safe to retrieve the computer chip that will lead him closer to the villain.

Along with having to hold his breath the whole time , he must keep away from a large crane that's circling around the safe.

For the scene, Cruise first jumped off a 120-foot ledge. Then, in a 20-foot deep-water tank, Cruise held his breath for six minutes.

5. Cruise broke his ankle jumping between buildings while making "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

Tom Cruise loves to run in his movies; it's become his trademark. But his ability to continue running came into question after a stunt went wrong on the set of "Fallout."

While jumping from one one building to another, Cruise hit the wall of the building the wrong way and broke his ankle.

The accident halted production for months and doctors told Cruise his running days might be over. But, six weeks later, Cruise was back on set doing sprints .

4. Cruise climbed the tallest building in the world for "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol."

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world, and Cruise climbed it.

For "Ghost Protocol," the actor's climb got him up to 1,700 feet in the air .

He also fell four stories down by rappelling on the surface of the building.

3. Cruise did 500 skydives and over 13,000 motocross jumps for the thrilling motorcycle stunt in "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1."

For the latest "M:I" movie, Cruise once again pushed himself.

And one stunt in particular is definitely up there as one of his craziest ideas yet: driving a motorcycle off a cliff.

The star did 500 skydives and over 13,000 motocross jumps to prepare for the stunt. And that wasn't just so Cruise had the skill and comfort to pull off the stunt; the training also made it possible for director Christopher McQuarrie and his crew to map out camera angles to capture it.

The stunt was then done on the first day of principal photography.

"We know either we will continue with the film or we're not. Let's know day one!" Cruise told "Entertainment Tonight" on why it was done on the first day.

Cruise ended up doing the stunt six times on the day of shooting.

2. Cruise hung on the side of a plane as it took off for "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

Cruise clung to the side of a massive Airbus A400M plane as it took off and went up to 1,000 feet dealing with speeds of 100 knots.

To protect the actor, he was secured with a wire attached to the plane. He also had special contacts on to protect his eyes from debris.

Cruise did this stunt eight times.

1. Cruise did 106 skydives with a broken ankle to pull off the HALO jump in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

While Cruise was healing the broken ankle he sustained earlier in the "Fallout" production, he went and pulled off the most amazing stunt he's done in his career so far.

In the movie, Cruise's character and CIA tagalong August Walker (Henry Cavill) decide to do a HALO jump — a high-altitude, low-open skydive, in which you open your parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time — out of a giant C-17 plane to get into Paris undetected.

Cruise did this for real by executing the jump 106 times over two weeks , many of them done during golden hour, a very brief period of perfect lighting that occurs just before sunset.

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Tom Cruise’s Most Dangerous Stunts in ‘Mission: Impossible’

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By Ben Kenigsberg

July 30, 2018

The older Tom Cruise gets, the more fun it is to watch him risk death in elaborate age- and gravity-defying ways.

One person who has seen him face danger up close is Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the now-56-year-old actor in the two most recent “Mission: Impossible” movies: “ Fallout ,” currently in theaters, and “ Rogue Nation ” from 2015. I asked him to rank the most difficult stunts he and his star, who is known to dislike doubles, have executed.

Mr. McQuarrie ranked them in order of what he called “inherent danger,” basically risk multiplied by the amount of time Mr. Cruise was exposed to that risk. But you could rank these sequences “five different ways in terms of their technical difficulty, their strain on the body, the real-time danger and difficulty,” he added. “If you arranged them alphabetically, they would be correct.”

Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:

5. Underwater Sequence, ‘Rogue Nation’

Without the benefit of oxygen, Mr. Cruise swaps a file in an underwater security system.

Given just 10 days to shoot this sequence, Mr. McQuarrie figured that his best use of the time would be to film it in a series of continuous takes. “It put a huge burden on Tom because Tom had to hold his breath longer,” the director said. “You and I can hold our breath for a minute, maybe two minutes. The minute you start exerting yourself, you consume oxygen at a much higher rate. Which meant that for Tom to be able to hold his breath for anywhere from a minute to two and a half minutes that each take required, he had to learn how to hold his breath for longer,” because he would be swimming.

Mr. Cruise and his co-star Rebecca Ferguson “trained with an extreme diver,” Mr. McQuarrie said. “He learned how to hold his breath for six and a half minutes. By the time that sequence was over, Tom was so physically and mentally exhausted, he had nitrogen in his blood, he was achy all over, he was very punchy, it was hard for him to focus and remember lines. He was exhausted all the time. It took a really severe physical toll on him.”

4. Paris Motorcycle Chase, ‘Fallout’

Having been separated from his co-star Henry Cavill, Mr. Cruise evades capture on two wheels.

“The initial idea was he would do a portion of the sequence free riding and the rest of it on these safety rigs, and when the rigs didn’t work, we just went for it. Everything that you’re seeing Tom doing, he’s doing free riding on cold cobblestones. Sometimes there was rain; sometimes there was morning dew. There was always a danger of skidding and wiping out.

“Sometimes he’s going in excess of 100 miles an hour with cars chasing him and coming at him. They were all stunt drivers, but some of them were local, so there was a language barrier. A couple of times there were miscommunications and drivers were not where they were supposed to be, which was always scary. Tom had to be hypervigilant.”

“And of course, every time he’s doing stunts like this, he’s got to act. You’re designing the camera moves so you can show that it isn’t a stunt man. One of the dangers becomes the camera itself. Tom is driving into close-up in certain shots. He’s inches away from the camera. If the camera vehicle stops short, Tom is going right into the camera headfirst.”

3. Sky-Diving, ‘Fallout’

Anatomy of a scene | ‘mission: impossible — fallout’, the director christopher mcquarrie narrates a scene where tom cruise leaps from an airplane at 25,000 feet..

“My name is Christopher McQuarrie. I am the writer, director, and co-producer of ‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout.’ The biggest challenge of this sequence is constantly maintaining a connection with Tom Cruise, knowing that Tom Cruise is going to jump out of a plane at 25,000 feet, and that the camera is going to stay with him. When Tom and I discussed this idea, right away the challenge became making it the most subjective sequence we possibly could, putting the audience with the character of Ethan Hunt. And that means that everything that Tom does, as he’s jumping out of his plane, the camera operator has to do with him in reverse. So of course, this shot right here, once this starts, we were determined to have no cuts from this moment until Tom reaches the ground. Just prior to this clip starting, he’d had a conflict with Henry Cavill, and Henry Cavill has disconnected his air hose as a way of getting Ethan Hunt out of his way, so he can jump out of the plane. So Craig O’Brien, our camera operator, is jumping backwards out of the plane, and Tom has to come towards him and come within three feet of the camera to remain in focus. Which means Tom has to stop himself, and he has a three inch margin of error because of the light at that time of day. It’s very difficult to maintain focus, and we had exactly three minutes of light everyday to gather these shots, and if you didn’t get the shot, it meant you came back the next day.” “What’s the matter, Hunt, afraid of a little lightning?” “The decision here to have all of the sound drop out was a practical decision to maintain that subjective reality, put you in Tom’s experience, and Tom is now coordinating all of his movements with Craig O’Brien. They’re actually doing a dance, so that we can maintain all of the storytelling without ever cutting, and so you’ll notice that the other actor is falling in the background there. His movements had to be coordinated with Tom, and then of course, the real danger in the sequence was a mid-air impact in which everyone could have collided — Tom, the camera operator, and the actor.” “Walker!”

Mr. Cruise, Mr. Cavill’s stunt double and a sky-diving videographer jump out a plane over the United Arab Emirates, standing in for Paris. The sequence stitched together three shots, combining jumps from 18,000 to 25,000 feet, for the appearance of a continuous take.

“Probably the most technically difficult one we’ve ever done. The costume that he’s wearing — all of that stuff is designed so that you can see that Tom is doing all of the stunt work. That helmet didn’t exist, the air tanks didn’t exist. It all has to be certified as a lifesaving device. It’s not just a prop. Layer No. 2, we need to find a country that would let us do it. And then of course, Tom has to get certified to be able to jump at that altitude.

“The jump is divided into three pieces. The first piece is when he jumps out of the plane and goes past the camera. The second piece is when he’s looking for Henry” — actually his stunt double — “in the air and grabs onto him. And the third piece is as he’s falling with Henry where he disconnects his oxygen bottle and connects it to Henry. And that’s the most time-consuming piece, which of course means that he’s got to be able to complete all of that action before he reaches his minimum safe altitude by which he has to deploy his chute.

“Because the sequence is at dusk, we have three minutes of available light every day to shoot. They would just rehearse until the light was right, and they’d go up and they’d get one take every day, to get one of these three pieces. It took several tries to get the first piece, several tries to get the second piece, several tries to get the third piece. And so that took 106 jumps of us rehearsing and shooting to get that two-and-a-half, three-minute sequence.”

(Why couldn’t they just land and take a cab? “Landing on the Grand Palais looks a lot more spectacular than landing in a parking lot on the outskirts of Paris,” Mr. McQuarrie said.)

2. Hanging Off a Plane, ‘Rogue Nation’

Mr. Cruise dangles from an Airbus A400M as it takes off.

“When we proposed it to Airbus, they said it was impossible. And our approach was to say, well, if we were going to do it, how would it be done? And once people start to consider the possibilities, it’s a slippery slope to the place where they find themselves doing what they deemed impossible.

“Tom’s wearing a harness under the suit. But of course the harness doesn’t protect him from the real dangers of the sequence. One, if the pilot overaccelerates the plane, there’s no harness in the world that’s going to keep Tom on the plane. The other danger is any debris on the runway. Tom was struck by a pebble. He said it was like being shot. And the real danger is bird strikes. If a bird flew past and struck Tom, it would be like a cannonball. The exhaust from the engines is extremely punishing and very toxic.

“And finally, Tom is wearing earplugs and contact lenses. They cover half of his eye — they’re not like the little lenses that just cover your iris. So he couldn’t really see. He couldn’t really hear. I would have to direct him with very large gestures and communicate in the simplest possible way. And Tom said to me, ‘If I look like I’m panicking, I’m acting. Don’t cut. Only if I tap my head’ — he put his palm on top of his head — ‘it means something’s wrong.’ There was one point at which Tom brushed his hair out of his face, and we were wondering, is he just fixing his hair, or is something wrong?”

1. Helicopter Chase, ‘Fallout’

Mr. Cruise pilots a chopper through mountainous terrain to retrieve and disable the remote detonator of two nuclear bombs.

“The hairiest one I can think of is the helicopter chase in the third act of ‘Fallout.’ Tom qualified” — for pilot certification — “on this helicopter in six weeks. Normally it takes three months; he trained with two crews working 16 hours a day so he could cut his training time in half. And we’re in New Zealand in low winter light, which means visibility is always a little tricky. You have two helicopters. The way you measure distance in a helicopter is a rotor width. And Tom was at times inside one rotor width from the other helicopter. He was less than a rotor width away. In some parts of the sequence, Tom’s doing the chasing, and in other parts he’s being chased — and we were always pushing for proximity, because that of course sold more danger. Tom is weaving in and out of canyons and gullies. There was one where his rotor blades were just a few feet away from the rock walls on either side. It was like flying through a broom closet.”

The director recalled that he and a producer “said while we were making it, if we knew what it took to shoot this sequence, we never would have started. Tom was having the time of his life.”

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Tom Cruise Hangs Off A Plane Mid-Air For Terrifying Stunt While Shooting ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ — Photos

Death-defying! Tom Cruise pulled off his own jaw-dropping stunt as he hung upside down from a World War II plane for the latest installment of 'Mission Impossible'.

Tom Cruise proved once again that there is no stunt he can’t tackle himself! While filming the next installment of Mission Impossible , 59-year-old actor attempted death-defying feats at Duxford Aerodrome, Cambridgeshire this week. The star was spotted perilously hanging from a World War II plane mid-air while it performed harrowing loops and nose-dives, as seen in photos published via the Daily Mail . During one jaw-dropping move, the plane flips upside down with Tom safely maneuvering to a sitting position on the wing! Yep, it was quite impressive!

In other photos, Tom gave a sneak peek into how all the action unfolds, as he was spotted on the ground in a jumpsuit and helmet. Surrounded by the production crew, the actor was placed in a harness, which was secured to the wing of the Boeing Stearman biplane with a series of metal rods. Movie-making magic at its finest!

It comes as no surprise to fans that Tom is handling his own stunt work, as he has done so on past productions, including Mission: Impossible 7 , which is scheduled to be released in 2022 and stars his rumored now ex-girlfriend Hayley Atwell , Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby . However, the eighth chapter in the series, scheduled for a July 22, 2023 release, had Tom taking it one step further by investing in flying lessons to deftly handle the Boeing Stearman plane. “It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman,” a source told The Sun .

Perhaps Tom felt the “need for speed” after he finished wrapping Top Gun: Maverick , the sequel to 1986’s smash hit Top Gun . The movie, set to premiere in May 2022, has Tom reprising his iconic role of Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, with Val Kilmer returning as Commander Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The movie also stars Miles Teller , Jon Hamm , and Jennifer Connelly.

Meanwhile, Tom recently made a rare public appearance with his son Connor , 26, at a baseball game in San Francisco. He shares Connor with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, whom he was married to from 1990 and 2001. The former couple also share daughter Isabella , 28. Tom also shares daughter Suri , 15, with ex Katie Holmes. The two split in 2016 after six years of marriage.

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This story originally ran on British GQ with the title “How Tom Cruise and Miles Teller pulled off those insane, high-flying stunts in Top Gun: Maverick ”

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20 Thrilling Behind-The-Scenes Facts From Tom Cruise's Biggest Films

F or nearly 40 years, Tom Cruise has been one of the biggest movie stars in the world. From his breakout role in Top Gun to the franchise lead in Mission Impossible , few stars boast the resume that Cruise has. He's also worth a cool $500 million. He's kind of a big deal. With four decades of movies under his belt, it's fair to assume a lot of interesting things have happened behind the scenes. Here are the craziest Tom Cruise movie secrets you need to know!

He Won't Sign Onto A Movie Unless He Gets To Do His Own Stunts

Tom Cruise famously performs the most dangerous stunts in all his movies. Watch any Mission Impossible movie, and it's shocking how much danger the action star is willing to put himself in. Cruise reportedly refuses to sign onto movies that won't let him do his stunts.

Say a movie wants to cast Cruise but won't let him jump from high rise to high rise for a critical chase scene. The producers better start looking for a different, more risk-averse actor. Tom Cruise feels the need, the need for speed!

He Took Lead Role In Valkyrie Because He Looked Like The Real Person

The movie Valkyrie is based on the true story of Colonel von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler during World War II. When Cruise was offered the role, there was no sales pitch that convinced him to sign on. Instead, he noticed that he bared a striking resemblance to the German soldier.

Cruise was sold, proving sometimes looks are all that matters. The movie was a moderate success, earning $200 million worldwide. Doing his own stunts has its downfalls.

Mission Impossible: Fallout Literally Broke Tom Cruise

Mission Impossible: Fallout came close to missing its summer 2018 release date after Tom Cruise broke his ankle performing a stunt. The film had to take a break from filming in 2017 after Cruise couldn't stick his landing after a scary jump. The hiatus put the movie's release in serious doubt.

Never doubt Tom Cruise, though. After a brutal seven-week recovery, cameras were able to roll again. He also continued punishing his body by doing his stunts. All his hard work paid off. A seventh movie in the profitable franchise is already being planned.

The Last Samurai Almost Killed Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise earned an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Last Samurai . If it wasn't for his co-star saving his life, we'd be writing a very different article right now. Using real samurai swords rigged for safety was a bad idea when one of the rigs broke.

The sword came one inch from Cruise's neck before Hiroyuki Sanada stopped it. That reminds us of the helicopter scene at the end of the first Mission Impossible ! Somehow it always comes back to Ethan Hunt.

Anne Rice Hated His Casting In Interview With A Vampire

Without author Anne Rice, there would be no Interview With The Vampire . Having written the book, she was not happy to see the film cast Tom Cruise in the role of the vampire Lestat. She was so upset with his selection that she publicly criticized Cruise and everyone involved with the film.

After the movie came out, Rice changed her tune. It turns out Tom Cruise was perfect for Lestat, and he proved it with his performance. To apologize, Rice bought a two-page ad in Daily Variety praising Cruise's portrayal of her most famous vampire.

Les Grossman Was Created For Tropic Thunder By Cruise

When Ben Stiller was struggling to write Tropic Thunder he had Tom Cruise read the script. Cruise suggested he include a movie executive in the film as a way to create pressure on the characters. Later, he decided to play the role of Les Grossman himself, under two very odd conditions.

The first condition was the character have fat hands. The second condition was that the bald and overweight studio executive be a dancer. And that is how one of the most memorable characters in movie history was created.

The Iconic Risky Business Dance Was Adlibbed

Even if you've never seen Risky Business , you've probably seen Tom Cruise's infamous underwear dance. According to the actor, he made up the routine himself, on the spot, "I just ad-libbed that," he said during an interview .

But how did he stick the landing on his slide to enter the scene? As he explains, "I dusted the floor and then put stick (tape) on the other side so I would get the center frame on that and wore the socks."

The Mummy Was A Real Monster Behind The Scenes

The Mummy was supposed to start Universal's "Dark Universe." That is until Tom Cruise got his hands on it. According to reports, Cruise took over every aspect of the film, from the story to the direction, and even the editing.

Despite having a team hired by Universal, Cruise brought in his own editor and screenwriter, then wrangled control of the direction away from Alex Kurtzman. For all his meddling, Cruise's version of The Mummy earned terrible reviews and scared audiences away. Made for $190 million, the film only grossed $80 million stateside.

Cruise Destroyed A $100,000 Camera Filming Days Of Thunder

Tom Cruise's "need for speed" is iconic, and it got the better of him while filming Days of Thunder . Playing NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, Cruise drove his stock car during several scenes. I

n one scene he lost control of the car and crashed into a wall, destroying a $100,000 camera in the process.

He Didn't Get Paid For Minority Report

Tom Cruise was so passionate to film the 2002 film Minority Report with Steven Spielberg that he refused to take a paycheck. Spielberg refused money also, something he claimed to have on his last eight films. Instead of getting money upfront, the pair cut a deal to earn 15 percent of the movie's gross.

Minority Report made $358 million worldwide, netting Cruise and Spielberg around $54 million each. That's pretty amazing. They took a chance on a passion project and it paid off big time!

He Was A Passenger In A Car Accident During Filming For Edge Of Tomorrow

For Edge Of Tomorrow , Emily Blunt had to drive a van with Tom Cruise as her passenger. The van needed to be seen shaking for one particular scene, so producers had Blunt make a hard turn at a pretty high speed. But she lost control and the van crashed into a tree.

She was upset that she could have injured (or even killed) Cruise, but fortunately, they both walked away unharmed. And even laughed about the incident later.

One Stunt He Didn't Perform

We know that Tom Cruise prefers to perform even the most dangerous stunts himself. But according to director Martin Scorsese, there was one stunt that he didn't complete when filming the 1986 drama The Color of Money .

His character had to perform a bunch of complicated pool shots, which wasn't a problem for Cruise. Except for one: a shot where his ball had to leap over two others and sink a third. Scorsese said that he thinks Cruise could have made the shot but it would have taken two days. And that's just too long during movie production, so an expert was brought in to do the shot.

He Broke His Thumb Making The Outsiders

The 1983 coming-of-age drama The Outsiders featured a fight between two rival gangs, the Greasers and the Socs. Things got pretty out of control during filming and one of Cruise's thumbs was broken in the scuffle.

He wasn't the only one to get hurt in the fight, either; two of Cruise's fellow actors were also injured. Tom Howell got a black eye and Emilio Estevez's lip was cut. That must have been quite a brawl!

He Lost A Lot Of Weight For Risky Business

The creators of Risky Business really wanted Tom Cruise to be as baby-faced as possible. To prepare for the role, he got serious about dropping weight fast. He told People that he followed a strict eating plan and jogged daily in the brutal Florida sunshine for five weeks. And then when he hit his target weight, he stopped exercising completely "so I could put on a little layer of baby fat."

"[Joel Goodson is] a very vulnerable person,” Tom explained. “I didn't want any physical defenses up for him. No muscle armor at all.”

Tom Cruise Has An Impressive Set Of Lungs

For 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation , Tom Cruise had to hold his breath for almost six and a half minutes! We knew he did all his own stunts but this might be one of the craziest of them. He called the experience unpleasant but explained his training technique to EW .

"You get rid of the regulator, get rid of the bubbles, get on the side and we wanted to do it one shot, so they were very, very long shots," he said. “I'd have to hold it consistently, you know safely, up to four minutes almost for every take.”

He Really Sang In Rock Of Ages

For the 2012 musical Rock of Ages , Tom Cruise insisted on singing his own parts. Of course, he did, right? He trained for four months, up to five hours each day to perfect his voice.

Cruise also filmed the scene where he sang "Pour Some Sugar On Me" while Def Leppard (the band that originally performed the song) watched. The guy just doesn't like to make things easy for himself.

Born On The Third Of July

In the 1989 war drama Born on the Fourth of July , Tom Cruise played a real-life Vietnam War veteran named Ron Kovic. Kovic was actually born on the 4th of July, as the title indicates.

It turns out that Cruise and Kovic almost share the birthday. Cruise was born on July 3, though, just a day early. Audiences didn't mind the discrepancy (as if they were even aware of it), as the film pulled in $161 million worldwide.

He Wasn't Expecting Emily Blunt To Kiss Him In Edge Of Tomorrow

Maybe he hadn't read the script thoroughly, because it sounds like Tom Cruise was surprised when Emily Blunt kissed him during filming for Edge of Tomorrow . She opened up about the moment to BBC Radio . "I mean, [it was] great. I don't think he was expecting it. I just sort of planted one on him," she said.

Blunt continued, "I think he was a bit taken aback. He was like, 'Oh my god! This is what we're doing.' Well, Tom had read the scene but he hadn't really read the stage directions. There were some new pages."

He Holds A Huge Box Office Record

We already know that his movies rake in tons of money at the box office, but Tom Cruise holds another distinction in that area. He became the first actor ever to star in five consecutive movies that each made more than $100 million in the United States.

The films were A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), and Jerry Maguire in 1996. That's a pretty good run for the money.

Cruise Inspired A Character In A Movie He Wasn't Even In

Although he's been in some live-action Disney movies, Tom Cruise hasn't yet voiced an animated character for the studio. However, he was the inspiration for a very famous Disney prince. Can you guess which one? Turns out that Aladdin was based on the actor!

While providing commentary for the 2004 DVD release of the film, producers revealed that executive Jeffrey Katzenberg decided that the animation should be modeled after Cruise because of his "iconic hero" look.

20 Thrilling Behind-The-Scenes Facts From Tom Cruise’s Biggest Films

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Ryan gosling makes emily blunt (jokingly) angry for singing about ken again during ‘snl’ monologue.

Kate McKinnon also returned to the sketch comedy show for another iconic "Close Encounter" sketch with Gosling during the cold open.

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Ryan Gosling just can’t let go of his character Ken from Barbie during his Saturday Night Live monologue.

Though he initially said he wasn’t going to talk about Ken because he “broke up” with the character after going “too deep,” he ultimately decided to sing about his feelings with a rendition of Taylor Swift’s hit song “All Too Well.”

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