From hanging from the wing of a plane (during takeoff!) to scaling the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to holding his breath underwater for over six minutes, Tom Cruise is not one to shy away from stunts that others in his profession wouldn’t dream of tackling. In a recent interview on The Graham Norton Show, the actor revealed that he's taken quite a few hits and kept on ticking, even through several broken bones.
However, Cruise explained that he enjoys the adrenaline rush, sharing, "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. I have broken a lot of bones!" Three years ago, coincidentally, he made an appearance on the same show (alongside fellow Mission: Impossible cast members Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg) to reveal footage of breaking his ankle very visibly while performing a stunt on the set of 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout — an injury that was actually kept in the finished film.
Though Cruise has shattered bones all in the name of cinema, his passion for stunt work has not diminished one bit. In fact, he has such a good time filming such superhuman feats that he sometimes can’t stop a big smile from coming across his face. It appears that even Cruise must be reminded to maintain a fear-struck expression when hanging onto a building thousands of feet in the air. As Cruise shared with host Graham Norton, “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.”
Cruise is now approaching 60, and he is showing no signs of taking it easy in the action department. As of now, Cruise’s upcoming films Top Gun and Mission: Impossible 7 have been delayed until November 19 and May 22, 2022, respectively. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible 8 has been pushed back to July 7, 2023. Thus, viewers will have to wait a little longer to see what the adrenaline junkie has planned. What’s next, almost getting decapitated? Wait, that happened in The Last Samurai.