In an interview with People magazine ahead of the release of Mission: Impossible 8, Tom Cruise revealed how he mastered the breathtaking action scenes. To prepare for these scenes, Tom said the first factor was food.
“I needed a lot of energy and trained hard for the wing-walking scene. I actually had a big breakfast with sausages, almost a dozen eggs with bacon, toast, coffee and drinks,” Tom Cruise shared and explained further. “It’s very cold up high. We often film at high altitudes. My body expends a lot of energy.”
Tom Cruise also talked about constantly practicing skills such as flying and skydiving to serve the role.
In the eighth and possibly final Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise’s spy Ethan Hunt is seen swinging and crawling along the wing of a 1940s biplane as it flies over the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa.
Tom said that as a child he had seen a movie with a scene of walking on the wing of a plane and for many years he had cherished this dream. The 1962-born star said it was a difficult challenge: “The planes at that time only traveled at about 40, 50 miles per hour. This plane could reach speeds of over 120 miles per hour. When I got out there, I realized it was taking my breath away.”
Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has helped direct the Mission: Impossible series since 2015, shared: “Whenever you see Tom on a plane, he’s at the controls. He’s basically a one-man crew doing everything: operating the camera, acting, and flying.”
Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning will hit theaters on May 23. With a production budget of up to $400 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. Tom Cruise is currently busy promoting the film around the world and is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France in mid-May.