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Tom Cruise did that motorcycle stunt in ‘Mission: Impossible’ on Day 1 — here’s why

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More than half a year before the release of the upcoming movie “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” Paramount Pictures made sure audiences got to see Tom Cruise once again risking his life.

Cruise’s mind-blowing stunts have become a signature of “ Mission: Impossible ” films, each one seemingly topping the next. The key stunt in the franchise’s seventh installment involves Cruise driving a motorcycle off the edge of a cliff, dismounting and parachuting into a Norwegian valley. With the drop of its behind-the-scenes footage in December , the studio billed it as “the biggest stunt in cinema history.”

Though the moment has already been watched on YouTube more than 13 million times, and 30 million more times in the film’s trailers, it’s among the film’s most anticipated scenes. After all, we still don’t know how the stunt fits within the plot — What could be so dire that agent Ethan Hunt must jump off a cliff?

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While answers won’t come until the movie’s theatrical release July 12, we now know that the risky stunt was the first thing Cruise did on Day 1 of filming, which began in 2020. And it was all about risk assessment.

In a recent interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Cruise said they started with the scene, in part, to allow the cast and crew to see whether he would be able to star in the $290-million film. After all, he could either get injured or die — or both.

“Well, we know we’re either going to continue with the film or not,” Cruise said, letting out a laugh. “Let’s know Day 1, what is gonna happen: Do we all continue, or is it a major re-run?”

Cruise added that he wanted to make sure his mind was clear enough to focus solely on the stunt.

Watch ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’ director Christopher McQuarrie on Ultimate Summer Movie Showdown

Week 13: ‘Mission: Impossible — Fallout’ director Christopher McQuarrie joins a live chat from London about the blockbuster franchise.

Aug. 4, 2020

“You have to be razor sharp for something like that; I don’t want to drop that and shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else,” Cruise said. “You don’t want to be waking up in the middle of the night, ‘It’s still, I still, I still,’ and it has that effect.”

Cruise is no stranger to aerial stunts with a high probability of death. The “Top Gun” actor said preparing for the recent stunt “was years of planning,” a culmination of all the training he’s done with motorcycles, cars and aerobatics.

In the franchise’s last film, “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (2018), Cruise jumped into a helicopter in midflight , taking the controls to chase another helicopter. In the same movie, he parachuted from a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from 25,000 feet, close to five miles up, becoming “the first actor” to do so in a major motion picture, according to Paramount (most skydiving attempts occur at 10,000 feet).

In 2011 for “ Ghost Protocol ,” the “Jerry McGuire” actor climbed along the exposed walls of the world’s largest building, the Burj Khalifa of Dubai. And in 2015 for “Rogue Nation,” Cruise hung off the side of an Airbus A400M Atlas as it was taking off, a stunt that veteran stunt coordinator and frequent Cruise collaborator Wade Eastwood called “a stressful experience.”

The recent motorcycle stunt, which Cruise had apparently repeated six times, was no exception. Though the film’s computer-generated images make Cruise appear to be jumping off the rocky surface of the cliff, the scene required a large ramp to be built.

While Cruise is seen atop the motorcycle in the behind-the-scenes video, accelerating off the ramp, a helicopter and drone fly overhead to gather footage. The film’s crew, including director Christopher McQuarrie, are huddled in a nearby tent, faces glued to a set of monitors. After he abandons the bike and hangs in the open air, Cruise releases his parachute and the crew erupts in cheers.

“The only thing you have to avoid when doing a stunt like this are serious injury or death,” Eastwood, who has managed stunts for the last three “Mission Impossible” films, said in the BTS video. “You’re falling. If you don’t get a clean exit from the bike and you get tangled up with it, if you don’t open your parachute, you’re not gonna make it.”

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See Tom run. See Tom jump.

July 13, 2018

The scene wasn’t the only stressful one to shoot: Cruise said he also worried about a car chase that involved him handcuffed to a small car, steering with one hand while drifting along the cobblestone streets of Rome, with his co-star Hayley Atwell in the passenger seat.

“It’s plenty of challenges,” Cruise said with a wide grin, laughing once again.

“Dead Reckoning” had its world premiere Sunday at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome with Cruise and other cast members, including Atwell and Vanessa Kirby , in attendance. “Part Two” is expected to be released in June 2024. Filming wrapped in September for what has been rumored to be Cruise’s final appearance in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

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How Many Times Does Tom Cruise Die In Edge Of Tomorrow On-Screen?

Back in 2014, Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman unleashed a modern sci-fi classic in the form of "Edge of Tomorrow." Based on the Japanese light novel "All You Need Is Kill," the film focuses on a world at war with aliens. Cruise's hapless William Cage finds himself in the middle of a time loop as he's trying to fight the aliens. Each time he dies, Cage's day is reset, forcing him to find a way out of his never-ending cycle of death.

An immersive and playful picture that riffs on classics like "Groundhog Day," the film stands out as one of Cruise's most fascinating non-franchise offerings. Throughout the nearly two-hour-long film, Cruise dies a number of times, forcing his day to reset. Just how many times does the action maverick die on-screen in "Edge of Tomorrow," though? An infographic by X (formerly known as Twitter) user  @george_hatzis from 2015 reveals that Cruise dies a whopping 26 times on-screen in the sci-fi flick.

Of course, this doesn't account for the numerous times Cruise's Cage dies off-screen. In the film, Cage enlists the help of all-around badass and war hero Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) to help train him for the battle with the aliens. She puts him through the ringer, leading to several deaths that we don't see on-screen. We don't know  exactly  how many times Cruise dies in "Edge of Tomorrow," but Liman has thrown out a suggestion. "If you love Tom Cruise, you see him giving a genius performance, and if you hate Tom Cruise he dies like 200 times in the movie," Liman said at an event in 2014 attended by The Guardian . 

Tom Cruise loved playing against type in Edge of Tomorrow

What's brilliant about "Edge of Tomorrow" is how it subverts the cultural standing that Tom Cruise has. Cruise has carved out a generation-spanning reputation as an action superstar who always lives to tell the tale. From franchises like "Mission: Impossible" to "Top Gun," Cruise is always portrayed as a perfect hero who laughs in death's face. "Edge of Tomorrow" plays with this persona, flipping it on its head by being one of the few films to show the actor die. Director Doug Liman has also spoken about how "Edge of Tomorrow" is unique in that Cruise plays a coward. "The amount of times he squeals in this movie — he's an amazing squealer! Other movie stars, in my experience, would have been more hesitant about being that vulnerable," Liman said (via The Guardian ).

In an interview with  ScreenSlam , Cruise discussed the importance of death in "Edge of Tomorrow" and how it comes in many different ways, which is what makes the movie so compelling. "In this film, death is emotional and it's also quite humorous," he said, before discussing how he wanted the stunt team to make each death feel unique. Emily Blunt, for her part, loved having to kill Cruise several times, telling the same outlet that it was "so much fun," adding, "I got to kill him in many different ways." Of course, at the end of "Edge of Tomorrow," Cruise's character breaks out of his death cycle, but fans would love to see Cage thrust back into his nightmare — there's been talk of an "Edge of Tomorrow" sequel for some time now.

Why hasn't Edge of Tomorrow 2 happened yet?

While "Edge of Tomorrow" was a critical success, it wasn't the box office hit that Warner Bros. was expecting, grossing just north of $370 million worldwide. This seemingly put the brakes on the potential franchise. However, despite lukewarm financial receipts, a sequel has tentatively been in the works ever since the film debuted. Director Doug Liman and the film's creative teams have teased a follow-up several times, but things have simply never gotten off the ground. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in 2021, Emily Blunt revealed that she read a script for a sequel that she loved. "That was an amazing script, but I just don't know what the future holds for it," she said.

Since then, there's been some potentially positive developments on the "Edge of Tomorrow" sequel front. In early 2024, Tom Cruise signed a major production deal with Warner Bros., with him and his team setting up an office at the studio. While it's unclear what exactly Cruise will make at Warner Bros., a report from The Hollywood Reporter states that execs at the studio want to rope Cruise in for a sequel to "Edge of Tomorrow." It remains to be seen if that actually happens, but the film's clout has only grown over the last decade, and the sequel would no doubt make waves at the box office. It would also be a brilliant start to Cruise and Warner Bros.' new relationship. Hopefully, fans will get to see William Cage die a bunch of more times in the near future.

Sort by Year - Latest Movies and TV Shows With Tom Cruise

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Live Die Repeat and Repeat

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | Announced

Plot unknown. A follow-up to the 2014 sci-fi film, 'Edge of Tomorrow'.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Emily Blunt , Rolando Davila-Beltran

2. Top Gun 3

Action | Announced

Plot kept under wraps.

Stars: Tom Cruise , Glen Powell , Miles Teller

3. Untitled Tom Cruise/SpaceX Project

Pre-production

Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman travel far beyond Earth to film the first ever Hollywood motion picture in outer space

Director: Doug Liman | Star: Tom Cruise

4. Luna Park (I)

A group of renegade employees who venture to the moon to steal an energy source.

Director: Doug Liman

5. Untitled Alejandro G. Iñárritu Film

Plot under wraps.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Star: Tom Cruise

6. Untitled Les Grossman Project

Comedy | Announced

A comedic biography of renown movie producer Les Grossman.

7. Adventurer's Club

Adventure | Announced

8. The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015–2023) Episode: Tom Cruise/Monica Barbaro/Teddy Swims

TV-14 | Comedy, Talk-Show

Actor Tom Cruise and actress Monica Barbaro (movie, "Top Gun Maverick"); Teddy Swims performs;

Stars: James Corden , Reggie Watts , Tom Cruise , Monica Barbaro

9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two (2025)

Action, Adventure, Thriller | Post-production

The 8th entry in the long running Mission Impossible franchise.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Hannah Waddingham , Hayley Atwell , Tom Cruise , Vanessa Kirby

10. 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards (2024 TV Special)

Explore the winners and nominations for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards, celebrates the very best in film of the past year.

Director: Tony Grech-Smith | Stars: David Tennant , Hannah Waddingham , Nick Mohammed , Judi Dench

11. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.107 (2024)

News, Talk-Show

Willie Geist, Martin Scorsese, Paul Giamatti, Lily Gladstone, Mark Ruffalo, Bradley Cooper, Zac Efron, and Jeremy Allen White hit the red carpet for the National Board of Review Awards Gala... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Denny Directo , Rachel Smith

12. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.154 (2024)

On the red carpet for the Billboard Women in Music Awards; actress DeWanda Wise (movie, "Imaginary"); Drew Barrymore on her Oscar preview show; Garth Brooks at the grand opening of his bar ... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Cassie DiLaura

13. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #43.170 (2024)

The latest on King Charles and Kate Middleton's cancer battles; the premiere of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"; Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Ryan Seacrest dish on "American... See full summary  »

14. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

PG-13 | 163 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.

Director: Christopher McQuarrie | Stars: Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg

Votes: 244,716 | Gross: $172.14M

15. 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards (2023)

The 31st edition of the MTV Movie and TV Awards, and the sixth to jointly honor film and television. It was originally scheduled to be held on May 7, 2023 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and be hosted by Drew Barrymore.

Director: Joe DeMaio | Stars: Drew Barrymore , Adrian Blanco , Sofia Carson , Erica Christensen

16. König Charles III - Tag der Krönung (2023 TV Special)

420 min | Family, News, Reality-TV

"König Charles III - Tag der Krönung" is a TV Special on WeLT Television (formerly known as N24).

Stars: Abdullah II King Of Jordan , Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah , Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani , Patrick Allen

17. The Coronation and Crowning of King Charles III & Queen Camilla (2023 TV Special)

Documentary, Music, News

Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, on May 6th, 2023 at Westminster Abbey following the death of Charles' mother, Elizabeth II.

Stars: Kirsty Young , Huw Edwards , Abdullah II King Of Jordan , Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

18. SAT.1 - Das ist die Krönung! (2023 TV Special)

390 min | Family, News, Reality-TV

"SAT.1 - Das ist die Krönung!" is a TV Special on SAT.1 (DE,AT,CH).

19. etalk presents: Mission: Impossible - All Access (2023 TV Special)

30 min | News

We're in Rome with Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and the rest of the 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' cast. They break down all the wild stunts, bemoan Toronto traffic and Tom even learns a little Hindi from Sonia Mangat.

Stars: Hayley Atwell , Angela Bassett , Sonia Beeksma , Tom Cruise

20. The Last Last Late Late Show with James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special (2023 TV Special)

A prime time special that aired before James Corden's final episode.

Directors: Glenn F. Clements , Tim Mancinelli | Stars: Adele , James Corden , Tom Cruise

21. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003– ) Episode: Tom Cruise/Camila Morrone/Walk Off the Earth (2023)

TV-14 | 45 min | Comedy, Music, Talk-Show

Actor Tom Cruise (movie, "Top Gun: Maverick"); actress Camila Morrone (TV mini-series, "Daisy Jones and The Six"); Walk Off the Earth perform;

Director: Danny Jelinek | Stars: Jimmy Kimmel , Tom Cruise , Camila Morrone , Walk Off the Earth

22. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.140 (2023)

TV-PG | 20 min | News

Happy Valentine's Day; interviews with Tom Cruise, Angela Bassett, and Colin Farrell; Rob Lowe's untold pizza delivery story; Carrie Underwood;

Stars: Billy Bush , Renee Bargh , Charissa Thompson , Jana Kramer

23. Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019– ) Episode: Bounce Back (2023)

TV-MA | Documentary, Sport

Mercedes principal Toto Wolff works to combat the team's unexpected struggles, while Lewis Hamilton navigates a bumpy ride in the team's redesigned car.

Stars: Mattia Binotto , Will Buxton , Jost Capito , Tom Cruise

24. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.143 (2023)

TV-PG | News, Talk-Show

Alec Baldwin appears in court for the "Rust" shooting; the cast of "Daisy Jones and The Six"; the Producer's Guild Awards; the NAACP Image Awards; the SAG Awards; singer Adam Lambert; singer Quincy Jones;

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Matt Cohen , Will Marfuggi

25. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.145 (2023)

The SAG Awards; actress Courteney Cox receives her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; actor Tom Cruise hits the red carpet for the Producers Guild Awards; back stage at the 450th episode ... See full summary  »

26. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.161 (2023)

Tom Cruise, Rihanna, and Jimmy Kimmel prepare for the Oscars; David Letterman and rock legends U2;

27. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.182 (2023)

James Corden talks about his final shows; a Tom Cruise surprise; Jennifer Garner's new collaboration with Reese Witherspoon on the TV series, "The Last Thing He Told Me";

28. Dish Nation (2011– ) Episode: Episode #11.178 (2023)

TV-PG | News

Tom Cruise is spotted with Shakira; Kroy Biermann seeks full custody of his children in his split from wife, Kim Zolciak; Doja Cat says that her latest two albums were money grabs; Jennifer... See full summary  »

Stars: Da Brat , Gary With Da Tea , Heidi Hamilton , Porsha Williams

29. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.213 (2023)

Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible: Deadly Reckoning - Part One"); Sydney Sweeney ("Reality"): Marcia Gay Harden ("So Help Me Todd"); Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette ("High Desert");

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Hallie Stephens

30. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.229 (2023)

Summer movie preview; Tom Cruise; Harrison Ford; Margot Robbie; Sydney Sweeney;

31. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.223 (2023)

"Mission Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"; "Barbie"; "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"; "Gran Turismo"; "Joy Ride"; "Asteroid City"; "Oppenheimer"; "No Hard Feelings"; "Equalizer III";

32. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.237 (2023)

Happy Flag Day; Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, and more at the premiere of "Asteroid City"; Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, and the cast of "Secret Invasion"; Gordon Ramsay (TV series, "... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Matt Cohen , Rachel Smith

33. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.247 (2023)

Juneteenth; Tom Cruise (movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"); Robert Downey Jr's new reality series, "Downey's Dream Cars";

34. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.248 (2023)

Tom Cruise (movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"); Sarah Jessica Parker (TV series, "And Just Like That..");

35. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.249 (2023)

Tom Cruise (movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"); "And Just Like That..";

36. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.250 (2023)

Sofia Vergara tells of launching her own beauty line; Jeremy Allen White (TV series, "The Bear");

37. Access Hollywood (1996– ) Episode: Episode #27.242 (2023)

The cast of "And Just Like That"; Tom Cruise and the cast of "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; Harrison Ford and the cast of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"; Erin ... See full summary  »

Stars: Mario Lopez , Kit Hoover , Scott Evans , Sibley Scoles

38. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.242 (2023)

"Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; "And Just Like That"; "Tudum"; Jonathan Majors faces another hearing; "Jack Ryan"; a tour of the Hollywood Memorabilia House; "Secret Invasion"; "Downey's Dream Car";

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Deidre Behar , Hayley Atwell

39. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.243 (2023)

"Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; Jennifer Lawrence (movie, "No Hard Feelings"); "LA Fire and Rescue" and the West Hollywood Fire captains; Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris ("Trippin' with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris");

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Matt Cohen

40. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.244 (2023)

Tom Cruise (movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"); Christina and Josh Hall (TV series, "Christina in the Country"); Morning Save's Amy Paffrath has "60 Seconds of Steals";

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Hallie Stephens , Cassie DiLaura

41. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Bahamas Week - Day 2 (2023)

Actor Edwin Hodge (TV series, "FBI: Most Wanted"); actors Andy Devine, Pierce Brosnan, and Nina Dobrev, and producer Adam Sandler (movie, "The Out-Laws"); actresses Ashley Park, Stephanie ... See full summary  »

42. Entertainment Tonight Canada (2005–2023) Episode: Episode dated 27 June 2023 (2023)

Family, News

Stars: Hayley Atwell , Angela Bassett , Luke Bryan , Carlos Bustamante

43. Access Hollywood (1996– ) Episode: Episode #27.255 (2023)

Interview with Kate Bosworth; the cast of "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; interviews with Sylvester Stallone and family;

44. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.259 (2023)

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (movie, "Barbie"); Matt Damon and Emily Blunt (movie, "Oppenheimer's"); Thunder From Down Under's series. "Flip the Strip", with celebrity guests; "Mission: ... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Hallie Stephens , Scott Evans

45. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.260 (2023)

"Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; the cast of "Barbie"; Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan discuss their formerly secretive relationship; Tiffany Haddish (movie, "Haunted ... See full summary  »

46. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.261 (2023)

Patrick and Brittany Mahomes at the premiere of his TV series, "Quarterback"; the cast of "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One";

47. Entertainment Tonight (1981– ) Episode: Episode #42.263 (2023)

The new cast members of "The Real Housewives of New York City"; the cast of "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; Melissa Joan Hart and her family do charity work in Zambia; ... See full summary  »

Stars: Kevin Frazier , Nischelle Turner , Rachel Smith , Brice Sander

48. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.266 (2023)

Tom Cruise (movie, "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One"; how Margot Robbie (movie, "Barbie") got Ryan Gosling to be her Ken;

49. Extra (1994– ) Episode: Episode #29.269 (2023)

Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One" co-stars talk about working with him; Sterling K. Brown's new movie puts his survival skills to the test;

50. Entertainment Tonight Canada (2005–2023) Episode: 4th July 2023 (2023)

Stars: Anne-Marie , Hayley Atwell , Carlos Bustamante , Belinda Carlisle

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Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star

Where to Watch

Thomas Arnold (Narrator) Tom Cruise (Self) A.A. Dowd (Self) Bilge Ebiri (Self) Dan Jolin (Self) Geoffrey Macnab (Self) Scott Mendelson (Self) Richard Roeper (Self) Paula Wagner (Self)

Tom O'Dell

From "Top Gun" to the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, Tom Cruise becomes the world's biggest movie star by risking life and limb to perform death-defying stunts.

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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.

My Impossible Mission to Find Tom Cruise

The action star has gone to great lengths to avoid the press for more than a decade. But maybe our writer could track him down anyway?

Credit... Illustration by Kelsey Dake

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By Caity Weaver

• Published July 17, 2023 Updated July 31, 2023

In an interview with Playboy in 2012, Tom Cruise described Katie Holmes as “an extraordinary person” with a “wonderful” clothing line, and someone for whom he was fond of “doing things like creating romantic dinners” — behavior that, he confided, “she enjoys.” It would prove to be his last major interview with a reporter to date. Despite what may be recalled through the penumbra of memory, this sudden silence was not directly preceded by either of Cruise’s infamous appearances on television: not by his NBC’s “Today” show interview (in which he labeled host Matt Lauer both “glib” and “Matt — MattMattMattMatt”), nor even by his appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” (in which he reverse-catapulted himself onto Winfrey’s fawn-colored couch multiple times in a demonstration of his enthusiasm for Holmes). Those incidents occurred seven years earlier, in 2005; Cruise emerged from the hex of public bewilderment unscathed. In fact, Cruise gave no indication that the interview, pegged to the musical-comedy bomb “Rock of Ages,” was intended to serve as a farewell address to journalists. At the time he sat for it, another life milestone was hurtling toward him: The month after the article was published, Holmes filed for divorce.

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In the decade since, the amount of verified information we have gleaned about Cruise’s real life could fit on a single flashcard, though it’s unclear why anyone would need to memorize it, since the details mainly consist of anecdotal trifles shared by other celebrities in interviews of their own: From James Corden, we know Cruise once asked to land a helicopter in James Corden’s yard . From Brooke Shields, we know Brooke Shields no longer receives the (by all accounts delectable) white chocolate coconut Bundt cake that Cruise famously sends to many beloved stars each holiday season. From Kyra Sedgwick, we know that there was a panic button under a fireplace mantle in one of Cruise’s homes . (She pressed it out of curiosity, summoning the police.) From Matt Damon, we know that during production of the fourth “Mission: Impossible” movie, Cruise had “a safety guy” replaced because he deemed a proposed stunt (in which Cruise scampers over the Burj Khalifa) “too dangerous.” Tom Cruise, Kate Hudson informs us, loves skydiving.

These facts sketch a portrait of a daredevil with a finite budget for cakes, but hardly a recluse. Cruise’s spurning of interviews makes him unique among his cohort — A-list, pathologically charismatic, wrest-butts-into-seats-type movie stars — whose success, it has long been assumed, derives from their ability to appear likable to mortals. They demonstrate this skill, traditionally, by exhibiting their personality in interviews. Every time Cruise turns down an interview request (through his representative, Cruise declined to be interviewed for this article), he makes a bet that just his being Tom Cruise, offering no further details about what that might entail, is enticement enough for people to watch his movies. Lately, more often than not, he has been right.

To see this clearly, perhaps it’s helpful to contrast Cruise’s career with that of Brad Pitt, his co-star in “Interview With the Vampire” (1994) and fellow member of a declining species: Hollywood leading men. Pitt has continued appearing in the kind of films (thrillers, comedies, romances, psychodramas, historical epics, etc.) that he and Cruise starred in throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In the past decade, audiences could find Pitt endeavoring to disappear into roles ranging from abolitionist to astronaut. In the same period, Cruise has starred solely in action films, which have depicted him fighting aliens, terrorists, fellow spies, a mummy and sundry other enemies of the United States. Rather than vanishing into roles, Cruise remakes them in his image. So fully has he melded his offscreen persona with that of the skydiving, cliff-jumping, motorcycle-parachuting pilots he portrays, these characters become mere receptacles of Tom Cruiseness. Cruise’s films tend to perform better than Pitt’s at the box office; his most recent endeavor, “Top Gun: Maverick,” outearned Pitt’s latest by about $1.4 billion. This summer, Tom Cruise will run, drive and jump at top speeds in “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” and Brad Pitt will star in nothing.

Cruise still takes part in promotional junkets and convivial late-night-talk-show chats, but his refusal to participate in the sort of in-depth journalistic interviews that (in theory, anyway) reveal some aspect of his true self has coincided, somewhat paradoxically, with an incredible surge in his commitment to infusing cinematic fantasies with reality. For unknown reasons it could be interesting to explore in an interview, reality has become very important to Cruise, who reveres it as a force more powerful than magic. It is vital to Cruise that the audience of “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” have the opportunity to witness not a C.G.I. production of a feat, or even a seasoned stunt performer executing a dangerous act, but real footage of him, Tom Cruise, the 61-year-old father of three from Syracuse, N.Y., riding a motorcycle off a cliff.

This fetish for reality has become a keystone of Cruise’s persona, to the extent that many of his public appearances now take place in flying vehicles. Rather than accept an MTV Movie & TV Award in person in May, Cruise filmed his acceptance speech from the cockpit of a fighter aircraft as he piloted it through clouds, politely shouting, “I love entertaining you!” over the engine’s roar. Delivering “a special message from the set of @MissionImpossible” to his followers on Instagram, Cruise screamed while dangling backward off the side of an aircraft, “It truly is the honor of a lifetime!”

But reality does not exist only in movies. What is missing from Cruise’s fervid documentation of ultrarisky, inconceivably expensive, meticulously planned real-life events are any details about the parts of his real life that do not involve, for example, filming stunts for “Mission: Impossible” movies. My own mission, then, was simple: I was to travel to the ends of the Earth to see if it was possible to locate the terrestrial Cruise, out of context — to catch a glimpse, to politely shout one question at him, or at least to ascertain one new piece of intelligence about his current existence — in order to reintegrate him into our shared reality.

Having lately made an effort to scrutinize any article that cast Tom Cruise as its subject, one of the few things that I can say for certain he has done since 2021, besides film two “Mission: Impossible” movies, is order chicken tikka masala from a restaurant in Birmingham, England, and then “as soon as he had finished” (per a tweet from the restaurant ) order the exact same chicken tikka masala “all over again.”

These days, Tom Cruise is hardly ever photographed in any situation other than shooting and promoting his films. (He was filming in Birmingham.) The paucity of paparazzi photos of the apparently chicken-loving actor can be at least partly attributed to his spending much time removed from America’s twin celebrity-entertainment control rooms: New York (where his ex-wife, Holmes, lives with their daughter) and Los Angeles (where, in 2015 and 2016, he reportedly sold multiple homes for a combined total just over $50 million). Years of speculation that Cruise lives or was planning to live in a penthouse apartment a five-minute walk from the “spiritual headquarters” of the Church of Scientology, of which he is a big fan, in Clearwater, Fla., appear never to have been realized, apart from an unsourced assertion published in The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, which mentioned that the audition process for co-stars in Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” “involved flying down to Cruise’s home in Clearwater. ”

To learn more about the possible activities of Tom Cruise, I turned to the person who, after Cruise himself, his family, his friends, his employees, his co-workers and anyone who has ever met — or, at least, interacted with — him, knows him best: a Brazilian woman who is quite possibly his most dedicated fan in the world. She spoke to me on two conditions: first, that I grant her anonymity; second, that I not identify by name, or characterize too specifically, the publicly available online repository of Cruise-related information she has maintained for over 20 years. Her concerns are both practical and legal: Practically, she isn’t sure if the operation, which may or may not play host to more than 132,000 images of Cruise, could withstand a large influx of traffic; legally, she did not wish to invite the scrutiny and possible copyright claims the attention might draw.

She started the operation when she was 18. Today she is in her early 40s and works as a librarian. More than two decades into the endeavor, a nostalgic melancholy permeates the fan’s reflections. Ten years ago, she said, she was often the first to widely disseminate the latest images of Cruise. Now, because of the superabundance of photo-sharing social media accounts, she must settle for merely having the most complete repository. New additions trickle in sporadically. She’s partial to the theory that paparazzi rarely capture photographs of Cruise in part because he is a real-life “master of disguise,” whom people fail to recognize on the street. Despite years of remote observation, of scrutinizing nearly every single image captured of the man, even she could not say definitively where Cruise lives. She did observe, however, that he appears to spend “most of the time” in Britain.

In fact, there is a strange rumor that Cruise bought a home in a tiny town called Biggin Hill, on the farthest fringes of London — the site of a small private airport that he has been known to use when filming in the region. The legend appears to trace back to an article published in the British tabloid The Sun in July 2021 about the actor’s 59th-birthday celebration. An anonymous source declared that Cruise had “only recently moved to” a house in Biggin Hill (average home price: £590,000), “which feels like it’s practically in the countryside.” The claim would accrue scant new details as it was repeated in British papers numerous times over the following year, apart from one: that Cruise’s residence “is set in 140 acres of stunning rural parkland,” inside a posh gated community near the airport.

Cruise, who has filmed parts of the three most recent installments of “Mission: Impossible” in Britain, has never publicly commented on the rumors. He did, however, confirm that he spends “a lot of time in Britain” in an exceedingly rare interview that appeared, inexplicably, in the September 2022 issue of Derbyshire Life magazine. “I guess I am an Anglophile,” Cruise told Derbyshire Life. “I love being in Britain because everyone is pleasant and will give you a nod or say hello without crowding you too much.” Elsewhere in the interview, Cruise expressed additional enthusiasm for auxiliary British topics, including politeness (“Being friendly doesn’t cost a bean, and I enjoy it”) and Derbyshire, which is, for the record, actually a considerable distance from Biggin Hill (“Wow! Derbyshire — what a fantastic place!”).

To determine if anyone who did not work in the British newspaper or chicken-tikka-masala industries had ever encountered Cruise on English soil, I sifted through Facebook posts, typing any permutation of “saw Tom Cruise” I could think of into the search bars of neighborhood groups for all of the Hobbit-ily named localities surrounding Biggin Hill (“Orpington”; “West Wickham”). I joined groups like “Westerham and Biggin Hill News friends Community fun views gossip” and pored over hundreds of responses to posts like “Think I just saw Tom Cruise driving down jail lane that’s impossible.” The flashes of Cruise that winked from the replies were tantalizing — “I’ve seen him blue Ferrari…jail lane…”; “Lives up Cudham drives blue Ferrari” — but there was no way to tell who was reporting accurate details about the comings and goings of Tom Cruise, who was mistaken and who was merely lying for fun. The only way to find out was to do what Cruise himself would do: grab onto the nearest plane and go, for real.

Next to the Biggin Hill Airport, there is a pocket-size hotel built to serve the crews and engineers of the private planes that fly in and out. The hotel, its website boasts, offers “great views towards London” — something just about any place on Earth could offer with the right window arrangement, assuming it was not already in London. The description of the property’s sleek teal-and-toffee-colored restaurant turned out to be even more specifically accurate: The view of the runway at Biggin Hill Airport was without parallel. At the bar, I pulled up a leather stool and ordered (not in these exact words) the worst Shirley Temple of my life, which cost $11. My fellow patrons had long since familiarized themselves with the contours of the small dinner menu; they had been stranded at Biggin Hill for some time, because the private jet of the billionaire for whom they were working had received — you hate to hear this — an estimated $10 million worth of hail damage. I asked a maintenance technician if he thought Tom Cruise really did have a house in Biggin Hill. He replied with unflinching confidence: “I know he does.”

In the same venue, a man so young he might have been a teenager, who at one time worked inside the airport, revealed to me that Cruise had a parking spot there, though it was unclear if he meant for a car or a helicopter. Most of the good people of Biggin Hill, when grilled about Cruise’s living arrangements, seemed genuinely to have no idea what I was talking about. These were the two camps into which, without fail, every respondent fell: Either they had never so much as heard the rumor that Cruise walked among them, or they were 100 percent certain that he did.

Upon reaching Keston Park, the only gated community in the area matching The Sun’s description, I discovered two things: first, that there appeared to be an illegally locked gate obstructing public access to the footpath that cuts through the neighborhood — whether the gate is impenetrable is a matter of ongoing dispute among the Bromley borough council, myself and many other aspiring path-takers who have submitted complaints about the locked gate to the borough website — and, second, that the biggest movie star in the world did not live there. That was evident through holes that carpenter bees had bored into the barbed-wire-topped fences protecting Keston Park from the wider world. The stately houses faced one another too directly. Their trees could drop acorns into another’s gardens. There was nowhere to conveniently land a helicopter.

Oh, well. These were Keston Park’s problems — not mine and probably not Tom Cruise’s. Tom Cruise, as he and I both now knew, was most likely secretly living at another estate I had turned up in my research — one that was even closer to the airport.

The distance between any two points within the general environs of Biggin Hill is insignificant by car, which is probably why I was unable to persuade any taxi driver to transport me between them. It is less insignificant by foot, and even longer, though much more scenic, if one attempts to traverse it by way of the aforementioned footpaths. These meandering trails tended to be spectacularly beautiful, bursting with a vernal lushness that was nearly pornographic. House-high frozen fountains of eensy white hawthorn blossoms shaded dusty walkways. Wild roses as pink as Country Time lemonade exploded from leafy hedges. Fragile sapphire speedwells, fat purple clover tops and buttercups strewn like gold confetti — these were merely the things it was impossible not to step on. The fluorescent green of the meadows recalled the grasses of another royal province — Super Mario’s Mushroom Kingdom. Poppies and toadflax sprang out obscenely from stone walls. Tom Cruise would be crazy not to live here , I thought as I stroked the soft, sun-warmed mane of a little white donkey. Let’s all live here .

Except, upon my arrival at the end of an idyllic woodland stroll, I discovered that Cruise did not live there either. There was, in the front yard of this residence, a garden gnome lugging buckets on a yoke, which didn’t seem like Cruise’s style, and the gnome was overturned, lying on its side — definitely not his style. I righted the gnome and ambled on, in search of another public footpath that would, I hoped, lead me to where Cruise actually lived. Instead, I accidentally wandered into what (I learned through being yelled this information) was not a public right of way but a field privately owned by a woman who berated me until I ran into traffic on a nearby road.

That night, with half my allotted exploratory mission time used up, I lay awake in the hotel built for the flight attendants of billionaires’ jets, miserable and panicked at my failure to do anything but incur thousands of dollars in expenses for airfare and one Shirley Temple. Surely this wasn’t all for naught; surely some meaning could possibly be derived from an interaction between a movie star and a magazine journalist — even a brief one, even one in which the movie star had already said (through his publicist) he did not wish to participate, even one in which the star was not present, since some understanding of some dimension of his life could doubtless be gleaned through a study of his surroundings. But what if Cruise has been so successful in removing himself from our world that I would never find any trace of him? What if Cruise had evanesced into a high-octane mist of pure entertainment? Did I have time to just go to every single house in England and check if Cruise was home? How big was this nation? Why was the sun rising now, in the middle of the night? What time was it?! Had I accidentally not gone to sleep all night?

I had one more idea.

On my first day in town, I had stopped at a pub for lunch. I was told that there was a funeral going on and that there was an hour wait for food, but that if I ordered something simple like a sandwich, the wait would be less, so I ordered a sandwich, which actually took 90 minutes to arrive and was so, no offense, disgusting-tasting that I turned around and asked a middle-aged man sitting at the picnic table behind mine if he would like half a sandwich (no) and if it always took so long to receive a sandwich at this pub (unclear) and if it was true that Tom Cruise really lived nearby. “He’s here,” the man said to me.

“Do you know?” I asked. “Or are you guessing?”

“He’s definitely around here, that’s for sure,” he said. “I know where he is.”

At first, with the cagey pride of one who knows the favored hovering spot of an actual ghost, who acts as self-appointed doorman of the thin place between worlds, the man made a show of not telling me where. But then, on his way out, he materialized at my elbow and proffered three “clues” (his word).

“It’s within two miles of the airport,” he said. “Look for the biggest house. And I mean — ” his voice dropped to a whisper, “ — the biggest .”

“It’s a very famous house,” he said. “The anti-establishment of slavery started there.”

I was aware of this property from my earlier research. It was a colossal butter-colored manor once owned by a prime minister, William Pitt the Younger. I had eliminated it from contention as a possible Cruise residence because it was sold in 2018 (£8.5 million) to a used-car magnate who, at least judging by an article from 2020 that I read in Car Dealer magazine, appeared to be quite comfortably ensconced in it. But it was only a few miles away. On foot, the journey could be completed in just over an hour.

How, exactly, I ended up on the edge of that woman’s privately owned field again, I have no idea. The expedition to that point had seemed to take me through brand-new areas. All of a sudden, I noticed that the path had dissipated into dense forest. This is just like what happened yesterday, when I trespassed in that woman’s field, I thought, then looked up and spotted her house in the distance.

I panicked. I frightened a badger — likewise, babe! — and bolted through the forest as quickly as I could in a new, randomly chosen direction. This deposited me into a vast, previously unencountered field. On all previous paths, vigorously growing cow parsley had stood on slender stems, about shin high. Here, upright hordes of it grazed my shoulders, while fallen comrades entangled my ankles. Needles of true panic pricked my nape under sweaty hair. Statistically speaking, I assured myself, it was unlikely I would be trapped in this field so long that I would die there.

Although — wouldn’t it serve that woman right if I did die in this field, so close to her own, where I was not allowed? “That would teach her a lesson,” I said into the audio recorder I had brought in case I encountered Tom Cruise. Have to “find some way to notify her,” I explained. (Of my death.) Hopefully she would see my picture in a — newspaper! That would be another good thing about dying out here, I told the recorder. It would “serve” the editor who recklessly assigned me this article — who had irresponsibly approved my travel budget — “right.” It would probably ruin his life, or at least his work life. God, would he be fired? Certainly, at the very least, he would get in trouble. You should never have sent her to a small English town . Would our boss tell him not to blame himself? Hopefully not — I am dead because of him! I didn’t want to die, of course — but if it did happen, at least I would die doing what I loved: making people feel bad and be in trouble deservedly. I had yet to clearly develop a mental image of my widowed husband’s second wife when I realized that I had stumbled, midfield, upon a dirt path leading into a neighborhood. I ran down it — in, I was shocked to discover, the exact direction of the used-car dealer’s palatial estate.

The public footpath alongside the property — which, if a man drinking outside a pub at 2 p.m. is to be believed, is inhabited by Tom Cruise — looked like the aisle down which a fairy princess would glide at her wedding. Actually, no, even nicer: It was like the flower-strewn tunnel of light she would pass through following her death (from being viciously yelled at for walking in a private field BY ACCIDENT) on her journey to eternity. It wound beneath protective arches of graceful branches trailing heaps of white and pink blossoms. A gentle, constant wind rippled the flowers just enough to allow dappled sunlight to illuminate a trail through their lovely shade. So vast were the grounds, so lush the foliage, that the home itself was not visible from any vantage point. I listened for the distant throaty cry of a blue Ferrari, but heard only bird song.

The recorded owner of the estate made no response to my later attempts to contact him, to ask if, perchance, Tom Cruise (possibly in elaborate disguise) could be living in his house. Even if Cruise has no connection to the residence, this absolute lack of response serves to further obscure his existence. Not only is it impossible to determine where he lives — it isn’t even possible to determine where he does not live. The distance between Cruise and the average human remains unshrinkable. At a time when social media renders movie stars ever-present in the public field of vision — accessible to some extent through whatever scrupulously vetted personal information they share, but also broadly trackable via webs of celebrity-watching accounts that widely disseminate photos and rumors — Cruise has distinguished himself by becoming a comet. When, between protracted absences, his inscrutable orbit brings him back into Earth’s visible realm, he briefly commands the simultaneous attention of all its peoples: “Thank you to the people of Abu Dhabi,” read a June post on his Instagram account, alongside a photo of him greeting a crowd at a “Dead Reckoning Part One” premiere. (Also appreciated and acknowledged by their servant-sovereign for their attendance at other “Dead Reckoning Part One” premieres: “the people” of Rome; “everyone” in Seoul.)

At the conclusion of this promotional cycle, after Cruise has thanked everyone for allowing him to create world-class summer cinema, he will almost certainly disappear, not to be heard from again until next year, at which point his re-emergence will proclaim the arrival of “Dead Reckoning Part Two.” This vanishing, while perhaps rooted in avoidance of a press corps that asks questions he doesn’t want to answer, is massaged into something like a sacrificial duty to audiences. In disappearing the moment his work is through — always, like Santa Claus, with the promise of return — Cruise retains the mystique that so many Hollywood stars have lost this century. He goes away so that audiences may experience the thrill of his reappearance, and delight in the promise of movie magic he heralds.

Of course, it is possible that Tom Cruise does not even know that the gargantuan house in the quiet English village exists. But if we assume, perhaps foolishly, that he does live there, I did ascertain one new detail about his reality: He was in the process of having the long private driveway that weaves through the woods and stretches to the unseen manor beyond redone. It looks awesome.

Caity Weaver is a staff writer for the magazine. She last wrote about going on a package trip for youngish people.

An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the plane from which Tom Cruise accepted an MTV Movie & TV Award. It was a fighter aircraft, not a fighter jet.

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Tom Cruise Seen Sprinting Down Street in London as He Shoots Next Mission: Impossible Movie

The eighth 'Mission: Impossible' film, which does not yet have a title, is expected in theaters May 23, 2025

Mega / Dean - Click News And Media / SplashNews.com

Tom Cruise is showing no signs of slowing down in the next Mission: Impossible movie.

On Sunday, Cruise, 61, was seen sprinting down a street in London while filming a scene for the upcoming eighth film in his signature action franchise. The actor could be seen wearing a black suit with a white shirt opened at the top, with fake blood drenched over his chest while filming the sequence.

Cruise most recently appeared as his Mission: Impossible character Ethan Hunt in last year's Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning , which made $172 million at the  domestic box office . Dead Reckoning also earned the franchise its first-ever Academy Award nominations when it received nods for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound at the recent 96th Oscars ceremony.

A title for the upcoming eighth Mission: Impossible movie has not yet been announced. The next film was originally set for release on June 28, but production delays related to 2023's SAG-AFTRA strike forced the film to restart production in the fall and delay its release until May 23, 2025, as Deadline reported back in October.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Dead Reckoning left Cruise's character Ethan Hunt and series regulars Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) at odds with villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) and forging new alliances with characters like Grace (Hayley Atwell) over a battle for control over a sentient artificial intelligence.

James Gourley/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

The eighth Mission: Impossible film is just one movie among a number of projects Cruise has in development. In February, PEOPLE confirmed Cruise will star in the next movie from The Revenant filmmaker  Alejandro G. Iñárritu , while The Hollywood Reporter  reported in January that Paramount is developing Top Gun 3 as a sequel to Cruise's major 2022 success Top Gun: Maverick .

Cruise, known for his penchant for performing his own stunts, was recently seen climbing the iconic Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills on March 16 accompanied by a film crew. A representative for Cruise did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Monday. While it's unclear what Cruise was filming on Saturday, the stunt did not appear related to the next Mission: Impossible film.

Mission: Impossible 8 is expected in theaters May 23, 2025.

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One critically-panned box office hit from Tom Cruise is ripe for a remake, and the perfect cast can be found in the leads of 2023's rom-com success.

• Casting the leads from 2024's successful rom-com, Anyone but You, could elevate a remake of Tom Cruise's 1988 Cocktail movie.
• The success of 2024's Road House remake suggests modern remakes of divisive '80s classics can work today.
• Glen Powell's Top Gun role proves he could successfully replace Tom Cruise in a potential Cocktail remake.

With Road House (2024) paving the way for more modern remakes of cult classic ‘80s thrillers, the potential for Tom Cruise’s 1988 movie Cocktail to be remade could work better by casting the leads from 2023’s big rom-com success. The 1980s was an incredible decade for entries in the so-bad-they’re-good action/thriller subgenre , with movies like Patrick Swayze’s Road House failing to impress critics but remaining beloved for their lack of self-seriousness and entertainment value. The cast of 2024’s Road House remake maintains this sentiment in the remake of the 1989 film, with its divisive success making additional remakes of movies of this vein more likely.

While not as fondly remembered as Road House , another ‘80s hit that falls into this category is Tom Cruise’s 1988 movie Cocktail . The movie follows Cruise’s Brian Flanagan, a business student working as a successful bartender, whose relationships with his coworker Doug (Bryan Brown) and romantic interest Jordan (Elisabeth Shue) lead to a series of unexpected twists and turns. Though the film holds a meager 9% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it was a smash box office smash, earning $171.5 million against an estimated budget of $20 million (via Box Office Mojo ). Following Road House ’s success, it could finally be time to give Cruse's Cocktail the modern remake treatment .

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Glen powell & sydney sweeney would be perfect for a cocktail remake after anyone but you, the two actors could fill the shoes of tom cruise and elisabeth shue.

One crucial factor contributing to the success of Doug Liman’s 2024 Road House remake was its compelling lead cast, with action star Jake Gyllenhaal taking over Patrick Swayze’s character from the original while UFC champion Conor McGregor assumed the cartoonish villain role . Similar to Road House ’s remake requiring an actor with Swayze’s star power and charisma, a Cocktail remake would need an actor with comparable allure to ‘80s-era Tom Cruise for Brian Flanagan . Likewise, with Elisabeth Shue having been one of the biggest female stars of the ‘80s, a Cocktail remake would need an actress of similar popularity and appeal to step into the role of Jordan Mooney.

Anyone but You (2024) and Cocktail (1988) are available to rent or purchase from digital retailers like Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.

If Cocktail does get a remake, these casting requirements can easily be found in the leads of the 2023 hit movie Anyone but You . Though also divisive among critics, Anyone but You was a certified box office smash as it went on to earn over $216 million against a $25 million budget. In addition to a witty script and fun premise, much of Anyone but You ’s success can be attributed to the casting and chemistry of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney as the two romantic leads. In 2024, Powell and Sweeney aren’t too off from the cards that Cruise and Shue brought to the table back in 1988 for Cocktail .

Much of Anyone but You ’s success can be attributed to the casting and chemistry of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney as the two romantic leads.

Powell already had rom-com experience with films like Set It Up ahead of Anyone but You , but made a bigger name for his action roles in movies such as Top Gun: Maverick , Devotion , Hit Man , and, now, the upcoming Twisters sequel movie . Meanwhile, Sweeney has proven widely popular with audiences after her roles in Euphoria , The White Lotus , and Immaculate , and both actors prove increasingly bankable with each new release. With the original Cocktail movie’s negative critical and audience response making it ripe for improvement , Powell and Sweeney could provide the star power a remake would need to successfully adapt the same-named 1984 novel.

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Remaking cocktail sounds better than anyone but you 2 for powell & sweeney, anyone but you doesn't need a direct sequel.

Following the success Anyone but You , Sweeney and Powell announced they were reading scripts and searching for their next collaboration together. While some have thrown around the idea of returning to Bea and Ben’s story with a potential Anyone but You 2 movie , the original movie being based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing makes a sequel unnecessary. Rather, it seems more likely that Powell and Sweeney’s “sequel” will be a completely different film that pairs them as romantic leads.

It seems more likely that Powell and Sweeney’s “sequel” will be a completely different film that pairs them as romantic leads.

This was a common tactic for 1990s romantic comedies, which would see romantic leads like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts and Richard Gere reunite in another rom-com instead of making a direct sequel to their past success. Consequently, with Sweeney and Powell searching for their next film collaboration, a remake of Cocktail could provide a fitting follow-up to Anyone but You . With Powell playing Brian and Sweeney playing Jordan, the duo would just need to find a new Doug to enhance their existing chemistry, potentially creating the perfect recipe to improve upon Cruise’s original movie.

Road House 2024's Success Proves Remakes Of Divisive '80s Thrillers Can Work Today

The bar is set lower, but it needs to maintain '80s movie's tone.

Remakes of 1980s hits don’t always work out, with some proving to be unnecessary if the original was already a hit and a product of its time. However, there are some notable exceptions, with Amazon’s 2024 Road House movie being one of them. The Road House remake’s Rotten Tomatoes score is already better than the 1989 original (59% compared to 43%), and smashed records for Prime Video’s movie premiere viewership numbers to prove its popularity among audiences. Though many fans of the original may reasonably remain more loyal to Swayze’s 1989 iteration, it’s difficult to deny the entertainment value and success of the remake.

Considering Cocktail has a much less beloved reputation than 1989’s Road House , remaking the Tom Cruise film isn’t apt to come with as much apprehension or high expectations. With an already divisive original movie, there isn’t as big of a risk of “ ruining ” the original, as the bar is relatively lower when aiming to improve upon certain aspects of the first film that didn’t initially land with critics and audiences. Of course, with cult classics, it helps if the remake maintains the tone of the original, such as 2024’s Road House protecting the campiness and lack of self-seriousness of the 1989 film.

Top Gun: Maverick Highlights How Glen Powell Could Replace Tom Cruise's Brian In Cocktail

Powell and cruise's characters share similar qualities in top gun.

A potential Cocktail remake wouldn’t be the first time that Glen Powell has stepped into an ‘80s-based Tom Cruise property. Powell starred in Cruise’s 2022 hit Top Gun: Maverick as Hangman , who served a role similar to Val Kilmer’s Iceman from the 1986 original movie. Consequently, it’s already clear that Powell has qualities similar to Cruise in that era, which would make him taking over a character that Cruise originated easier to grasp.

The greatest way to make [a Cocktail remake] more enticing would be to get Tom Cruise to return as well.

Similar to Hangman or Maverick, a character like Brian Flanagan has an air of cockiness and confidence that contrasts with his need to prove himself. Powell’s past movies have demonstrated that he could take on this type of character successfully, having to balance the cockiness and heroism of his Top Gun character with the earnestness and rom-com lead chops of his Anyone but You role. While Powell and Sweeney potentially starring in a Cocktail remake would already give it a leg up, the greatest way to make it more enticing would be to get Tom Cruise to return as well.

Source: Box Office Mojo

Anyone But You

Anyone But You is a romantic comedy by director Will Gluck starring Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell. Sweeny and Powell star as Bea and Ben, two strangers with an incredible first date that goes sour following one incident at the tail end. Thinking the worst is behind them, the two are roped into a destination wedding in Sydney, Australia, where they'll have to pretend to be a couple despite absolutely hating each other.