is tom cruise fearless

Column: ‘Top Gun’ casts Tom Cruise as the hero in the film and at the box office

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In the roll-up to “Top Gun: Maverick,” people keep saying Tom Cruise is the last real movie star and I don’t get it.

How else would a reasonable person describe Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Will Smith (pre-slap), Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa McCarthy, Scarlett Johansson, Octavia Spencer … well, you get the idea.

For the record:

11:09 a.m. May 27, 2022 An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the seventh “Mission Impossible” movie opens in July. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One” will be released in July 2023, with part two opening in 2024.

Apparently, those folks are not quite up to the mark. Apparently, to be a real movie star you have to act exclusively in movies (someone needs to break the news to, among many others, Dames Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith — and allow me to be present while they do so).

You also need to have a name that, on its own, can conjure audiences and multiple franchises out of thin air.

If that is the criterion for a movie star, then to paraphrase Elizabeth Bennet’s remark to Mr. Darcy, I rather wonder that anyone knows any.

(Also, what is Liam Neeson ? Chopped liver?)

That said, there is no denying that Cruise has accepted the mantle of last movie star — or at least the movie star determined to save the film industry single-handedly.

It is a role in which he is quite convincing.

Whether shouting at the crew of “Mission: Impossible” over violations of COVID-19 protocol because the industry is “looking at us and using us to make their movies” or insisting that “Top Gun: Maverick” be a theatrical-only release and prefaced by a big, splashy, event-driven and very expensive publicity campaign of the sort that is rarely seen anymore, Cruise is here to remind us that the industry will not die on his watch. Not if he can help it.

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While, you know, continuing to risk life and limb doing his own stunts in his “Mission: Impossible” films, the seventh of which is set to open in July 2023, because doing his own stunts is what a real action hero does — as he recently said in Cannes : “Would you ask Gene Kelly why he does his own dancing?”

In many ways this moment is simply an extension of his career, particularly in the later years: Against all odds and expectations, Tom Cruise comes through to save the day.

It all matches up nicely with the plot of “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which Cruise’s aging (ha!) title character is enlisted to prepare a group of elite pilots for a dangerous mission, even though everyone involved believes he is washed up. It’s hard not to see this as a wink at Cruise himself, who, despite appearing preserved in ice for the last 20 years, is closing in on 60.

Read a different way, every “dinosaur” crack aimed at Maverick (and there are many) could be directed at a film industry struggling to preserve the theatrical experience in the age of prestige TV and streaming wars.

That Maverick’s nemesis is played by Jon Hamm , who as “Mad Men’s” Don Draper did as much as any single person to put television in the alpha position, makes it even more pointed.

And honestly, who among us won’t be thrilled if Cruise triumphs in life as in the movies? Who won’t cheer if the absurd and exhilarating “Maverick” gives the movie industry the big win it so desperately needs ? If we must briefly genuflect before the enduring charm of Cruise’s boyish grin, the power-twitch of his jaw muscles and his frankly eerie ability to still rock a tight T-shirt, well, it seems a small enough price to pay.

But the last real movie star? I don’t know. Hollywood has been predicting the extinction of this species for decades but even in, say, the late ’90s, when Julia Roberts smiled down from every billboard, Tom Cruise existed in a separate part of the stratosphere.

Handsome in a Preppiest Senior way, always giving 200%, he took himself and his career very seriously. Even with the occasional turn in a serious or arty film — “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Magnolia” — his film choices seemed to revolve around maintaining a high-octane, leading-man image.

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Dec. 16, 2020

There was, for many years, very little drama about Cruise. No addictions or benders or on-set tantrums, no politics. Though he always looked great on a red carpet, you couldn’t imagine him pranking or palling around with his fellow celestials. And as a performer he worked almost exclusively in a genre that is best described as, well, “Tom Cruise.”

He could land a one-liner but he wasn’t a comedian; he was swoon-worthy but not really sexy. He ran in every movie (he still does) and played a lot of soldiers or ex-soldiers but there was, inevitably, at least one scene in which his eyes would well with tears.

He never played a superhero, but many of his characters had superhuman tendencies, and for years Cruise himself appeared indestructible. He survived two Hollywood divorces, including one from Nicole Kidman, without putting so much as a scratch on his dream-boy-next-door vibe.

And then, in 2005, he went on Oprah to promote “War of the Worlds” and introduce his new girlfriend, Katie Holmes.

Though not in the same league as, say, slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, Cruise’s couch-jumping insistence that he was really, truly, with-sprinkles-on-top in love was, and remains, completely bizarre. Like the moment when the first Stepford wife glitches, it forced the world to suddenly wonder, “What is up with this guy?”

Well, Scientology is one of the things that was up with this guy, and as the organization faced increasing scrutiny, so did Cruise.

No one would argue that he stopped being a movie star that day — half of the “Mission: Impossible” and all of the Jack Reacher movies lay before him, along with “Valkyrie,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” a perfectly hilarious performance in “Tropic Thunder” and, of course, “Top Gun: Maverick.” (We will draw a veil over “Knight and Day” and “The Mummy.”)

But he stopped being the kind of movie star he had been. Gone were the complex character-driven hits, replaced almost completely with action pics and sequels.

Partly it was the slow fade of midlevel movies, which had begun long before. But while folks like George Clooney and Meryl Streep struggled to keep them alive, no one looked to Tom Cruise for help.

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By 2012, when his divorce from Holmes was followed by a Vanity Fair cover story about the role the Church of Scientology played in his life and marriages, Cruise was not making the Hollywood power lists. He had already become more supersoldier than superstar, playing men who were charming and highly competent but isolated, consumed by their work and fixated on the next mission.

Some of which appeared to describe Cruise as well. Every “Mission: Impossible” was now heralded by news about the actor doing his own increasingly difficult stunts. During the sixth film, he broke his ankle jumping from one rooftop to another and still pulled himself up and got the take.

And an entire publicity tour based on the incident.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Cruise seems completely uninterested in characters facing down middle age or parenthood or even the pain and wisdom that come with time. In “Top Gun: Maverick,” Cruise’s title character is continually reminded that he is too old for his fighter-pilot job, but he cannot move on and the story doesn’t want him to.

Because he is needed right where he is.

Which is where Cruise finds himself right now, determined to prove there’s life in the old movie industry yet.

It’s important to remember that Cruise is not the only — or even the biggest — audience draw at work. “Top Gun: Maverick” is a long-awaited sequel to an iconic film; people want to see the jets as much as the leading man.

To be fair, these particular jets wouldn’t exist without Tom Cruise. So even if he isn’t the last real movie star, he could be the one who helps remind people that movies don’t need a multiverse to be big and loud and superfun.

That sometimes a killer smile is all the superpower you need.

Review: Tom Cruise flies high — again — in the exhilarating ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

The actor teams up with director Joseph Kosinski and reunites with Val Kilmer in this grander, weightier sequel to the 1986 blockbuster.

May 12, 2022

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Mary McNamara is a culture columnist and critic for the Los Angeles Times. Previously she was assistant managing editor for arts and entertainment following a 12-year stint as television critic and senior culture editor. A Pulitzer Prize winner in 2015 and finalist for criticism in 2013 and 2014, she has won various awards for criticism and feature writing. She is the author of the Hollywood mysteries “Oscar Season” and “The Starlet.” She lives in La Crescenta with her husband, three children and two dogs.

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Tom Cruise Had ‘No Fear’, Says Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Star Vanessa Kirby About the Motorcycle Stunt

"he kind of believes he can do the impossible and then he does...".

By now, a good section of the internet knows about the daring motorcycle stunt by Tom Cruise. The scene was teased in the trailer of the upcoming movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Speaking about the scene, star Vanessa Kirby revealed just how fearless Tom Cruise was for a scene this dangerous.

Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh instalment in the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise. The franchise, and Tom Cruise at the heart of it, has always looked to offer exhilarating action and stunt scenes in the movies.

Fearless stunt

There’s one such scene in the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One where Tom Cruise can be seen riding a motorcycle off a large cliff with a parachute on his back. Recalling this scene, Kirby said Tom Cruise did the take multiple times in a day to get the shot right and showed absolutely no fear while doing it.

“He did it many times in one day. He did it consecutively … and repeatedly so he could capture all the different angles and sides of it ... He was just so calm. He had no fear. He just found it exhilarating,” Kirby told Screen Rant .

“That kind of belief in cinema and what one could achieve and his passion for it is so inspiring. He kind of believes he can do the impossible and then he does… I love being a part of the franchise. I’m really excited to come back,” Kirby added.

Vanessa Kirby is set to return to the Mission: Impossible franchise as The White Widow, who made her first appearance in Mission: Impossible – Fallout in 2018. As for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, the movie will be released on July 12 this year.

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Best Stunts of 2023

Screen Rant

8 most dangerous mission: impossible stunts (& how they were filmed).

The Mission: Impossible movies are known for their dangerous stunts and Tom Cruise's daring efforts. Here's how the most dangerous ones were filmed.

Tom Cruise's action franchise has become known for its spectacle, and these are Mission: Impossible 's most dangerous stunts. The movies and their star have made a conscious effort in recent entries to raise the levels of danger to new heights. This has not only meant bigger threats for Ethan Hunt and the IMF with each new installment but the Mission: Impossible stunts have also continued to become more elaborate and death-defying. While the action movies feature plenty of actors who do their fair share of fighting and stunts, Tom Cruise is at the forefront of Mission: Impossible 's most dangerous stunts.

The challenging action scenes performed in each new Mission: Impossible movie have become all the more impressive to watch thanks to a commitment from Cruise and the franchise's directors and stunt teams to do them practically. While even some Mission: Impossible stunts require help from CGI occasionally, real danger is present throughout many of the franchise's biggest sequences. The increasing interest in and praise for the movies shows that the peril Tom Cruise goes through is paying off. The result is complicated filming and prolonged training for Cruise to make the most Mission: Impossible stunts possible.

Related: Is There Anything Tom Cruise Won't Do For A Mission: Impossible Stunt?!

8 Mission: Impossible 1's CIA Rappel Stunt

1996's Mission: Impossible is arguably best remembered for its tense rappel stunt performed by Tom Cruise. The sequence revolves around Ethan Hunt and his IMF team breaking into the CIA to get the NOC list. To avoid setting off a series of alarms, this means rappelling from the ceiling through a vent to use the computer and access the data. The rather ordinary rappel stunt becomes more dangerous thanks to a slip that sends Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt falling to the floor, only to be caught at the last possible second, where he is only centimeters off the ground.

While this is certainly not the most dangerous Mission: Impossible stunt in the movies, the rappel stunt still put Tom Cruise in harm's way. He repeatedly smacked his face on the floor while trying to do the scene practically. It got to the point where director Brian De Palma planned on changing the scene and splitting the fall and balancing act into two shots. Cruise begged for a final attempt and put coins in his shoes to help balance himself. With the last take, the star managed to hold himself suspended above the floor as he fell, allowing the Mission: Impossible stunt from coordinator Greg Powell to happen.

7 Mission: Impossible 2's Cliff Rock Climbing Stunt

Tom Cruise's return for Mission: Impossible II kicks off with a grueling and impressive stunt. It shows Hunt enjoying his time between missions by practicing his rock climbing skills on the side of a cliff in Moab, Utah. Instead of playing it safe with a harness and other rock climbing gear, the Mission: Impossible stunt shows IMF's agent in a free climb that tests his strength, flexibility, and endurance as he scales. It is a very memorable sequence from the film that immediately puts audiences in a position where they can worry about the well-being of Cruise's character, especially as he hangs on with only one hand.

Filming Mission: Impossible 2 's rock climbing stunt was slightly less dangerous than presented in the movie. Tom Cruise did wear a safety harness to ensure that the movie star would not fall hundreds of feet to his death if he slipped at any point. However, the sequence from coordinator Keith Campbell is almost entirely done by Cruise, and the harness is only there for safety measures. The Mission: Impossible stunt was so daring that director John Woo would not watch each attempt. It also injured the franchise lead, as Tom Cruise tore his shoulder while performing the jump between cliff sections.

Related: Every Martial Art Ethan Hunt Uses In Mission: Impossible Movies

6 Mission: Impossible 4's Burj Khalifa Stunt

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 's Burj Khalifa stunt is highly regarded as one of the most impressive and dangerous sequences in the entire franchise. Taking place in the movie's second act, the sequence revolves around Ethan Hunt climbing up the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,722 feet tall. The Mission: Impossible stunt scene sees Hunt travel 11 stories up the side of the building using adhesive gloves, only for one of them to malfunction mid-climb. It features a terrifying fall for Cruise after he attempts to cut through the glass windows, only to run down the side later and jump through the air to safety.

The danger factor in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is fairly high for the Burj Khalifa climb. Tom Cruise did have a safety harness attached to him the entire time while filming the Mission: Impossible stunt in real life, even if the movie presents Hunt's ascension as a plan with no room for error. Still, climbing up, running down, and jumping off the side of the tallest building in the world while nearly half a mile above the ground is inherently dangerous. It was only after detailed training that Tom Cruise was able to successfully pull off one of Mission: Impossible 's most dangerous stunts from coordinator Gregg Smrz.

5 Mission: Impossible 5's Plane Stunt

The opening scene of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation immediately brought audiences back to watching Tom Cruise perform a dangerous stunt. The sequence involves Ethan Hunt as he attempts to board a cargo plane in Minsk, Belarus, and clings to the side of the aircraft as it takes off. Viewers watch as the fearless IMF agent holds tight to the side thousands of feet in the air, and it looks excellent as director Christopher McQuarrie and stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood manage to capture it practically. This was not a moment where powerful fans and sets were used, but rather literally putting Tom Cruise on the side of a plane.

Filming the Mission: Impossible plane stunt required eight takes of Tom Cruise hanging onto the side of an Airbus A400M. The production did take the necessary safety precautions and attached a harness with cables to Cruise, ensuring that he would stay aboard the plane as it reached speeds of 260 mph. However, the high speeds and danger of flying nearly a mile in the sky meant putting the star in a special harness that bolted itself to the plane. While Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 's plane scene was done as safely as possible, any mistake or loose wire would have meant the end for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.

Related: Mission: Impossible's Wild Tom Cruise BTS Stories Explain Why Its So Great

4 Mission: Impossible 5's Underwater Stunt

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation delivered another dangerous stunt for the franchise when Ethan Hunt was tasked with an underwater mission. It required him to jump into a high-security, fully-submerged chamber to swap out computer chips. The task becomes much more complicated for Hunt once he is down there, as he drops the chips and the water begins to flow through, creating a strong current that he has to fight. It culminates with Ethan Hunt not being able to open the necessary escape hatch, only for Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust to rescue him before he dies.

This Mission: Impossible stunt differs from the franchise's other stunts for various reasons. The completely enclosed underwater location could not be used practically in a safe manner, so the stunt was filmed in a pool with a green screen around it. This meant Ethan Hunt's surroundings were completely CGI, but the danger Tom Cruise put himself in was still very real. He learned to hold his breath for six minutes to complete the stunt. This required extensive training with breathing specialists and stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood that Cruise and Ferguson had to partake in. But the end result of one of Mission: Impossible most dangerous stunts speaks for itself.

3 Mission: Impossible 6's HALO Jump Stunt

Tom Cruise, director Christopher McQuarrie, and stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood delivered one of the franchise's most breathtaking sequences with Mission: Impossible - Fallout . The film's HALO jump stunt was used all over the film's marketing campaign to show glimpses of a sequence where Tom Cruise skydives. The sequence shows Hunt as he jumps out of a plane at the start of a mission and then needs to help save Henry Cavill's August Walker . It happens as they fall through a lightning storm and is presented as one single take of Tom Cruise flying through the skies.

Filming the HALO jump in Mission: Impossible - Fallout is arguably the most complicated feat for the franchise. It required filming three different types of jumps for Cruise and syncing his initial jump with a fall backward by the cameraman. It also presented a challenge by being a nighttime shot, which meant the production only had one attempt per day. Tom Cruise did all the jumps and air maneuvers, as even the helmet he wore for oxygen was specially made for the film to provide light to his face. However, some CGI was used to add the storm elements and stitch together various takes of the jumps.

Related: Why Mission: Impossible 6'S Helicopter Scenes Were So Hard To Film

2 Mission: Impossible 6's Helicopter Stunt

Another very dangerous Mission: Impossible stunt came thanks to Mission: Impossible - Fallout 's helicopter stunt . There are multiple pieces to the action sequence, initially beginning with Ethan Hunt hanging onto a rope beneath a helicopter. He goes on to climb the rope and take control of the helicopter, allowing a chase through the mountains between him and August Walker. It culminates with a crash in the mountains, leading to the final confrontation between Hunt and Walker.

Once again, Tom Cruise practically did everything in the Mission: Impossible 6 helicopter stunt as possible. He dangled from the helicopter, climbed the rope below, and stood on the side of it with only a harness protecting him from falling to Ethan Hunt's death . However, there was still great danger presented through Hunt's slip and fall to the payload below the helicopter. Cruise fell through the air and could have broken his neck and died if he did not land on the payload correctly. There was also plenty of room for his errors to put himself in danger as Tom Cruise flew the helicopter through the mountains.

1 Mission: Impossible 7's Bike Cliff Jump Stunt

Even before Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 's release, the movie's bike cliff jump stunt is being touted as the most dangerous Mission: Impossible stunt yet. The sequence involves Tom Cruise riding a bike off a cliff and launching into a free fall before deploying a parachute. It is only due to Cruise's perfect execution that Mission: Impossible 7 's stunt was pulled off successfully. The Mission: Impossible stunt did require some CGI to remove the ramp required for the jump in real life, but everything else is done practically by Cruise where crashing the bike, messing up his parachute, and more would have meant certain death.

More: Mission: Impossible 7's Bridge Stunt Controversy & Backlash Explained

Key Release Dates

Mission: impossible - dead reckoning part one, mission: impossible - dead reckoning part two.

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Tom Cruise jumps from helicopter to thank fans for 'Top Gun: Maverick' success

"mission: impossible" star tom cruise proved to be fearless as he casually flew through the sky in youtube clip.

'Top Gun: Maverick' star shares lesson he learned from Tom Cruise

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ star Jay Ellis tells Fox New Digital if a sequel is coming, and reveals that Tom Cruise reminded the cast ‘daily’ they were ‘making something special.’

Tom Cruise showed off just one of the many stunts he's learned through the years as one of the highest paid action stars in Hollywood.

Ahead of "Top Gun: Maverick" making its way to Paramount+ streaming network, Cruise thanked fans for supporting the film in theaters, just as he intended with its long-anticipated debut earlier this year. 

In true Cruise fashion, Tom went above and beyond with his message of gratitude, and slipped on a parachute and goggles for a solo freefall dive over the ocean.

"Maverick" became Paramount Pictures' biggest hit having grossed a worldwide total of $1.488 billion. The Golden Globe-nominated film also marks Cruise's personal best when it crossed the $800 million marker in June 2022.

EMILY BLUNT SAYS TOM CRUISE'S VULGAR ADVICE HELPED HER THROUGH TEARS ON ‘EDGE OF TOMORROW’ SET

Tom Cruise jumped out of a helicopter while filming the latest "Mission: Impossible" movie in South Africa. (The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins )

"Hey everyone, Here we are over sunny South Africa," Cruise said as he sat along the edge of the helicopter while wearing a parachute and gloves. "And we're filming ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ parts one and two."

He added, "I didn't want the year to end without thanking you all for coming out to the theaters, and thank you for supporting "Top Gun: Maverick."

As he caught his breath between words, Cruise introduced Christopher McQuarrie, the writer and director of "Dead Reckoning."

"Listen we really gotta roll, we gotta get this shot," McQuarrie told Cruise. 

TOM CRUISE PARACHUTES OFF A MOUNTAIN WHILEL FILMING ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8’

"Oh ya, we're filming. We gotta get this shot. Are you coming?" Cruise asked McQuarrie. 

Tom Cruise not only flies helicopters in his movies, but also has his own commercial pilots license. (Robyn Beck/AFP)

Tom Cruise's sequel film "Top Gun: Maverick" was nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes. (Skydance Media/Paramount Pictures)

"Not on your life. Good luck," the director responded, to which Cruise said, "We'll see you down there."

Without hesitating, Tom casually jumped out of the plane and began free-falling through the sky.

"As always, thank you for allowing us to entertain you. It truly is the honor of a lifetime," he said while launching toward the ground without a care in the world. "Very lucky.

"I'm running out of altitude, so I better get back to work. We gotta get this shot. You have a very safe and happy holiday. We'll see you at the movies." 

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Cruise revealed in May that "Top Gun: Maverick" would "never" make its theatrical debut on a streaming network despite years of setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tom Cruise played Maverick in the 1986 movie "Top Gun."  (CBS)

Director Joseph Kosinski, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Jay Ellis, Greg Tarzan Davis, Lewis Pullman and Jon Hamm attend "Top Gun: Maverick" during Cannes film festival in May (Dominique Charriau)

"Maverick" was initially supposed to be released in July 2019 through Paramount Pictures but was postponed in August 2018 "to allow the production to work out all the complex flight sequences," according to Deadline.

When asked if he felt pressure to release the film in any capacity on a streaming network, Cruise assured the audience in excerpts published by The Hollywood Reporter, "That was not going to happen ever. That was never going to happen."

He talked about insisting on performing his own stunts despite the obvious safety risks at hand: "No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance? Why do you do your own dancing?'"

Cruise first starred as Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, in 1986. He worked with Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins and Anthony Edwards.

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Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to [email protected].

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When You're Not Tom Cruise, Filming Mission Impossible Action Scenes Is "Terrifying"

Tom Cruise loved doing Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 stunts. What about the rest of the cast, though?

By Chris E. Hayner on July 11, 2023 at 1:31PM PDT

Anytime a new Mission: Impossible movie lands in theaters, viewers watch in awe as star Tom Cruise repeatedly does what we all assumed was the sort of thing no human should try, taking on the most over-the-top and action-packed stunts we can imagine. Whether it's jumping motorcycles off of mountains or thrilling car chases through the tiny streets of Rome , Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 seemingly has some of Cruise's best stunt work to date. And while he--on the surface--seems fearless in the face of these feats, the rest of the cast doesn't necessarily agree.

Warning: The following contains very light spoilers about two action sequences in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1.

"It is very terrifying," Read Reckoning star Greg Tarzan Davis tells GameSpot. "I won't lie, it's very terrifying." Davis was merely a passenger in one of the cars involved in the car chase through Rome, but even without the responsibilities of driving the car, he made it clear how intense the experience was.

"What makes it even harder is there are these cameras attached [to the car]," he continued, detailing his experience. "It was kind of blocking [co-star] Shea [Whigham's] vision... I don't know if I was more scared for my life or more scared for Shea knocking one of the cameras but he did a great job."

Hayley Atwell, making her Mission: Impossible debut as Grace, was also in the car chase. The big difference? She was handcuffed to Cruise the entire time. Preparing for that means months and months of training.

"I trained for five months, as well as doing unarmed combat and stunt choreography and working with knives and guns. I learned how to drift," she said, adding that she worked closely with stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood on her driving and drifting abilities. "He would also position himself as the camera, so I would have to do a 180 and skid and stop just into a close up," Atwell added.

Much like Whigham, Atwell often had her vision obstructed while she was driving and Cruise was, well, seemingly doing several different tasks at once, in addition to holding on while the car sped around Rome.

"It got to a point where in Rome, I drift in front of the wedding cake monument while Tom Cruise is handcuffed to me in the passenger seat, a place he never wants to be literally or metaphorically," she said jokingly. "And I'd have to drift [and] do donuts while the cameras were rigged to the windscreen, so I couldn't quite see where I was going. And then at the same time, Tom would be playing with lines and really searching for sort of gestures or ad-libbing certain things. And I would have to work out whether it was Tom telling Haley to actually slow down or take a left, or it was Ethan telling Grace, in which case Grace is going to probably do the opposite. Or if it was Tom suggesting what I should say, as Grace. So there was a lot going on and it is insane.

It's so messy, and to have Tom Cruise--being handcuffed to him, with his life in your hands, it's not for the faint-hearted."

Of course, the car chase is just one of the incredible stunts in the film. Another showstopper sees Cruise launching his motorcycle off a mountain, allowing him to base jump onto a speeding Orient Express train, or at least a well-made recreation of the iconic train that's used in the movie.

Throughout the course of the scene we not only watch Cruise do battle with the film's villain (Esai Morales), but also come face-to-face with Whigham and Davis as they try to capture him. While neither man did the motorcycle jump Cruise carried out multiple times, standing atop a speeding train isn't exactly the easiest environment to work in.

"I lost the shoe during the filming of that scene," Davis admitted. "And when you see the shoe goes off of the cliff and into the river, you like, 'That could have been me. How many more takes we have of this?'"

Still, the cast all stepped up to the place. Why? Nobody puts it more succinctly than Whigham.

"Because it's Tom [and] because it's [director Christopher] McQuarrie, you just do it," he said. "You do it without thinking about it."

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 is in theaters now.

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Simon Pegg Is Terrified Every Time Tom Cruise Does a Mission: Impossible 7 Stunt

Simon Pegg fears for Tom Cruise's life whenever there is a stunt being done on the Mission Impossible 7 set.

Tom Cruise is considered one of the most fearless action stars to ever live, thanks to the death-defying stunts audiences have seen him perform over the years. For Simon Pegg, Cruise's co-star in the Mission: Impossible franchise , the action stunts are more a source of worry than wonder, as he explained to Conan O'Brien.

"When you watch the movie and you see [Tom] do the stunts, and it's nail-biting and there's a real sense of genuine kind of peril and you know that it's him. But you know he survived because he was on Good Morning America that morning and he did some press. When we watch him do it, we have no idea if he's going to survive. So he rides a bike off a cliff, and everybody's just waiting for, 'Good canopy, good canopy, anybody?' It's terrifying."

In a CGI-infested blockbuster landscape, Tom Cruise has carved out a distinct niche for his action films by keeping the stunts as real as possible, instead of shooting the whole thing in front of a green screen. It was actually Cruise who was jumping from one mountain cliff to the next on location in the iconic opening sequence of Mission: Impossible 2 .

Similarly, it was Cruise actually filming underwater and holding his breath for six+ minutes in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation , and it was actually Cruise who broke his ankle jumping from one building to another for Mission: Impossible - Fallout .

Despite turning 58 this year, the actor shows no signs of stopping. He is set to complete the final two installments of the Mission Impossible series, which director Christopher McQuarrie has promised will feature even more death-defying stunts.

"We've figured out three obscene things that he's doing that I'm terrified of, that make the helicopter chase [from Fallout ] look like tinker toys."

Once he wraps up his iconic spy franchise, rumor has it that Cruise plans to finally retire from the action genre. But before that can happen, the actor has signed up for one last hurrah in what could be his most ridiculously dangerous project yet. Earlier this year, NASA announced that it was teaming up with Tom Cruise and Elon Musk to film an action movie helmed by McQuarrie that is set in actual space.

With other actors, making a space movie would involve green screens and extensive wirework. But in his signature style, Cruise plans to train along with his cast and crew to be able to work in space, after which the film team will be launched into the stratosphere to shoot the movie in a real zero-gravity environment.

So it seems the days of Simon Pegg worrying over Cruise's safety are far from over. But while the element of danger is indeed staggering, audiences continue to be riveted watching Cruise do his thing onscreen, one heart-stopping action scene after another.

Mission: Impossible 7 features Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Shea Whigham. The film arrives in theaters on November 19, 2021, while Mission: Impossible 8 releases on November 4, 2022.

Mission Impossible 7 star shares how Tom Cruise fearlessly jumped his motorcycle off cliff

This is the reason he is paid the big bucks. Is there anything he can't do?

Mission: Impossible has led Tom Cruise to achieve some genuinely impossible milestones in the action genre. The actor has jumped between two skyscrapers using a rope and a harness. He has climbed over Burj Khalifa, or more accurately, fallen off it. He then hung by the side of a cargo plane before holding his breath underwater for six minutes. And then he broke his foot while jumping over rooftops. And he’s done it all on his own.

After all this time, you would be forgiven for failing to imagine what more he could bring to this table of craziness. How about jumping off a cliff on a motorcycle – six times!

That’s the centrepiece stunt in Tom Cruise’s next venture as IMF’s Ethan Hunt – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning . Some BTS footage shows he jumped off the cliff by racing his motorbike on a rail set up specifically for the stunt and then descended on a parachute, leaving the vehicle crushed. In order for the production crew to capture all angles, he did the same deed six times on the same day. 

While fans are always addictively awaiting Cruise’s physically and mentally challenging action stunts, his co-stars are equally in awe of him. Vanessa Kirby, who plays Alanna Mitsopolis, a.k.a White Widow, in the film series, shared how ‘fearless’ Cruise was even while jumping more than a thousand feet to the ground, in a recent conversation with Variety .

“He did it consecutively … and repeatedly so he could capture all the different angles and sides of it. He was just so calm. He had no fear. He just found it exhilarating.”

Further praising Cruise for his belief in his work and his passion for the craft, Kirby continued:

“That kind of belief in cinema and what one could achieve and his passion for it is so inspiring. He kind of believes he can do the impossible, and then he does…I love being a part of the franchise. I’m really excited to come back.”

Vanessa Kirby’s character will find roots in the series’ beginning as she plays the daughter of Max, whom Hunt arrested in the very first Mission: Impossible . 

This is not the only crazy stunt Cruise has shot for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I. Recently it was revealed that he has also shot an action sequence on a high-speed moving train. Director Christopher McQuarrie recalled the difficulties of shooting that particular scene, which he says he wouldn’t have done if he had known the challenges . 

Nevertheless, in the end, after more than 33 months of extensive shoots , Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I is all but ready for release. It’s being teased as a visual spectacle that will outdo everything the 60-year-old actor has done previously. 

The film is scheduled to release in theaters on July 12, 2023. 

7 best Tom Cruise 1990s movies, ranked

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Top Gun 3 Update: Jerry Bruckheimer Says Tom Cruise Has Been Pitched a 'Story He Liked' (Exclusive)

While Jerry Bruckheimer says Tom Cruise liked a story pitch for 'Top Gun 3,' he notes Cruise is "a very in-demand actor and he's got a lot of movies lined up"

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Plans are in motion for Tom Cruise to take to the skies again in a third Top Gun movie.

Jerry Bruckheimer , the producer behind Cruise's 1986 hit Top Gun and the 2022 box office sensation Top Gun: Maverick , tells PEOPLE "we're working on" Top Gun 3 as he promotes his new movie with filmmaker Guy Ritchie , The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare .

"We pitched Tom a story he liked. But he's a very in-demand actor and he's got a lot of movies lined up, so we have to wait and see," Bruckheimer, 80, adds.

When asked what might surprise fans about Cruise, 61, Bruckheimer immediately points to the actor's work ethic. "How hard he works," he tells PEOPLE. "A lot of actors, they finish the day, they get in their car and they go home. Tom stays around, talks to the other actors, looks at the film that they shot, wants to know what's happening tomorrow. He's really engaged in every part of the process."

Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett

Top Gun: Maverick grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office following its release in 2022. The sequel was the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office that calendar year and currently stands out as the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time in the U.S. and 12th-highest in the world.

When asked what the movie's success more than 25 years after the first Top Gun means to him, Bruckheimer tells PEOPLE, "Oh, it's fantastic."

"Just the fact that we can entertain so many people around the world was something that we worked so hard on. It is just the best there is," he says. "Just to stand back in the theater and watch an audience applaud and cry and laugh. Laughter is the best thing in the world."

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. 

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Bruckheimer's next movie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, is   in theaters April 19. The producer teamed up with director Ritchie, 55, for a film that stars Henry Cavill as a British special ops agent during World War II.

"I've been a fan of his since [1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ], way back when he was a young pup," Bruckheimer says of working with Ritchie. "It's been a long time trying to get him. Finally, [we] got him."

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Damn right Tom Cruise is angry, but he’s not alone

But was he right to let rip at his crew on Mission: Impossible for not social distancing?

I know ’tis the season of goodwill to all men, but goodwill is in short supply and anger is everywhere. (Happy Christmas!) Most days now, I feel angry after five minutes of reading the news.

I was furious when I read that Unicef was helping to feed British children for the first time in its history and remembered the Spanish businessman who was given £21m by the government for acting as a go-between to procure PPE for the NHS. No wonder the mood is tense, on the roads and in the shops, in town centres, in parks. People are tetchy and on edge. Anger is a close friend of anxiety, of course. We are worried.

When the Sun published a three-and-a-half-minute recording of Tom Cruise shouting at crew members on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 last week, the reaction was largely supportive of Cruise. The actor was furious about crew members who had flouted Covid rules by standing less than a metre away from each other.

He sounds like a man under pressure. He shouts about conversations with studios, insurance companies, producers, about creating thousands of jobs and the responsibility of ensuring that thousands of people don’t lose theirs. “We are not shutting this fucking movie down!” he roars.

He is compelling. Movie stars are all poise and propriety, especially these days, when most are too scared to whisper anything that might provoke even a difference of opinion. Hearing an actor without their actorly charms is, to paraphrase Mean Girls , like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. Many seem to have found Cruise’s anger cathartic. Anger is cathartic, after all, in the moment that you let it free. Cruise is talking about doing things safely and correctly.

I have felt the urge to go a bit Tom Cruise almost every time I see someone in the supermarket having a leisurely chat over the tinned tomatoes. Stock up and move on. We are not shutting this fucking aisle down! But I don’t lose my rag with strangers. I huff so quietly under my mask that nobody can hear me.

Cruise is under a lot of pressure. He believes he is carrying the weight of the movie industry on his shoulders. I have had bosses who shout like that, mostly in kitchens, and while it makes them feel better, you can’t say it does much to boost staff morale. But these days, we are mad and we are worried, and anger is in the air, and nobody is immune.

Christopher Nolan: using his mind, not his phone

As a person who has spent a considerable part of the week watching strangers do impressions of Keira Knightley, I was filled with envy when I read that Christopher Nolan does not have a smartphone. In an interview with People magazine, the Tenet director said that he does not use email, but he does have a flip phone and he likes to call people when he has to talk about work.

“I’m easily distractible so I don’t really want to have access to the internet every time when I’m bored,” he said, clearly not aware of the delights of Knightley impressions. “I do a lot of my best thinking in those kind of in-between moments that people now fill with online activity, so it benefits me.”

Nolan has made some of the most mindbendingly creative films of recent years, all predicated on concepts that, admittedly, probably would have been harder to come up with if he had also been doom-scrolling past school friends’ baby news and mask-based memes.

Focusing has been a challenge this year and my online activity has rocketed. I don’t feel better for it. Perhaps 2021 might be a time to embrace the boredom of the in-between.

Keira Knightley: inspiration for unforgettable impressions

Early in the pandemic, a meme appeared that quickly went viral. You probably saw it. It showed a cartoon man wearing a face mask, with his nostrils poking out over the top. “Wearing your mask like this,” it read, “is like wearing your underwear like this.”

In a second picture, you can imagine what flops over the top of the underwear. That neural pathway has been burned into my brain; every time I see someone out in the wild with their mask like that, the second picture instantly pops into my mind.

Now, I can’t see Keira Knightley without thinking of her as one of the weird number of Keira Knightley impressions that keep appearing on Instagram and TikTok . I saw one, and then they were everywhere, like when you mention a brand in passing conversation and it’s all you’re advertised to for the next three months. There is a whole cottage industry of people pretending to be Knightley for comic effect. In some clips, she is mute. In others, she speaks coyly . She tastes snow. She considers suitors. Gender is irrelevant – it is about the pout.

Impressions had not been in vogue for a while, but 2020’s lockdowns and stay-at-home orders have really revived the art. Take a bored comedian , give them a phone, a social media platform and a sideways take on what an impression should look like and this year, that has been enough to create bona-fide stars. I am not sure why Knightley is suddenly such a popular turn, but I might have spent more time than I should have trying to perfect it.

Rebecca Nicholson is an Observer columnist

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Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ Partner Claims Cruise is Fearless

Vanessa Kirby , Tom Cruise ‘s Fearless Co-Star in “ Mission: Impossible ”

Vanessa Kirby, known for her role as White Widow in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” recently opened up about Tom Cruise’s daredevil stunts during filming.

Kirby recounted a jaw-dropping scene in Iceland where Cruise parachuted off a motorcycle, plunging off a cliff with unwavering fearlessness. She described how Cruise performed the stunt multiple times in a single day, capturing every possible angle.

Even in high-pressure situations, Cruise’s calm demeanor never wavered. According to Kirby, he exuded a fearless attitude and found the experience exhilarating. His unwavering belief in the power of cinema and his ability to achieve the impossible served as an inspiration to the entire cast and crew.

So excited to share what we’ve been working on. #MissionImpossible pic.twitter.com/rIyiLzQdMG — Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 19, 2022

In a previously shared clip, Cruise revealed his most ambitious stunt yet, dubbing it the “greatest stunt in cinema history.” The scene involved a daring motorcycle jump off a cliff in Norway, combining elements of base jumping. Cruise expressed his lifelong desire to attempt such a feat, driven by his dedication to entertaining the audience.

To execute this remarkable stunt, Cruise meticulously planned every aspect, enlisting a team of experts from various disciplines. Wade Eastwood, the second unit director and stunt coordinator, emphasized the extensive training and preparation involved, including a year of base training, advanced skydiving techniques, and mastering canopy skills.

The footage unveiled Cruise’s unwavering commitment as he flawlessly performed the stunt six times in a single day. The audacious nature of this undertaking left director Christopher McQuarrie in awe, teasing that their plans for “Mission 8” are even more heart-stopping.

Fans can anticipate the seventh installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, set to hit theaters on July 14. Kirby expressed her excitement about returning to the beloved series and being part of Cruise’s relentless pursuit of cinematic greatness.

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Tom Cruise Is ‘So Busy’ That ‘You Never Know’ When ‘Top Gun 3’ Will Get Made, Says Franchise Producer: He ‘Really’ Likes the ‘Wonderful Story Idea’

By Zack Sharf

Digital News Director

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Tom Cruise is a busy man, which makes it all but impossible to put a timeline on when “ Top Gun ” fans might finally get to see a third installment in the beloved action-drama franchise. Variety confirmed in January that Paramount was developing “Top Gun 3”  and had tapped its “Top Gun: Maverick” co-writer Ehren Kruger to work on the screenplay. Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer now tells ScreenRant he has no idea when Cruise might even have free time in his schedule to shoot the third “Top Gun” film.

Cruise is currently filming “Mission: Impossible 8,” which will serve as the sequel to last year’s “Dead Reckoning.” Paramount is also behind that action franchise. The studio is hoping that “Top Gun: Maverick”   director Joseph Kosinski will return to helm the next “Top Gun” movie. Bruckheimer now confirmed Kosinski came up with the story idea for the next sequel. “Top Gun” newcomers Glen Powell, Miles Teller and more are likely to return.

“People looked at me like I knew what was going on,” Powell told Variety at Sundance earlier this year about the next “Top Gun ” movie. “There is going to be some fun stuff being announced soon…but it was confidential to me. I talk to [Joseph] Kosinski, Cruise and Jerry [Bruckheimer] all the time. There is stuff happening and it sounds very exciting. I don’t know when I’ll be going back…I’m sure there is a jet waiting for me sometime in the future.”

“Top Gun: Maverick” was a huge hit for Paramount, which tried for decades to find a way to get Cruise back in aviators. The film was nominated for the Oscar for best picture and grossed nearly $1.5 billion, making it the most popular film of Cruise’s career.

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JAN MOIR: I know he's a charismatic gnome but even as a Hollywood A-lister devoted to dare-devilry, Tom Cruise gives me the creeps

By Jan Moir for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:20 EDT, 19 May 2022 | Updated: 21:21 EDT, 19 May 2022

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He is the last man standing, the straightest of straight arrows and according to some the only true A-list film star left in the world.

He is courageous, ageless and fearless but nevertheless, Tom Cruise slightly gives me the creeps.

It's irrational, it's unfair, but I can't help it.

In the Big Jan Book Of Bad, my groundless beefs against Tom include the oppression of his sincerity, the thickness of his hair, his continuing devotion to dare-devilry and the lavish humility he extends at every opportunity.

'No one asks Gene Kelly 'why do you dance, why do you do your own dancing?' he said this week, when someone asked him why he does his own stunts. So modest!

He is courageous, ageless and fearless but nevertheless, Tom Cruise slightly gives me the creeps. It's irrational, it's unfair, but I can't help it

Approaching his 60th birthday, Tom is the Dorian Gray of action films, a man who will strap himself to the outside of a fuselage the way that most men will strap themselves inside a car. This is supposed to be marvellous, but isn't it also a little weird?

Even Daniel Craig allows stuntmen and experts to take over, now and again. Even Daniel draws the line at piloting his own planes or helicopters in films. Not our Tom.

Over the years, Cruise has burnished his reputation as a risk-taker extraordinaire and a seeker of onscreen authenticity; he has dodged explosions, leapt off cliffs, clung onto the door of an airplane, hung out of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai and escaped from an exploding fish tank, all while keeping his manly jaw clenched and firm.

But there is one thing this Hollywood hero is scared of — old ladies! That's where he draws the line — at the genuine and the realistic. And that is his biggest crime of all in my book.

Over the years, Cruise has burnished his reputation as a risk-taker extraordinaire and a seeker of onscreen authenticity; he has dodged explosions, leapt off cliffs, clung onto the door of an airplane, hung out of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai and escaped from an exploding fish tank, all while keeping his manly jaw clenched and firm

In case you somehow missed the onslaught of publicity, Cruise's hotly anticipated new film, Top Gun: Maverick, is about to be released. It has taken 36 years for this sequel to the Eighties classic to be made, which sees Cruise return as Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and features a special appearance by Val Kilmer — aka 'the Iceman' and Maverick's old rival turned wingman — now elevated to Admiral Tom Kazansky.

Kilmer, 62, lost his voice to throat cancer and his resurrected part in the new film will be spoken by an AI machine.

But where are the women from the 1986 original? Excuse me. Simply nowhere to be seen. Vaporised by the Hollywood Age Patrol, the girls have somehow fallen off their perch and simply ceased to be.

Despite the fact that this is a sequel, there is no role for the two actresses who were the beating emotional heart of the original film.

Nothing for Kelly McGillis (now aged 64) who played Maverick's girlfriend (and 'Top Gun' instructor) 'Charlie' and is not even mentioned in the new film. And nothing for Meg Ryan (60), who played Carole, the wife, then widow of Maverick's best friend 'Goose', and mother of his son, Bradley.

Carole returns, but is played by actress Jean Louisa Kelly, who is ten years younger than poor old Meg. This means Jean was actually only 14 when the original film was made, and would have given birth to her fictitious son Bradley when she was only ten years old, but that's Hollywood for ya!

In case you somehow missed the onslaught of publicity, Cruise's hotly anticipated new film, Top Gun: Maverick, is about to be released. It has taken 36 years for this sequel to the Eighties classic to be made

We all know that the film industry is no place for old women, especially not at the side of the world's leading man. Such a shame, as their presence would have lent a poignant charge to the film and depth to the shared hinterland.

Yet if age is allowed to pass at all in Hollywood it is only on the faces of men, not women. Even now.

Actresses and big stars such as Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Aniston have all carried on working into their 50s and beyond, but mostly only by producing their own projects and religiously keeping within the beautiful parameters of the Hollywood aesthetic.

Kelly McGillis ruled herself out of the new Top Gun role by saying that she was 'too old and fat' for a return performance. 'I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about,' she said.

She's right, of course. It is only men like Tom who can Cruise on for ever, assured of their place and status among the hegemony of Hollywood.

He does have a new love interest in the film, a character played by Jennifer Connelly, who is 51, but come on, she could be pass for a dozen years younger at least.

It's a bit depressing, but perhaps we should be grateful for any sisterly crumbs thrown our way in this celluloid celebration of men and their machines. No doubt Tom will do what Tom does best — burn up the action and steal every scene, on and off the big screen.

And all of a sudden, my least favourite man is everywhere. He's on the red carpet at Cannes. He's bought a house in Biggin Hill. He's sending his famous Tom Cruise coconut cakes to everyone. He even turned up at the finale of the Royal Windsor Horse Show show a few days ago, trotting around like the prize stallion he is, flicking his lustrous and preternaturally chestnut mane.

Some accused him of turning the historical pageant to mark the start of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations into the Tom Cruise Show, but I like to think perhaps he was there in person to tell Her Maj that just like Jennifer and Meg, she also failed to get a role in his new film on account of her age.

Meanwhile, the charismatic gnome continues to mesmerise all in his path.

'He made proper eye contact. He is a class act,' said Phillip Schofield after interviewing him for ITV, sounding brainwashed and bewitched. 'Tom is so, so exceptional,' said Jennifer Connelly who was probably gifted a Tom Cruise coconut cake but didn't eat it, like Kelly might have done and I certainly would.

Why does he try so hard to make everyone like him? For me, the uncomfortable suspicion lingers that it has to do with his role as a leading Scientologist and that underpinning all his generosity and charm and ubiquity is a wish to promote not just a film, but also his chosen religion on an unsuspecting world.

That is why even after all these years, Tom still takes my breath away — just not in the way he thinks.

Of course people are struggling — but stealing is still stealing

As the cost of living crisis escalates, prepare yourself for more handwringing from the front line of foolishness.

First out of the traps, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, who warned price rises would ‘trigger an increase in crime’.

Andy Cooke risked the fury of struggling retailers by suggesting officers should use their ‘discretion’ when deciding whether to prosecute food shoplifters who may be ‘stealing to eat’.

One could argue that it is either wrong to steal or it is not, and we shouldn’t burden officers with having to make moral and ethical decisions — that is a job for the courts.

But what are we talking about here? We are not living in some Ken Loach fantasia where a desperate young mother steals formula milk from her local Tesco. More likely to be someone slipping four shrink-wrapped fillet steaks into his jacket, maybe to sell down the pub later. It is never acceptable to steal. If officers turn a blind eye, where does that leave honest, law-abiding citizens who budget every week and forgo luxuries?

What crimes are going to be exempted next on the grounds of need and not want? Benefit fraud, burglary, car theft, Rolex snatching? Let us not forget that there are many safety nets to ensure that no one starves in modern Britain. A benefits system. Food banks. Charities. Churches. Endless Tory MPs and Jack Monroe giving instructions on what to do with a bag of lentils and a parsnip.

Where do we draw the line? Is it OK to steal tins of soup and cereal, but not OK to steal smoked salmon and a crisp white wine to go with it? Who is a chancer and a crook, who is really in need and who is to decide? Don’t ask Andy Cooke. He doesn’t know either.

At home with the Girl Dad

It has been reported that Harry and Meghan have let cameras into their home to film everyday life Chez Sussex.

Reality TV, here they come!

But it was only ever going to be a matter of time. I’m looking forward to the episode where Harry creeps around in his Girl Dad T-shirt and polishes Meghan’s jewellery with Goop products before he goes to bed at 3am, only to get up two hours later to peel the papayas for her breakfast and unroll her yoga mat.

It was four years ago this week that the couple got married, can you believe it? Four years since that glorious day and four years since all that public affection was tossed aside in their bid for glory and Netflix deals.

Their new paymasters want the intimate series to be ready this year, no doubt to cash in on the release of Harry’s potentially explosive memoir.

What on earth can the pair of them say about the Royal Family that they have not already said? No doubt they will think of something suitably damaging.

For what else are the Sussexes going to do? Being associated with royalty is all they’ve got. By U.S. celebrity standards, they are distinctly second division.

Little wonder that Netflix has axed 40-year-old Meghan’s animated series Pearl, while interest in Harry’s Invictus Games documentaries appears to be limited to a minority audience.

What happens after this? Surely after ladling scandal from the royal life they purported to hate so much, the punch bowl is finally empty? We’ll see.

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Pass me the earplugs, Ma’am. I have to confess that the Platinum Jubilee concert line up is far from inspiring — Queen, Craig David and Diversity? Although perhaps we should be grateful that Katherine Jenkins doesn’t appear to be on the bill.

Meanwhile, nothing is going ahead without those other queens, Elton and Rod, making a contribution; alongside those well-known British stars and favourites of Her Majesty — Alicia Keys, Nile Rodgers and Andrea Bocelli. Still, my excitement is mounting. Bunting has started appearing in London, while corgi biscuits and socks are now on sale.

Is it wrong to want one of those divine Barbie Queen dolls?

Just asking for a friend.

Proof BoJo still has his mojo 

Kenneth Branagh’s transformation into Boris Johnson (left) looks absolutely amazing — he could even stand in for him at PMQs. And probably do a better job!

A friend of mine is a Boris lookalike and regularly gets shouted at on the streets of London.

Amazingly, the hecklers are remarkably affectionate. And people in pubs are always trying to buy him pints of beer.

All of which suggests to me that Boris is still regarded with a degree of fondness by the public; one that often goes unnoticed and unremarked upon.

Yes, even now.

Share or comment on this article: JAN MOIR: I know he's a charismatic gnome but Tom Cruise gives me the creeps

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Pathaan Action Director: "Tom Cruise Is A Fearless Actor, SRK Is Just The Same"

"they are both true professionals in their craft and so talented," said casey o'neill.

Shah Rukh Khan in a still from Pathaan . (courtesy: YouTube )

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan made a power-packed comeback on the big screen with Pathaan . The film released on January 25 and is still running successfully in theatres. Emmy award-nominated Casey O'Neill, who planned and executed some of the breath-taking, adrenaline-pumping action sequences in Pathaan has heaped praises on SRK, drawing similarities between him and Tom Cruise. Casey said, "They are both true professionals in their craft and so talented. Tom Cruise is a fearless actor who lives and breathes his craft and wants to push the envelope when it comes to his body and his cinema to only entertain audiences. SRK is just the same."

He added, "Shah Rukh Khan has pushed his body, he has unlearnt and learnt action to deliver Pathaan as an entertainer like no other. Both are driven and committed lovers of cinema who will do whatever it takes to make the audience happy. I have worked with Tom on many and exciting films. We all have enjoyed working with each other through the years. It was a pleasure working with another global movie star like Shah Rukh Khan and seeing him transform into an action star that no one has ever seen before."

He described SRK as an "exceptional athlete and performer."

"SRK can adapt into many different action sequences and excels in the process of movie magic for the big screen. He is a true gentleman and an amazing actor and I was honoured to be a part in the making of Pathaan with him and the entire crew," Casey said.

Casey has also worked in planning the Lake Baikal (Siberian frozen lake) sequence in Pathaan .

He revealed, "In collaboration with director Siddharth Anand, we came up with an exciting chase on the snow and ice taking into consideration the vast beauty Siberia has to offer. This showed up in such dramatic fashion and really made the action of that scene look like no other. The deep blue ice was an exceptional backdrop for the chase on Lake Baikal which was an adventure in itself shooting in the elements on a tight schedule before the ice melted."

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Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Pathaan also stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Do you often go to the cinema?

Whether it’s because of budget constraints or concerns about hygiene (like the current bedbug problem in Paris), there are many reasons why people prefer watching movies on the small screen. However, many would argue that the experience of watching a film in a dark movie theater is unparalleled, especially for visually spectacular films like Oppenheimer, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Dune. So, what will be your choice? Hollywood star Tom Cruise has made his decision – he chooses to go to the cinema.

When Tom Cruise hides in the crowd

It has been revealed by the media that Tom Cruise has a habit of blending into crowds to watch films. In 2021, he attended a preview screening of Christopher Nolan’s film Tenet in London, and later shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying it was a great film and that he loved the experience of watching it on the big screen. This marked the reopening of cinemas after the COVID-19 lockdown.

Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it. pic.twitter.com/DrAY5tRg5P — Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) August 25, 2020

“I love it, I watch movies like some people listen to pieces of music,” Tom Cruise explains, as reported by FandomWire. “I’m talking about any kind of films from all over the world.” It is clear that Tom Cruise is a true film enthusiast, and this is not the first time he has risked being recognized to enjoy a movie in a dark theater, as mentioned in another part of the article.

Beyond just blending into the crowd, it’s important to remember that Tom Cruise is a major star with a bright future ahead of him. Recently, he appeared in Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, with the second part set to be released next year. Despite being 61 years old, the actor continues to impress with his work.

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