Without question, Tom Cruise is Hollywood’s last great action star, and he has rightfully earned that reputation through his persistence in performing all of his own stunts to entertain his audiences no matter the risks involved. John Woo learned of Cruise’s persistence during the production of “Mission: Impossible II,” when the actor wouldn’t take no for an answer from the director when it came to tackling the cliff-climbing scene.
“The first time [he asked] I refused, because I was angry and worried. But he was begging me to do it,” Woo told Letterboxd. “I was so scared, I couldn’t even bear to watch the monitor. But we set it all up, and he’s climbing up there by himself, and I’m sitting there praying, ‘Jesus, please don’t let anything happen.’ He had no protection, so it was very scary, very dangerous. But the scene turned out really great.”
With so much at stake, Woo admitted to Letterboxd that word surrounding the cliff-climbing stunt was initially kept private: “I didn’t let the studio know about it. Or the insurance company!”
At least studios and insurance companies can take comfort in knowing that Cruise extensively prepares for his stunts. In fact, Cruise jumped out of a plane over 500 times for his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning training to do his motorcycle cliff scene.
