By Mallory Mattingly
Have you ever wanted to know how Tom Cruise prepares for his insane MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE stunts? It starts with a big breakfast.
In his upcoming film, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING, Cruise took on a stunt he has always wanted to do: wing-walking. This involves the actor walking on the wing of a plane in mid-flight.
“I actually eat a massive breakfast,” he told PEOPLE of how he prepares. “The amount of energy it takes — I train so hard for that wing-walking. I’ll eat, like, sausage and almost a dozen eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and fluids. Oh, I’m eating! Picture: It’s cold up there. We’re at high altitude. My body is burning a lot.”
But where did Cruise even get the idea for this stunt?
“I remember seeing old footage of wing-walking. Those aircraft were only traveling at, I don’t know, 40, 50 miles an hour. This aircraft is up to over 120 miles an hour. Going out there, I was realizing that it takes your breath away,” he explained.
While some might think there are some green screen effects or even CGI incorporated into Cruise’s stunts, stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood emphasized that the actor really did all those scenes mid-flight.
“Everyone will think we did some on green screen on the ground,” Eastwood told PEOPLE. “I guarantee there was not one single shot that was not on a plane flying for real.”
Cruise does all of his own stunts so that the audience can feel more connected to the role he’s portraying.
“You’re not going to feel as connected with the character if I went with a regular mask and a thing in my mouth to breathe,” Tom Cruise said. “Luckily, when you’re flying jets, you train for hypoxia and for carbon dioxide buildup. You start to be able to perceive your body and how it’s reacting, so that I knew when to stop.”
Cruise shared a video on his Instagram of the intense scene of him wing-walking. Viewers can see the struggle Cruise went through to shoot that particular scene.
“We’re just weeks away. We’ll see you at the movies,” Cruise captioned the post.
From the air to underwater, Tom Cruise’s dedication to his stunts takes him to the extremes.
Last fall, he shared a photo of himself training underwater and said, “The training and preparation we put into this film is a culmination of all before it. From the depths, to the skies, I can’t wait to share more with you.”
Catch all the action starting on May 23.
Read Next: Tom Cruise Teases Thrilling MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING Stunts
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