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Mission: Impossible Star Tom Cruise on Iconic Wire Stunt in 1996 film

It's hard to believe it's been 25 years since Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt made his debut in the theatrical adaptation of Mission: Impossible. One of the most iconic stunts involved his character infiltrating a highly secured facility and hacking into a computer without setting off sensors while suspended via a wire harness held on by Krieger (Jean Reno). To promote the upcoming Blu-ray anniversary release from Paramount (via Hollywood Reporter), the actor spoke with director-screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie about his physical struggle maintaining balance and not accidentally touching the floor.

Mission: Impossible Star Tom Cruise on Iconic Stunt in 1996 film
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Breaking Down the Mission: Impossible Stunt

"We were running out of time, and I kept hitting my face, and the take didn't work," Cruise said, explaining how he asked crewmembers for British pound coins to put in his shoes as counterweights. "[Director] Brian [De Palma] said, 'One more and then I am going to have to cut [into the moment] and do it,'" he said. "I said, 'I can do it.' And I went down to the floor, and I didn't touch. I remember thinking, 'Oh, my gosh. I didn't touch.' And I was holding it, holding it, holding it, holding it. And I'm sweating, and I'm sweating. And he just keeps rolling." It was then when Cruise realized De Palma was trolling him as the director began to laugh and called cut.

Mission: Impossible Celebrates 25 Years With New Blu-ray Release
Mission: Impossible 25th Anniversary Blu-ray

McQuarrie has been a staple of the Mission: Impossible franchise since 2015's Rogue Nation and continued to work on the next three films, including the upcoming untitled seventh and eighth films of the franchise, which are slated for release in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The films grossed a combined $1.154 billion domestically and $3.58 billion globally at the box office. Mission: Impossible 7 also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Hayley Atwell, Cary Elwes, Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, and Henry Czerny.


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Tom ChangAbout Tom Chang

I'm a follower of pop culture from gaming, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and TV for over 30 years. I grew up reading magazines like Starlog, Mad, and Fangoria. As a writer for over 10 years, Star Wars was the first sci-fi franchise I fell in love with. I'm a nerd-of-all-trades.
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