IVER, England — While filming Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, Tom Cruise reportedly performed one of his deadliest stunts to date: appearing on camera with a 5’9” woman.
“Initially, when Chris [McQuarrie] posed this stunt to me, I was like ‘no way. Not gonna happen. Too risky, even for me.’ But after some persuading, I began training for it,” Cruise said. “I spent four months of preliminary preparation just standing on boxes next to the woman we would be using in the scene, gradually lowering the height over the box as I got used to the height difference. It’s crazy how much work goes into something like this; I’ve never come close to doing something so wild in a movie. What a picture!”
Director Christopher McQuarrie said the stunt was incredibly compelling to film.
“Everyone on the cast and crew just stared, slack-jawed at him standing directly next to an above average woman,” McQuarrie said. “We all couldn’t believe he was pulling it off, even though he had practiced it so many times. It’s like watching someone defy gravity. He’s so teeny! It’s the high-octane moments like these that make being a filmmaker so rewarding. Afterwards, I rushed up to Tom, put him in my pocket, and we walked off set together.”
The woman Cruise reportedly braved being filmed next to said she respected the actor’s commitment to the craft.
“It’s incredible to watch him work, just standing next to me pretending to be confident and normal, but you know deep down he’s terrified,” said actress Jasmine Peck. “He’s always willing to push boundaries, whether it’s actually flying an F-18 plane, being dangled from the Burj Khalifa, or standing next to a woman slightly taller than him. We made sure he was never actually in any danger, though. I’m only 5’4” but we used CGI to make me appear five inches taller.”
At press time, gossip from the set alleged that the stunt was even more dangerous than initially reported, with anonymous crew members reporting the woman would be wearing heels in the scene.
