Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning stunt coordinator reveals Tom Cruise had to be ‘carried off the plane’ after this intense scene

Tom Cruise is known for doing particularly tricky stunts, but Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning pushed him to his limits to the point he had to be carried by the crew after a challenging scene. It's where he climbs onto a biplane in mid-air almost 10000 ft. above the ground. Since it involves Tom Cruise, he committed to this risky stunt by himself.

Here's a brief snippet from the same scene:

The scene involves him climbing over a biplane and walking along its wings — while understanding where the camera is placed and acting for the same. Suffice it to say, it exhausted the actor. So, during a recent interview with The Times, his stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood reflected on the same.

“It beat the hell out of him. The wind hitting him, and the blast of the propeller, particles hitting him. It was the hardest workout you could ever do, it was very dangerous and very exhausting for him. Many times we were carrying him off the wing because he was so tired. And he was flying all day.”

The scene comes with its fair share of risks and it was Eastwood's job to ensure that it was as safe as possible.

“The audience will never really appreciate how dangerous that plane chase is. I have to do what I can to eliminate as much risk as possible, but there is still a lot of risk,” he explained

However, this is not the first time Eastwood and Cruise have collaborated on a Mission Impossible film.

Wade Eastwood reflects on his decade-long collaborative journey with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning star Tom Cruise.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning includes death-defying stunts just as there have been in every Mission Impossible film so far. That has often been the key selling point of this franchise — besides the fact that Tom Cruise does his stunts by himself.

He takes the challenges even if the stunt involves climbing over the tallest building in the world or driving off a cliff on his motorcycle. That's likely why his Taps (1981) co-star Sean Penn recently called him "probably the best stuntman in the world."

When asked about Cruise's stunt discipline of doing them himself, his stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood told The Times.

“Tom just doesn’t want the audience to be cheated. We don’t use green screens, everything is real. And the audience can feel it.”

Eastwood first met Cruise on the set of Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and started working with Cruise since Rogue Nation (2015). Beyond the Mission Impossible realm, they have also worked together on the Jack Reacher sequel (2015) and The Mummy. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is their most recent collaboration.

Based on this experience, he applauds Cruise's strict workout discipline to reach the stage where he can do the stunts by himself. Mind you, we're talking about a person in his sixties, ready to work "into his hundreds." In line with this, Eastwood said,

"He’s a machine. He acts like a 20-year-old. And there’s no magic there, it’s just hard work and discipline with his food, nutrition, and training.”

Besides the death-defying stunt on a biplane, Cruise also had an intense underwater "submarine scene" in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Eastwood reflected on how it all came about.

“It was absolutely hectic and chaotic underwater. We rehearsed as much as we could, but it’s like having an animal on set: they always react slightly differently, no matter how much you rehearse, and filming underwater was the same.”

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is in theaters now.

Also read: “So I get another safety guy!”: When Jason Bourne spoke about Ethan Hunt’s famous DIY stunt discipline for Mission: Impossible

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Edited by Ayesha Mendonca