Tom Cruise’s Jaw-Dropping Olympic Stunts Daring Feats With no Paycheck

Tom Cruise’s latest stunts at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony was nothing short of spectacular, and the surprising twist? He didn’t earn a dime for it—his reward was the thrill of the performance itself. According to Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Cruise was all in for the adrenaline-pumping act, which involved a series of complex maneuvers that only someone of his caliber would dare to perform.

Behind the scenes : Tom Cruise hands 🇫🇷Paris Olympics off to 🇺🇸LA #LA28 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/za0kAJbeqK

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During the event, Cruise made a dramatic entrance by jumping from the Stade de France to accept the official Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Olympian Simone Biles. But that was just the beginning. In a sequence straight out of an action movie, the “Mission Impossible” star then sped through the streets of Paris on a motorcycle, boarded a plane near the Eiffel Tower, and reappeared in a skydive near the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, all captured in a breathtaking pre-recorded segment.

“The backstory is that we realized we were producing a 15-minute live TV show, and so I hired who I think is the best person in the world to do that,” Wasserman said during the recent CNBC X Boardroom panel, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Cruise’s reputation for doing his own stunts made him the perfect choice, but Wasserman initially had reservations about whether the actor would commit to performing every part of the complex sequence himself.

Wasserman recounted, “We’re like, well there’s no way we’re getting this. We’re going to get four hours of filming time. We’ll do the thing that the LA with the Hollywood sign, he’ll hand the thing off and done. Maybe we’ll get the other stuff and the rest will be just a stunt double.” However, in a typical Cruise fashion, the actor insisted on doing everything himself. “About five minutes into the presentation [Tom Cruise] goes ‘I’m in. But I’m only doing it if I get to do everything.’”

True to his word, Cruise executed every stunt, impressively completing the entire sequence without the help of stunt doubles—and at no cost to the event organizers. “He finished filming ‘Mission Impossible’ at 6 p.m. in London, got right on a plane. He landed in LA at 4 a.m. and filmed the scene where he pulls onto a military plane,” Wasserman recalled. The stunt continued with Cruise performing not one, but two jumps out of the plane in Los Angeles because he wasn’t satisfied with the first take. He then helicoptered from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from 1 until 5 a.m., and without missing a beat, helicoptered to Burbank Airport and flew back to London.

Mission accomplished, indeed. Tom Cruise’s extraordinary commitment and passion for stunts were on full display at the Paris Olympics, proving once again why he’s one of the most dedicated action stars in the industry—and why sometimes, the thrill is worth more than any paycheck.

Credit: CNN 2024-09-13

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