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Risking his life to pull off life-threatening stunts to entertain fans is not an uncommon occurrence in Tom Cruise’s life. From jumping off buildings and cliffs to climbing Burj Khalifa, Cruise’s life is no stranger to thrill, however, none of his most talked about stunts were as fatal as one particular scene inMission: Impossible2.
TheMission: Impossiblefranchise has cemented itself as one if not the greatest action franchise, which has witnessed theTop Gunstar pulling off death-defying stunts in almost every single entry. But during the second entry in the franchise, the actor risked losing his entire career, just to craft the best possible product for fans to enjoy.
Also read:It Took 56 Years in Movies and Countless Broken Bones For Jackie Chan to Win an Oscar, But For Tom Cruise That Award Means Nothing
Tom Cruise Risked Going Blind forMission: Impossible 2
Mission: Impossible 2, directed by John Woo, might not hold a candle to the greatness of the other entries in the franchise, but it did cement theMIIP as a director-driven franchise moving forward. But despite its contrasting nature to the other movies in the series, the film did witnessTom Cruisepulling off a fatal stunt, which might not be as flashy as jumping off a cliff.
Although Dougray Scott’s Sean Ambrose isn’t the best villain the franchise has to offer, the character did have some weight behind him and was ready to play dirty to get the upper hand against Ethan Hunt. This ideology of Ambrose was reflected in the brawl sequence between the two, where Ambrose almost blinded Ethan Hunt by attempting to stab one of Hunt’s eyes. And unsurprisingly, Tom Cruise wanted the scene, where Scott holds the knife right around Cruise’s eye, to be filmed manually.
“Now, we had a real knife that was really sharp and really pointy. There was no faking that. What we did do was we had a cable attached to it in the knife which was hooked to an overhead bar that, so the knife could only go so far.”Stunt coordinator Brian Smrz revealed.
However, John Woo wasn’t too thrilled by the idea of the world’s biggest star risking one of his eyes for this single shot, but Tom Cruise’s commitment to the craft wasn’t going to be hampered by anyone.
Also read:Tom Cruise Declared War Against S-xist And Racist Practices In Hollywood By Returning A Prestigious Award That Many Actors Can Only Dream Of Winning
Tom Cruise Was Untouched by It
Although the thought of facing a knife that is a quarter inch away from our eye might send chills down the spines for most, Tom Cruise had no problem staring at the knife without flinching. And following Cruise’s unreal determination to craft the best possible movie, John Woo had nothing but admiration for theTop Gunstar.
“It was pretty scary. And I’m so glad the scene had such a greater impact because Tom was really risking his life for the shot.”Woo said.
Even after 2-decades sinceMI 2hit the screens, Cruise is still risking his life to ensure the ultimate final product for moviegoers to enjoy.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
