Tom Cruise ‘had to be carried off the plane’ after an exhausting ‘Mission: Impossible’ stunt | Watch

Even for one of Hollywood's biggest stars, some stunts can push the limits. Tom Cruise was so physically fatigued from acting in a daring sequence for Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning that crew members had to carry him off the plane. 

In the blockbuster franchise's eighth and seemingly final instalment, Tom Cruise filmed a scene walking on the wing of a small biplane mid-air.

“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,” said Wade Eastwood, the film's longtime stunt coordinator and second-unit director to The Times of London newspaper.

Eastwood and Cruise have worked together since 2013, after meeting during the filming of Edge of Tomorrow. He was a stunt coordinator on the last four Mission: Impossible films and reminisced about his most-liked moment, which came in the seventh film, Dead Reckoning Part One, where Cruise rode off a cliff-edge on a motorbike.

Tom Cruise 'doesn't show fear; he shows competence'

On the actor's risk tolerance and performing his own stunts, Eastwood said, "Tom doesn’t show fear, Tom shows competence. He had fun during all his stunts, even when it was exhausting. He’s always positive, he’ll always put on a smile, and he genuinely enjoys it.”

The actor spent over a year training in motocross and skydiving to prepare for the stunt, completing more than 500 skydives and 13,000 motocross jumps, he disclosed. “No, no chance. 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," Eastwood said when he was asked whether Cruise might soon step back from such physically demanding roles.

About Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which was released on May 17, stars Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, and Esai Morales, besides Tom Cruise. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, it shows Cruise's character Ethan Hunt and the IMF team rush to stop the Entity, a rogue AI that can annihilate mankind. 

The movie opened to a franchise-best $77 million in the US and $190 million globally.