Matt Damon reveals Tom Cruise’s approach to death-defying ‘Mission: Impossible’ stunts

Oppenheimer star Matt Damon recently shared a humorous anecdote involving Tom Cruise, the lead actor in Mission: Impossible. According to Damon, Cruise had revealed to him that he had dismissed a safety professional during the filming of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in order to proceed with the perilous Burj Khalifa stunt featured in the movie.

Speaking in an interview on the Max series Smartless: On The Road (via CinemaBlend), the Bourne franchise alum Damon said: “There are the Tom Cruises of the world, who do their stunts, like literally hang off a plane and do that. I remember I had dinner with him once, and it was after he did the [Mission: Impossible movie] where he ran around the building.

“And I go, ‘Can you tell me how that happened?’ And he’s a really intense guy, and he was like, ‘I’ll tell you how it happened!’ I go, ‘Alright.’ And I’m in.”

“He goes, ‘I’ve been thinking about this shot for 15 years!’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, really?’ He goes, ‘So I go to the safety guy, and I lay it all out.’ Safety guy goes, ‘We can’t do that. It’s too dangerous, you can’t do that. So I get a new safety guy.’ That’s the beginning of his story.”

“And I just go, ‘Stop!’ That’s where we’re different. When the safety guy says no, I’m like, ‘Well, safety guy says it’s not a good idea.’”

Tom Cruise is widely regarded as one of the boldest actors to have ever graced Hollywood. Currently, his newest addition to the franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, is showing in theaters.