Tom Cruise’s willingness to do crazy things for stunts is well-known at this point. Stories of him trying to film Mission: Impossible alone have made it clear that the man is dedicated to getting the shot that fits the outlandish and visually-demanding scripts from Christopher McQuarrie. And according to a newly-uncovered discussion about the first Mission: Impossible, it seems an ingenious solution was necessary to make one of the most iconic scenes in the series’ history a reality.
As The Hollywood Reporter detailed, Cruise was having a terrible time filming the infamous “close call” scene in the film where he’s suspended from a wire in an all-white secure room. With a computer disc in his teeth and sweat pouring from his face, the high-wire act is a near-silent set piece that’s instantly-recognizable 25 years later.
The scene is as visually beautiful as it is harrowing. Yeah, the rat in the air vents is frightening, but crashing face-first into a floor seems painful enough even before FBI security would drag you away if alarms went off. However, having the shot needed some sparse English phrasing and a dash of levity on the part of director Brian De Palma. Cruise did bang his face on the ground quite a bit before they got it right, according to the anniversary version of the movie’s Blu-Ray.
“We were running out of time, and I kept hitting my face and the take didn’t work,” the actor said, explaining he finally asked crewmembers for British pound coins to put in his shoes as counterweights.
“[Director] Brian [De Palma] said, ‘One more and then I am going to have to cut [into the moment] and do it,’” Cruise said. “I said, ‘I can do it.’ And I went down to the floor, and I didn’t touch. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh. I didn’t touch.’ And I was holding it, holding it, holding it, holding it. And I’m sweating and I’m sweating. And he just keeps rolling.”
Cruise said he realized in that moment that they got the shot and De Palma was now just messing with him. Finally, De Palma began to laugh and called cut.
It’s interesting to learn these things after seeing the scene all these years later, because Cruise’s reaction to not touching the ground seems all the more authentic. Cruise’s hanging body is the focus of De Palma’s shot, with his arms and legs desperately reaching away from the floor to ensure the take was usable. It’s amusing to imagine him keeping the pose just to have De Palma mess with him for longer than we’ve seen on video. Simply put, the scene would not carry the same weight in the series’ mythology today if it didn’t have the image of Cruise bouncing just short of the floor.
Despite the fact that the English pounds used to hold Cruise off the ground are nowhere to be seen, they earn a place in film history as the unsung heroes who made movie magic possible.
