If you thought Tom Cruise just straps in and flies off into the danger zone, think again – the 62-year-old action icon has finally revealed what really fuels his insane, high-altitude stunt preparation work, and let’s just say it involves enough breakfast to feed a small army.
In a new interview for PEOPLE magazine’s Mission: Impossible issue, Tom Cruise dropped the kind of behind-the-scenes detail behind his stunt preparation that sounds fake but isn’t: He downs nearly a dozen eggs, a pile of bacon, sausage, toast, and multiple cups of coffee before doing any aerial stunt. Why? Because hanging off planes, wing-walking, and spinning in a submarine tank apparently burns through fuel like a fighter jet.
“I actually eat a massive breakfast,” Cruise admitted. “The amount of energy it takes, I train so hard for that wing-walking. My body is burning a lot.” No kidding. This is the same guy who clung to a moving Airbus A400M in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, at actual takeoff. And he did it eight times. Without CGI.
Oh, and it gets crazier.
For the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Cruise filmed a scene inside a rotating tank that mimicked a capsizing submarine. He wore a SCUBA mask but chose not to use a breathing regulator so audiences could better see his face. That meant, get this, he was literally breathing in his own CO2 during takes. How did he survive that? Turns out Cruise has been training for high-altitude oxygen deprivation and CO2 buildup since the ’90s when he got certified to fly jets.
Let’s repeat that: the man is so dedicated to realism, he knowingly subjected himself to conditions that mimic hypoxia, just to make sure you believe every second of Ethan Hunt’s next near-death experience.
Cruise says it all goes back to his childhood fascination with wing-walkers. The daredevil spirit never left him. “I love making movies,” he said. “It’s not what I do. It’s who I am.” Which, let’s be honest, is probably the most Tom Cruise quote ever.
Even his late mother, Mary Pfeiffer, had no clue how dangerous her son’s stunts were, until she saw the final footage. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you didn’t fill me in on that one beforehand,” she reportedly told him after Rogue Nation.
And somehow, none of this is surprising. Whether he’s flying jets in Top Gun, free-climbing the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol, or racing a motorcycle off a cliff, Cruise’s prep isn’t just physical, it’s full-body, full-mind, full-psychotic commitment. The man eats danger for breakfast. Literally.
So next time you see Ethan Hunt pulling off the impossible, remember, there were 12 eggs, five sausages, and a gallon of caffeine behind that take. And probably a bit of carbon dioxide too.
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