Tom Cruise’s most daring stunts—6 times the actor defied death itself

Tom Cruise, who is well known for defying death itself and taking on the action without the help of any stunt doubles, has performed some of the most daring stunts ever since the beginning of his career. From ‘Mission: Impossible’ to ‘Top Gun,’ the star has featured in action films that have some of the most mind-bending stunts. On the occasion of his 63rd birthday, here is a compilation of the top six times that Cruise performed stunts that one can only imagine doing.

This is one of Tom Cruise's most famous stunts that he has performed so far. There is a scene where Maverick and Goose eject from their jet and parachute into the water. What makes this stunt one of the most daring ones is the fact that Cruise almost passed away while performing the stunt. In an old interview with The New York Times, Barry Tubb from the film shared that “Cruise came as close to dying as anybody on a set I’ve ever seen.” The star almost drowned after his parachute started filling up with water, pulling him down under.

This is another one of Cruise's daring, death-defying stunts that he has performed in his career so far. Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise collide in a major car crash. This is counted as one of the most daring stunts, as both of the actors themselves were involved in completing the stunt. In an interview with Today, Foxx shared that “I hit the gas, the cab goes straight head-on into [Cruise’s] Mercedes, and the Mercedes lifts off the ground and goes off the set.” At the time, the actor had thought that Cruise was gone because of the stunt.

The final movie of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise ended with a big bang as Cruise himself hung off a vintage biplane. The star was strapped to the aircraft for the stunt and even experienced extreme wind pressure and minimal oxygen, making this one of his most dangerous stunts. He underwent training for a year and a half to perform wing walking. The scene ends with him jumping from the burning plane with a parachute that also starts burning. It was recently confirmed that he did this a total of 16 times again and again to get the perfect shot!

Tom Cruise took on the role of Ethan Hunt with ease, and even in the first film, he refused to let any stunt double do the job for him. In a particular scene from the beginning of the film, Cruise is seen blowing up a gigantic aquarium in a restaurant to get away from the corrupt authorities. One of the people was sent through a glass panel due to the pressure and force of the water, while Cruise had to manage to outrun the 16 gallons of water.

The introductory scene of the franchise’s 2nd film was in itself one of the actor's most daring stunts. In the scene, the actor can be seen hanging and climbing off the side of an extremely steep rocky hill. At the time, it was revealed that Cruise only used a safety cable at the time of the stunt and performed everything on his own with the help of practice and training.

The last, but definitely not the least, Cruise’s stunt from ‘Ghost Protocol’ is another masterpiece. The star climbed and swung from the sides of Dubai’s famous 163-floor Burj Khalifa. When the behind-the-scenes footage was shared with the fans, a shocking detail was revealed. While performing the stunt, Cruise was only hanging by a thread, quite literally. The daring actor only used a single piece of wire attached to him in order to keep him safe and from falling off.