Tom not on Cruise control

appearance and physique both on and off the screen — he has the access and the means to make it look at natural as possible.

Shortcuts, however, don’t seem to be part of the Cruise brand, which is becoming more like the Cruise mythology at this stage.

This is especially true in the lead-up to the release of a new Mission: Impossible movie, which push the envelope further and further with each subsequent chapter.

The making-of footage, blooperreel material and outtakes have become almost as much of an event as the movies themselves, mainly because they’re so determined to convince viewers that the star is genuinely pushing himself to his limits to give the death-defying stunts some authenticity.

So in 2011’s Ghost Protocol, it was made known that, yes, Cruise was actually scaling the walls of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building (hooked up to all manner of safety cable, but still).

And in 2015’s Rogue Nation, a video did the rounds showing that, yes, Cruise was actually holding on to the outside of a plane as it left the ground and took to the sky (hooked up to all manner of safety cable, but still).

Would these scenes have had the same effect on audiences if they’d been executed with computer-generated trickery, crafty camera angles and a very powerful wind machine? Quite possibly, but knowing that a fella — a fella in his 50s, no less — actually threw himself into the fray for our entertainment does add a little something extra, doesn’t it?

It’s just as evident in Fallout (which is dizzying, exhilarating fun — do go see it), where a story of Cruise liquefying his ankle when a stunt requiring him to leap between two buildings went bad has become more of an event than the stunt itself.

I know I found myself wincing watching Fallout as Cruise’s Ethan Hunt raced across the rooftops of London in pursuit of his prey, waiting for the moment the actor did himself a mischief.

And of course it was in the movie, because what’s the point of injuring yourself if it doesn’t result in a good shot?

So at the time of Fallout’s release, raise a glass to Tom Cruise, the least aptly named actor in Hollywood (seriously, cruise is the last thing this man does).

And cross your fingers that he doesn’t shoot himself out of a cannon or put his head in the mouth of a hungry tiger for the next Mission: Impossible movie. Great, now I’ve given him ideas.