The super trooper
> Hollywood star Tom Cruise opens up about the snapped ankle that halted the filming of his latest Mission Impossible film
Mission: Impossible – Fallout was forced to halt production in London last year after Cruise slammed awkwardly into a concrete wall as he leapt between buildings while attached to cables. “I knew instantly my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again so just got up and carried on with the take,” he said after the incident. Director Chris McQuarrie – who was also at the helm for Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 5 (2015) and Jack Reacher (2012) – said he would “move heaven and earth” to ensure that fateful fourth take got into the movie. Cruise’s most difficult days were ahead of him, though, as he had to spend hours every day in rehab and climb a mountain in Norway when he returned to filming. “When you see the sprinting in the movie, I’m basically doing it on a broken foot,” Cruise said. “But I was able to get to a physical point where it wasn’t causing any more damage by doing that.” A veteran of more than 50 movies, the star is admired for his adventurous attitude to filmmaking, which over the years has involved some hairraising moments on set.
It all started comparatively sedately as Cruise announced himself to Hollywood with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama Endless Love.
It was a memorable scene in 1983’s Risky Business, where he cavorts in a white shirt and his underwear while lip-syncing to Old Time Rock and Roll, that confirmed him as one of the film industry’s brightest talents.
Legendary producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson cast Cruise in 1985’s smashhit Top Gun as the fighter pilot Maverick, a role that catapulted him into the ranks of Tinseltown’s elite.
In the 33 years since, he has established himself as one of the most powerful and bankable players in Hollywood, his movies grossing US$9.3 billion (RM36.7 billion) and his talents earning three Oscar nominations.
His box-office successes have included conventional action movies but also edgier roles, such as Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, Barry Levinson’s Rain Man and Michael Mann’s Collateral.
His onscreen success has been matched by an ability to create controversial headlines off it, mostly through his vocal support for the secretive Church of Scientology.
Over the next few months, Cruise turns his attention to a sequel of the warmly-received 2014 sci-fi movie Edge of Tomorrow, and the project most of his fans are buzzing about – the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Director Joseph Kosinski is expected to begin production this summer, ahead of a 2019 release, although the return to perhaps Cruise’s most iconic role is shrouded in secrecy.
“We’ll see if it goes through. We’ll see if it happens,” Cruise teased, flashing his trademark mile-wide grin.
“I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you.” – AFP-Relaxnews