Tom Cruise is famous for his willingness, and his desire, to do all his own stunts. However, apparently, the actor has no problem shutting down other actors from doing the same when necessary. While Mission: Impossible - Fallout made a point to play up Tom Cruise's HALO jump in the new film, he's the only actor involved in that particular stunt, even though he's not the only one in the scene. Henry Cavill says he wanted to make the jump himself as well, but Tom Cruise shut down the idea because Cavill hadn't been through the necessary training. According to Cavill...
This is one of the saddest tales of the movie for me. The day came and I was begging Tom: 'I'm wearing a parachute, I've got some wind tunnel (training), surely I can just jump?' And he said, 'Henry, I know exactly how you feel. I get it, you've done every single stunt in the movie so far, but this one I can't let you do. It needs specific training.'
In addition to being the star of the film, Tom Cruise is a producer on Mission: Impossible - Fallout, so this isn't a case of an actor trying to hog the spotlight, this is the boss realizing that it would be a potentially major liability to have Cavill in the air if he hasn't been through the proper training.
Tom Cruise, however, had been through the training, so when you see him jump out of the plane in Mission: Impossible - Fallout trailers, or in the film itself which opens tomorrow, that's actually him all the way down. In the end, the stunt, while truly impressive, isn't a major part of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and considering how much gear the skydivers are wearing, it's almost impossible to tell that it's actually Cruise anyway. The fact that you never see Cavill's face doesn't take away much from the sequence.
It's not clear from Henry Cavill comments to USA Today if he had been given the opportunity to go through the training or not. Perhaps that's what Tom Cruise was doing while Henry Cavill was busy with reshoots for Justice League, so Cavill missed the chance. He does say that, upon realizing his lack of training made the stunt potentially dangerous for Cruise as well as himself, he accepted the producer's decision.
While it may not have actually been Henry Cavill jumping out of a plane at high altitude for that particular stunt, he is clearly involved in the rest of the film regardless of what was asked of him, including well-choreographed fight scenes and stunts aboard helicopters. You can check out all the great action moments when the film hits theaters this weekend.
