Tom Cruise turned 56 this summer, but you wouldn't really know it watching him run around on screen in the latest chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. The sequel is arguably the most action-packed and intense in the entire series, and much of that is because Cruise is a dedicated star willing to do a lot of his own dangerous stunts. It's pretty impressive to watch, but according to co-star Ving Rhames, he might want to consider slowing down:
I was in Los Angeles, getting ready to go to London [when Tom broke his ankle]. I'm sorry he got injured, but [director Christopher] McQuarrie got more time to work on the script and I stayed home. Tom's getting older now. I know he loves doing his own stunts, but as a friend, after we get the close-up, maybe we should let the stunt guy do it. Maybe.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout marks the sixth time that Ving Rhames has starred alongside Tom Cruise, the former playing Luther Stickell to the latter's Ethan Hunt since 1996, and apparently it was a perspective changing experience. It's certainly easy to appreciate what Cruise does, as the guy truly gives it his all, but after the very serious injury Cruise sustained on the set of the new movie, Rhames wonders, according to Empire, if maybe he should let someone sub in for him on the action front going forward.
Like he has done for the last few Mission: Impossible titles, Tom Cruise performed some insane stunts in the making of Mission: Impossible - Fallout - including a HALO jump and climbing up a cargo rope hanging from a flying helicopter - but it was during a relatively more casual rooftop leap that he got injured. Cruise shorted the jump and hit his leg against the side of a building, which resulted in it breaking. It caused production to be put on hold, and, as Ving Rhames mentioned, allowed Christopher McQuarrie to do some extra behind-the-scenes changes, but one can also see why Cruise's co-star is concerned. While the movie star limped away with a moderate injury this time, doing another, bigger stunt in his advancing age for a future project is increasingly more and more risky.
Right now we don't know what to expect when it comes to Mission: Impossible 7, but at the current rate it won't be coming out until around 2021 or 2022. By then Tom Cruise will be pushing up against 60 - and while he surely will be in great shape, it will certainly also be a time when he will have to consider Ving Rhames' advice. We'll just have to wait and see - and in the meantime, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all the latest franchise updates.
