Tom Cruise Passes Out from Oxygen Deprivation During 'Mission: Impossible' Stunts
Tom Cruise has revealed that he experienced oxygen deprivation while filming aerial stunts for the "Mission: Impossible" franchise.
"When you stick your face out [of an airplane], going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you're not getting oxygen," Cruise explained in an interview with Empire. "So I had to train myself how to breathe. There were times I would pass out physically; I was unable to get back into the cockpit."
The "Mission: Impossible" films have showcased Cruise's daring stunts, including scaling the Burj Khalifa, motorcycle jumping, and clinging to trains. Director Christopher McQuarrie hinted that the latest installment, "Final Reckoning," features even more extreme sequences.
"There are stunts in this movie that will melt your brain," McQuarrie said. "There would be a day in Africa — any day in Africa — where Tom would go out and do something that topped anything he had ever done before."
McQuarrie recalled an anecdote from a preview screening of "Final Reckoning," where an audience member confessed to experiencing physical distress during an intense stunt scene.
"We had a small screening, and someone said, ‘I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack,'" McQuarrie said. "And I thought, ‘I guess we did something right.”
"Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning" is scheduled for release on May 23, 2025.