Tom Cruise reveals 'Mission: Impossible' iconic vault stunt was nearly scraped

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has executed several stunts in his Mission: Impossible journey. Of these, one of the most memorable stunts that the franchise’s fans can’t forget is the vault scene from the first Mission: Impossible film. Now, in a recent interaction with Entertainment weekly, Tom Cruise recalled the stunt and revealed that the iconic stunt was about to get scraped from the film.

In the scene, Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt can be seen hanging upside down on cables as he breaks into the CIA’s most impenetrable vault. During the interaction, Cruise unveiled that the scene nearly didn’t happen as he kept falling from the cable during the initial takes of the scene. He recollected that director Brain De Palma wanted to move ahead without including the scene.

Cruise remembered that they were running out of time and whenever he tried to hold on to the cables, he kept hitting his face. After the initial takes, Cruise figured that he should put coins in his shoes to balance himself. Cruise added that he put pound coins and hung on to the cable to see if could level it. The actor explained that he had to make it as the director had given an ultimatum that he’ll allow only one more take for the stunt.

The scene might have appeared very cool onscreen, however, in reality, to go all the way down without touching the floor and maintaining his steady position was physically straining for the star. He enunciated that he kept holding the cable, he began sweating but the camera kept rolling. It was at that moment, Tom realized that the director was just testing how long he could go without dropping again. Off the camera, Tom could hear a distinct laugh, he heard him howl until he said ‘Alright, cut’. Watch the vault stunt below:

The sixth and most recent film of the franchise, Mission: Impossible – Fallout hit the silver screens back in 2018. Now, Tom Cruise is gearing up for the release of the seventh movie of the action-film franchise. Mission: Impossible 7 is scheduled to hit the silver screen on May 27, 2021.

(Image: Still from Mission: Impossible)