Tom Cruise Talks ‘Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation’ & His Most Death-Defying Stunt Yet 

Tom Cruise is back with “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” the fifth installment in the blockbuster franchise that Access Hollywood’s Scott “Movie” Mantz calls “the best ‘Mission’ yet.”

Scott sat down with Tom in Vienna this week for a one-on-one chat about the movie’s complicated action sequences, including a pivotal scene in which spy Ethan Hunt is left clinging to the side of an airplane as it takes off.

Although the seasoned actor is famous for doing his own stunts, Tom revealed that “Rogue Nation” presents perhaps his most death-defying work to date.

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“It was intense,” the star chuckled, assuring that all the proper safety precautions were in place.

“I wore a vest and had one wire that kept me to the side of the plane so I wouldn’t fly off as we were going down the runway,” he explained. “We did it eight times… we wanted to get it right.”

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Tom may be used to putting himself in danger, but regardless of his own experience, he realizes the work still has potential to worry others.

“The first time we were going down the runway … I told the crew, I said, ‘Look. If I look terrified, don’t stop. Don’t stop for anything,'” he said. We’re gonna keep going, because I’m acting. No matter what you see me do.'”

Of course, Tom added, there was protocol in place should disaster have struck.

“We had certain hand signals I could give if I was really in trouble,” he said.

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Tom also confessed that the height and speed of the aircraft were but two of his worries, as other complications made things even more difficult than he’d planned.

“I literally got frozen to the bone,” the Oscar nominee said of the shooting conditions, telling Access that crew members had to hold him up after the plane landed because he could hardly move his legs.

Despite being one of Hollywood’s most seasoned pros, Tom is still able to surprise himself. His fearlessness has certainly paid off, but the “Rogue Nation” star admitted that even he has second thoughts after the camera starts rolling.

Turns, out, he said, hanging from a jumbo jet mid-air is every bit as harrowing as it looks.

“When we hit it I was like, ‘Holy s**t!” Tom laughed. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” lands in theaters nationwide on July 31.

— Erin Biglow