It is 2023 and by now, we are all well aware of the fact that Tom Cruise is like a moth attracted to the bright light of the stunts in his films. While other actors almost always opt to have their professional stunt doubles do life-threatening stunts for them, Tom Cruise is not one of them.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Whether it is riding a motorcycle off a cliff or becoming a pilot in a high-speed helicopter chase, there is nothing that scares Tom Cruise. He can and will do whatever it takes to pull off any dangerous stunt and he will make it look like a walk in the park. Similarly, the actor insisted upon scaling the tallest building in the world and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

Tom Cruise Scaled the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible

Tom Cruise doing the Burj Khalifa stunt

Brad Bird’s live-action directorial debut, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, is the fourth installment of the adrenaline-filled franchise. Like always, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt found himself in dangerous situations but who better to deal with them than Cruise himself?

In Ghost Protocol, Cruise’s character had to scale outside of the Burj Khalifa, which has a height of a massive 829.8 meters (2,722 feet), before leaping out a window and running down the side of the skyscraper. While anyone in their right mind wouldn’t put their life at risk like this, Cruise is no ordinary man. The actor was dangling from the building at a height of 518 meters (1,700 feet), that is, more than half of the skyscraper’s length.

Thanks to his determination, Bird’s work became much easier as he had a wide array of camera angles to choose from. Cruise performing the stunt meant that the crew didn’t have to worry about using angles that would have hidden the stuntman’s face.

Cruise was, of course, attached to a harness that was fixed to the skyscraper. In order to do so, the team had to break windows and drill on the floors and the walls. While Cruise expected the adrenaline rush, he didn’t know that the harness would cause problems to his circulation thanks to how tight it was. This resulted in the Top Gun: Maverick actor having to complete the scene as quickly as possible.

Brad Bird Talks about Tom Cruise Doing His Own Stunts

 

Tom Cruise and Brad Bird

After directing some of our most favorite animated films including Ratatouille and The Incredibles, Bird finally dipped his toes into live-action with Ghost Protocol. Now, animation and live-action films are visualized differently. Since this was his first time directing a live-action movie, he talked about how the actors were always up for bringing his unique vision to life.

In an interview with Wired, Bird was asked if his actors “had an easy time rolling with” his visualization. The interviewer then singled out Cruise’s Burj Khalifa stunt. Bird replied laughing,

“They were really game and they don’t come any gamer than Tom Cruise. He really loves doing his own stunts and he’s also a real student of film. His deep knowledge goes all the way back to the silent era so you can really discuss stuff with him in detail…Even though Tom is aggressive and pushes hard to make a moment great, I’m really comfortable with that, because that’s how I like to work too…The same goes for the entire cast.”

The team’s collective efforts resulted in Ghost Protocol bringing in $694 million at the box office. It also became the second-highest-grossing film in the series. Not only did it perform well at the box office, but it also received immense praise from critics and fans alike. The movie received a score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.