(CNN) – Tom Cruise performed an impressive stunt at the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for which he was rewarded with… emotion?
According to Casey Wasserman, president of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Cruise was excited about his jump from the Stade du France to accept the official Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Olympian Simone Biles.
The “Mission: Impossible” star then rode through the streets of Paris on his motorcycle to board a plane near the Eiffel Tower, before reappearing to skydive near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles in a pre-recorded segment.
“The backstory is that we realized we were producing a 15-minute live television show, so I hired who I think is the best person in the world to do it,” Wasserman said during the recent CNBC X Boardroom Panelaccording to The Hollywood Reporter.
Wasserman said Cruise insisted on doing all the stunts himself.
“We said, well, there’s no way we’re going to get this. We’re going to get four hours of shooting time,” Wasserman said. They thought they could shoot one part with him and then a stunt double, but, he said, five minutes into the presentation Cruise told him, “I’m in. But I’ll only do it if I can do the whole thing.”
Not only did Cruise do it all, but Wasserman said the actor did it for free.
“He finished shooting Mission: Impossible at 6 p.m. in London and got on a plane. He landed in Los Angeles at 4 a.m. and shot the scene where he gets on a military plane,” Wasserman recalls. “In Los Angeles he did two jumps. He didn’t like the first one, so he did a second jump. Then he took a helicopter from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from one to five, took a helicopter back to Burbank Airport and flew back to London.”
Mission accomplished.
