Tom Cruise Opens Up About ‘Physically Punishing’ Stunt For Upcoming Film

Tom Cruise opened up about a “physically punishing” stunt for his upcoming movie “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”

Speaking about his appearance in the final installment in the “M:I” franchise, the 62-year-old actor told Empire Magazine that his character Ethan Hunt has to check out the wreckage of a submarine — and for the action scene he had to breathe in his own carbon dioxide.

“I’m breathing in my own carbon dioxide,” Cruise said. “It builds up in the body and affects the muscles.” 

The “Top Gun” star said in order to shoot the scenes he had to wear a specially-designed suit and mask, which he can only wear for an interval of 10 minutes at a time, otherwise he will suffer from hypoxia (an absence of oxygen in body tissue), the outlet noted.

“You have to overcome all of that while you’re doing it, and be present,” he added.

In order for fans to experience Cruise’s underwater experience, the whole thing was shot in an 8.5 million liter water tank on a gimbal that can rotate on command, the outlet noted.

“Mission Impossible” director Christopher McQuarrie called the underwater shoot “really physically punishing” for Cruise.

Tom Cruise says “I was breathing in my own carbon dioxide” while filming an underwater action scene for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8: “It builds up in the body and affects the muscles.”

Chris McQuarrie said it was “really physically punishing” for Cruise.https://t.co/wCYAHwPJ7z

— Zack Sharf (@ZSharf) February 10, 2025

“He’s in a rotating structure filled with debris, and you had to find a way to make that environment look as chaotic and unhinged as humanly possible,” McQuarrie said. “But in a way that you could repeat, and that Tom could navigate, and survive.”

In the first trailer for the upcoming film, there are a whole host of action sequences — including a high-speed car chase and crash, an underwater battle involving a submarine, and Cruise hanging on to the outside of a biplane as it flies upside down — among many others.

Cruise previously talked about the action sequence on the outside of the biplane and said that he passed out multiple times while filming it.

“When you stick your face out [of an airplane], going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen,” the Hollywood star said. “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.”

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” hits theaters May 23.

Related: ‘Mission: Impossible’ Director: Fan ‘Almost Had A Heart Attack’ Watching Scene From New Film