There are few actors who push themselves to the breaking point more than Tom Cruise, who has long insisted on performing his own stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies. Over the course of the franchise’s history, Cruise has pulled off incredible feats like catching a lift on the outside of an airplane, climbing the tallest building in the world, and just about everything else asked of him.
But, that fearless approach to moviemaking isn’t without its risks and consequences, which the Top Gun: Maverick star found out the hard way during production on Mission: Impossible – Fallout when he broke his ankle in a stunt gone awry. More than a half-decade later, some may have forgotten what happened to Cruise on the set of the series’ sixth installment, what went down in the aftermath, and how the injury ended up being a blessing instead of a curse. Let’s break it down (no pun intended)...
Tom Cruise Broke His Ankle On The Set Of Mission: Impossible – Fallout In August 2017
In August 2017, production on Mission: Impossible – Fallout came to a screeching halt after Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing one of the movie’s many stunts. In an on-set video published by TMZ, Cruise can be seen attempting to jump from one rooftop to another while on location in London, only to fall just short and smack into the facade of building. Though he was able to pull himself up, the actor limped around before being assisted by the stunt and production teams.
The extent of Cruise’s injuries were not immediately known, but Variety published a report a few days later explaining that the actor broke his ankle during the botched stunt. Citing a statement from Paramount Pictures, the article went on to say that the production would go on hiatus while the franchise star recovered.
The Actor Was Out For Two Months While Recovering From His Injury
In the fallout of the Mission: Impossible injury, it was believed that the production would be delayed for a considerable amount of time, with Deadline reporting in August 2017 that the shoot would be shut down for a minimum of nine weeks and up to three months. With Tom Cruise out of action, it was also feared that the movie’s release date of July 27, 2018, would be delayed, but that ultimately ended up not being the case.
Around the same time, director Christiohper McQuarrie told Deadline that he wasn’t too worried about missing the premiere date, as he would start editing the already filmed footage while Cruise recovered and then would pick back up when the franchise star was able to resume. And that October, two months after the injury occurred, Cruise was back on set, with the Daily Mail reporting that the actor was seen flying a helicopter and driving a truck after returning to the shoot.
Tom Cruise Stayed In Character When The Injury Happened
Though Tom Cruise has ruined takes because he loves performing stunts so much, this wasn’t the case when it came to the Mission: Impossible – Fallout injury, as he remained in character and continued the scene before seeking help. During a January 2018 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Cruise talked about the injury as the late night show’s host played footage of the stunt from virtually every angle imaginable.
He eventually sought assistance, but can be seen continuing the take immediately after slamming into a wall, remaining in character the whole time. When telling Norton about the injury and shot, Cruise said:
I didn’t want to do it again. I knew instantly it was broken and I just run past the camera. It’s in the movie. That profile shot – both of those shots are in the movie.
Cruise, who appeared alongside co-stars Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, and Simon Pegg, went on to joke that after the botched stunt everyone from the crew got on the phone and started making vacation plans because he was going to be out of action for some time.
Where Does Tom Cruise Break His Ankle In Mission: Impossible – Fallout?
Spoiler Warning: The following section contains some major spoilers for Mission: Impossible – Fallout. If you have yet to watch the movie, please skip ahead.
Okay, so the shot of Cruise breaking his ankle was used in the final release of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, but where exactly does it take place in the movie? Well, if you have a Paramount+ subscription, where you can watch the Mission: Impossible movies streaming, you can skip ahead to one hour and 34 minutes into the film to see the infamous injury.
The moment in question takes place during a thrilling foot-chase between Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and August Walker (Henry Cavill) and it’s discovered that Walker is actually John Lark, the movie’s villain. When attempting to get close to Lark, the IMF lead runs across the rooftops of London when one of his jumps is too short, resulting in the broken ankle.
Stream Mission: Impossible – Fallout on Paramount+.
Cruise Has Since Joked About The Injury Happening During One Of The ‘Easy’ Mission: Impossible Stunts
As mentioned earlier, Cruise has pulled off some of the most impressive stunts over the years, so much so that you could consider him a stuntman who occasionally acts. All of the Mission: Impossible movies, including the upcoming Dead Reckoning Part One have been sold on Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character increasingly upping the ante as far as the scope, scale, and danger of his heroics.
When talking about the Fallout injury on a July 2018 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cruise joked about the whole situation, calling the London jump sequence “the easy one,” which got a massive laugh from the host and audience. But the actor wasn’t wrong, as some of the other stunts, including some in that particular film, were far more intense.
Christopher McQuarrie Said The Injury Gave Him Time To Improve The Script
Though there were initial fears that Cruise’s injury would cause major delays and other problems for Fallout, the whole situation ended up helping director Chirstopher McQuarrie work out some issues with the movie. Ahead of the film’s July 2018 world premiere, the filmmaker explained to CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell how the injury became a blessing instead of a curse, saying:
What the ankle did was allow us to figure out the holes in the script that we were still struggling with. And so, we didn't rewrite the script to accommodate the ankle, but we finished the script because the ankle gave us the time.
And it all ended up working out in the end, as Fallout is considered one of the best action movies of all time and another great addition to the Mission: Impossible franchise.
If there is one thing that can be said about Tom Cruise it is that he is willing to do anything and everything to give audiences the best and most exciting experience on the silver screen. With the actor continuing to push himself with his upcoming movies, including next year’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, he’s not going to be slowing down (or let an injury get in the way) anytime soon.
