Tom Cruise has always been pretty damn adamant about doing his own stunts, even breaking an ankle in the quest for the perfect shot. And since filming for Mission Impossible 8 began, he decided to take things one step further.
According to reports, the 59-year-old actor learned to fly a 1943 Boeing Stearman Model 75 at the Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire, UK. To be clear, this is a plane that was around during World War II.
The aircraft was equipped with two camera rigs mounted on its wings. A source speaking to the Walden Reporter said,
Tom had started to learn to fly a Boeing Stearman biplane earlier this year for a major stunt scene in ‘Mission: Impossible 8’. It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual, he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman. Trying to film jaw-dropping scenes with an 80-year-old plane is particularly dangerous.
You can watch a video of him soaring through the clouds in this ancient machine in the video below.
Tom Cruise actually filmed MI 8 directly after MI 7, leaving little time in between. From the looks of things though, he could even be doing an episode of Talespin!