Remember Tom Cruise’s Broken Ankle During A Rooftop Leap In Mission: Impossible—Fallout? Here’s How It Enhanced The Film
When Tom Cruise busted his ankle leaping between rooftops on the Mission: Impossible—Fallout set, it wasn’t just another stunt gone awry—it was a game-changer for the film’s raw authenticity.
Tom Cruise’s Broken Ankle in Mission: Impossible—Fallout enhanced the film ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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The cameras caught Cruise hitting a wall hard and limping off, clearly in pain. Cue the production hiatus and a serious recovery, but for fans? This only added to the legend.
Cruise, always up for insane stunts, was supposed to slam into the building. On take four, though, he nailed it at a weird angle and—bam—snapped his ankle. Director Christopher McQuarrie caught Cruise’s reaction perfectly: “He knew the instant that he hit the building that his ankle was broken. You can see it on his face.” Cruise finished the take despite the brutal impact, limping away like a champ.
The shoot paused while Cruise healed, but he wasn’t about to let a broken ankle slow him down. McQuarrie reassured us, “Tom is great. He’s in very good spirits,” and joked, “There’s a silver lining to this cloud. We just don’t know what it is yet.”
Turns out, that silver lining was real. The footage of Cruise’s injury made it into the final cut, giving the film an extra edge. Cruise, known for his wild stunts (remember Rogue Nation and that plane stunt?), isn’t about to back down. McQuarrie added, “He is in better shape and better form than I have seen him on any of the movies we’ve worked on in the last ten years.”
So yeah, the accident was a setback, but it pumped up the film’s authenticity—proving once again that nothing, not even a broken ankle, can slow down Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise’s Stunt Philosophy
Why does Tom Cruise go all out with his stunts? For Cruise, it’s All About the Story, Not Just the Thrills. From Top Gun to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, he’s all about cranking up the action—speed-flying down mountains, riding motorcycles off cliffs, you name it.
But it’s not just about the thrills. Cruise sees stunts as key to great storytelling. As he told The Graham Norton Show, “I feel that [when] acting, you’re bringing everything, you know, physically and emotionally, to a character in a story.” For him, it’s about making the story pop. “I’ve trained for 30 years doing this that lets us put cameras where you typically can’t.”
At Cannes 2022, he nailed it: “No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?’” For Cruise, stunts are just another way to enhance the story.
So, next time you see him risking it all, remember—it’s all about the story, not just the thrill.
