Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' Airplane Stunt Began as a Joke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InCQyrKFh1g

Tom Cruise dangles precariously off the side of an airplane while in flight in one of the most heart-pounding stunts featured in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.”

In theory it seemed like what the action-thriller’s title suggests: Impossible. But in reality, it was nothing more than an off-the-cuff comment said in jest. Still, the 53-year-old was undaunted by the challenge.

“It was a joke,” director Christopher McQuarrie tells Made in Hollywood. “We were looking at a model of the plane and I said, ‘What if you were on the side of that (plane) when it took off?”

But the daredevil actor didn’t laugh.

“Tom didn’t blink,” McQuarrie reveals. “He said, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’”

Known for performing his own stunts, it meant that bringing the feat to fruition would involve many resources to ensure his safety.

“On ‘Mission Impossible’ when you make a suggestion like that people immediately start making phone calls, taking notes,” McQuarrie explains.

The director, who previously teamed with Cruise on 2012’s "Jack Reacher," says aerospace company Airbus had a rather dubious reaction to the inquiry.

“They were a little skeptical at first,” he says, clarifying, “I’d say cautious.” He continues: “They didn’t know that it was a terribly good idea, but once they got into crunching the numbers and figuring out the engineering, actually, I think they started to have fun.”

What resulted was the Hollywood star's most daring move in the past 20 years with the box office franchise, now in its fifth installment.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” co-starring Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner hits theaters on Friday. Watch the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOW_azQbOjw