“He’s Got a Death Wish—But For Entertainment”: Simon Pegg Breaks Down Tom Cruise’s Wildest Mission: Impossible Stunts
"I've told him he's absolutely nuts. And I mean it every time." – Simon Pegg
Tom Cruise isn’t just doing stunts—he’s out here rewriting the whole rulebook on movie action scenes. And who better to give us the inside scoop than Simon Pegg, Cruise’s longtime Mission: Impossible co-star and real-life friend? Pegg recently sat down with PEOPLE for a special edition of the magazine and opened up about what it’s really like watching Cruise defy death on a regular basis.
And spoiler alert: it’s not for the faint of heart.
🎬 Next Mission: Possibly the Final One
Let’s start with the big one. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and possibly final film in the high-octane franchise, is set to explode into theaters on May 23. Cruise, now 62, is once again suiting up as Ethan Hunt, the elite agent who somehow sprints, dives, flies, and survives like he’s got cheat codes in real life.
Simon Pegg, now 55, has played the brainy but often panic-stricken tech expert Benji Dunn since Mission: Impossible III hit screens in 2006. So yeah—he’s seen some stuff.
🤯 “He Smiled While Dangling from the Burj Khalifa”
One stunt that sticks in Pegg’s mind? The legendary Ghost Protocol scene from 2011, where Cruise scaled the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Not on green screen. Not on some fancy set. The actual Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
“I just remember leaning out the window,” Pegg says, “and seeing Tom hanging there with this giant, s---eating grin on his face. Like, ‘I’m having the best time.’ He was loving it.”
Pegg? Not so much. “I was absolutely terrified for him.”
💀 Cruise Doesn’t Just Act the Role—He Lives It
“I’ve told him, ‘You’re out of your mind,’ more times than I can count,” Pegg admits. “But he just cares that much about the audience.”
That, in a nutshell, is Tom Cruise. He’s not doing these stunts for the flex. He’s doing them because he believes we deserve that level of commitment. As Pegg puts it, “Tom literally will risk his life for the audience.”
And it’s not an exaggeration. Whether he’s sprinting across rooftops, hanging off planes, or riding a motorcycle off a cliff (more on that soon), Cruise insists on doing it for real.
🏍️ “We Watched Him Vanish Off a Cliff”
Let’s talk about the most recent jaw-dropper: the Dead Reckoning Part One stunt where Cruise rides a motorcycle straight off a cliff and BASE jumps mid-air. Pegg and the rest of the cast were right there to witness it.
“It was nail-biting,” Pegg says. “We’d see him just disappear over the edge, and then we’d be waiting for that call over the radio—‘good canopy’—to make sure his parachute deployed.”
He adds, “That moment, those seconds of silence... It was a complete breath-hold moment for all of us.”
✈️ The Plane Stunt That Even Made Cruise Nervous
You know the iconic opening of Rogue Nation where Cruise hangs onto the side of a military plane as it takes off? Yeah, that wasn’t CGI either.
“That’s the first time I saw Tom actually nervous,” Pegg admits. “There were a lot of variables in that stunt. So many things could’ve gone wrong.”
From flying debris to wind resistance to—uh—holding on for dear life, the stunt was as dangerous as it looked.
Even Cruise himself remembers thinking, “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea” as the plane began taxiing. But then came that moment of no return. “It was too late. We were committed. The crew’s in there, we’re rolling, we’re doing it.”
His takeaway? “When we looked at the footage later, I was like, ‘Okay, this really works for the story.’”
🧠 Pegg: The Audience Surrogate
What makes Benji so fun—and so relatable—is that he's often just as shocked as the audience by Ethan Hunt’s latest death-defying leap. And that’s entirely by design.
“It’s fun playing the guy who’s essentially the audience voice,” Pegg says. “Benji’s always like, ‘Are you seeing this?! This is crazy!’”
That mix of dry humor and genuine fear has made Pegg a fan favorite in the franchise. He’s the guy yelling from the computer screen while Cruise is skydiving through lightning storms or dodging bullets on high-speed trains.
🎥 Behind the Madness: Total Precision
Yes, the stunts are outrageous. But behind the scenes, it’s a masterclass in planning. Pegg is quick to credit the stunt team—and Cruise himself—for the meticulous level of detail that goes into each sequence.
“Everything is managed down to the micro detail,” he says. “Tom doesn’t just show up and hope for the best. He trains, he rehearses, and he makes sure everything is ready before they roll.”
Still, there’s no denying it: it’s real danger.
💬 Even Mom Was Shocked
Cruise says one of his most memorable reviews came from someone very close to him—his late mother.
“She saw the footage of the Rogue Nation stunt,” Cruise recalls, “and said, ‘Oh, honey, I’m so glad you didn’t tell me about that beforehand.’”
Smart move, Tom.
🎟️ The Final Countdown?
With The Final Reckoning gearing up for release, fans can’t help but wonder—is this really the end for Ethan Hunt?
Cruise hasn’t officially confirmed it, but with a title like that and a tone that feels like a grand send-off, it’s possible we’re heading into Cruise’s final run as the IMF’s most daring agent.
But if he’s going out, he’s doing it in true Cruise fashion—sprinting full speed, laughing in the face of death, and giving us one hell of a show.
🔥 Quick Highlights from Pegg’s Recollections:
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🚁 Most fun stunt to watch: Motorcycle cliff dive in Dead Reckoning Part One
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🧗 Craziest grin moment: Hanging from Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol
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😬 Only time Cruise looked nervous: Plane stunt in Rogue Nation
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😱 Pegg’s real-time fear: Waiting for the “good canopy” call after Cruise jumped off a cliff
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🤯 Behind the scenes: Cruise trains like a man possessed before every single stunt
📢 Don’t Miss It
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters May 23, and if Simon Pegg’s stories are any indication, this movie might just raise the bar again for action films.
And if this really is the final mission?
Let’s just say Tom Cruise isn’t going out quietly.
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