Tom Cruise Explains Why He Still Does His Own Stunts

screenrant.com:

Tom Cruise explains why he continues to do his own stunts in movies, despite the danger involved. Movies like Risky Business, Top Gun, and Rain Man put Cruise on the map in the 1980s, but the actor has since become synonymous with big blockbuster action filmmaking and stunt work, largely thanks to the Mission: Impossible franchise. Starting from humble beginnings in 1996 with the original Mission: Impossible from director Brian De Palma, the franchise has since transformed into a vehicle for Cruise to carry out increasingly dangerous stunts, often under the direction of Christopher McQuarrie.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the most recent entry in the franchise, took Cruise's Ethan Hunt to new heights – literally – and saw Cruise carry out dozens of HALO (high altitude, low opening) jumps from a large transport plane for one of the film's signature set pieces. The sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout, now officially titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I, has already been confirmed to feature still more death-defying stunts, including one particularly impressive sequence where Cruise drives a motorcycle off a cliff. For Top Gun: Maverick, the action-packed upcoming sequel to Cruise's 1986 hit, the actor and producer remains similarly committed to real-world stunts, with real fighter jets being used for many of the film's aerial sequences.

Related: Top Gun 2's Huge Early Praise Continues A Tom Cruise Franchise Trend

Ahead of the screening of Top Gun: Maverick at the Cannes Film Festival, Cruise sat down for what was described as a "MasterClass Conversation" and explains why he remains so committed to doing his own stunts. The actor's response, courtesy of THR, is short and sweet (and suitably confident),