Tom Cruise on Doing Incredibly Dangerous Stunts, Mission Impossible & Top Gun with Val Kilmer

our first guest tonight is the most powerful movie star in the world whose Ray-Bans and Body Oil saved the movie business top gun Maverick is nominated for six Oscars including best picture please welcome the one the only Tom Cruise [Applause] you're getting that a lot lately I guess huh you were shooting uh Mission Impossible today right yeah well we're shooting it every day shooting it every day did you risk your life today uh well I did get in a car in this weather I think we all okay all right is it a more exciting day

when you're doing uh something crazy every day is pretty exciting every day is pretty sorry guys because every day is a little crazy sometimes yeah especially Mission movie you had a but really I thought very interesting I wonder if it surprised you two you went to this Oscar lunch right all the nominees are there you're there and weirdly it became this like well let me show some of the pictures here because these photographs everyone was just so excited to see you see kihi Quan here you see Michelle look at Michelle Jamie Lee Curtis Guillermo del

Toro absolutely losing his mind I mean this is is it true that you saved the movie business Steven Spielberg said you did you know first I was wonderful because I haven't you know been coveted so I've been able to see my friends and for many many years and I've been shooting so but they weren't that excited to see their other friends they're excited to see you like I feel like the only people that get their reaction is like Santa and maybe like Oprah and Beyonce and Tom Cruise I mean that's it did what you did

and you know of course you wanted to make a big movie that was popular that's always the goal I would assume but what you also did was when you were getting pressure and I assume you got pressure from whomever the movie studio investors whoever it was to put the movie out on streaming you said no and you held it for two years and you were I guess a billion and a half dollars right yeah all right yeah people have been asking for the movie for 34 years yeah I figured a couple more years all right

they'll be all right if it had gone on for 10 years would you have held out for 10 years I would have held down for 10 years you would have really we made look the film is made for the screen yes absolutely you know I have friends all through my actors friends and Studios and Theatrical and I I made it for theatrical that's what I did and we all did we all made it for the answer it wasn't just me I mean the whole the whole crew and you held fast now what are you going

to do to save us from these spy balloons we've been seeing is there a plan those aren't yours are they no no okay would you tell us if there were no I couldn't tell you you would not I couldn't say that um this uh idea of this movie being made for the theater did you go see it with like a paying audience in the theater I love that you know I look I grew up I always wanted to travel the world so I when I started making moves I was able to go watch movies and

other countries so I always go watching films and with other audiences and watch their movies with them so I do when I make a film I want to go see it with another that's fun that's like the reward for it it's when they really enjoy it it's that's what I want I make my movies for audiences for you all so it's a pleasure I just want to entertain you Mike so when you go to see these movies do people spot you in the theater do you disguise yourself how are you able to go see a

movie that you're in yeah sometimes they spot me yeah when I'm sitting next to them and they'll kind of look over and well do some photos and science monographs a little bit you always do you're really very patient it's almost annoying I've been doing a lot of times yeah most people are not that pain most people wouldn't let Yaya kiss them on the head that was a surprise but that was all right do you go to see other movies in the theater I do I go opening weekend and I love seeing movies that are made

for the screen on the big screens will you go see cocaine bear in the um I might in the big screen I might do that yeah Trey looks very funny when you and again I I mentioned this because I've really seen you do some things that I I couldn't believe I mean I've seen you stop like with a group of 500 people out back of our theater and you stop and take pictures with every one of them and to be honest I use you as a distraction to get to my car so I'm trying to

help you out with it appreciate that but are there times where you just want to like get to where you're gonna go and can you even like could you get on public transportation or look I do I just I'm ready for whatever's gonna happen so I do I don't change my life uh but look I like I like talking to people you know and I as I said I make my movies for them and um yeah I do go on Transportation my security loves that when I do that yeah YouTube in England oh wait I

do that like sometimes I put on my hat my earphones and I'll just go in and get on the tube just if I want to get to this does that work does people stop sometimes it does sometimes it works sometimes like you know people are during rush hour like I go in and I'll be there and I remember one time I was there and there was there's like 14 year old kid this girl was there and everyone was looking at their phones and she just I just saw her I looked over and kind of kind

of my heads down I got my baseball cap and she's just staring at me like this and I looked at her and she looked at me and she just looked around the subway like this and then looked back to me like and I was like and I went at the looks he gave me she just looked around she was like took her took her iPhone and went click and was like all right I'll never forget her a couple months ago You released some video on I think on YouTube of like the making of one of

these big stunts you're doing for this new Mission Impossible movie and um I think it's probably important you that people know that you're really doing these stunts because nowadays almost anything is possible and for those who have not seen this let's take a look today is day one of principal photography and we are starting in classic mission form with the biggest stunt in the film what we're doing here is I'm just doing jumps sitting to warm up the body you see the parachute turned right into the side of that bowl that was dangerous that was

dangerous it was dangerous how many times did you shoot that uh I jumped off that eight times eight times I know eight times wild it was wild wow it was wild that is just absolutely I mean that's so dangerous right I know yeah I know so now you brought something this is another part of uh of this stunt I just tried to do everything I can use every tool that I have to entertain the audience so even as a little kid like I used to steal lumber from uh junkyard or you know and then I'd

ride down the hill as fast as I could and hit the ramp and go over garbage cans you know to try to do that when I was a little kid it didn't work it didn't work I went down I went down the hill and the bike you know was the pedal thing it didn't have the reverse so I was going really fast and then I went through it and I split the wood in half and I went smashing through the garbage cans and then spent the next few days in the hospital and you thought yeah

I want to do this for a list this is what this is what I want to do for a living so will you talk us through this uh okay that was the first time I did it that ramp was iced a little before there we go when I let go you have to make sure that I'm not attached to the bike in any way even my shoelaces are taped and you let go and you start flying and I have about six seconds to open that parachute before I hit the ground and you're counting to six

no yeah maybe it's eight I know it's wild and those but those motorcycles are decimated right yeah they're gone they don't make it they're gone they don't make it they don't survive does yours better them than me does your stunt double think you're his stunt double I I don't know I don't have a stunt double somebody please get this man a stunt up over God's sake Tom Cruise is here we'll be right back the only reason I'm here you [Music] if I send him on this mission he might never come home and if I don't

send him he'll never forgive me either way I can lose him forever and top gun Maverick I just say I just want to say this that was pretty emotional I've known Val for decades and for him to come back and play that character he's such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again I mean that is uh that was yeah you just look you're looking at Iceman did you cry when you guys shot that or was it just me is that I was crying I was crying I got emotional he's such a brilliant

actor I and I I love his work and that really was uh quite a moment in the movie and it's not all stunts you know there's some uh you know some hard tears tears and tears yeah and um we were talking about uh during the commercial break I thought it was very interesting we were talking about just like the risks that you take and you were I thought it was very funny what you're saying about what you are and I aren't allowed to do yeah I can I can jump off a cliff but don't go

snowboarding you're not allowed to go snowing or like they'd prefer I didn't get on a skateboard like all the rules that like a pitcher on the Dodgers would have to abide by yeah and look both ways before I cross the street that's dangerous do you think you will still be doing that sort of thing when you're like 100 or 100 what I was okay I'm planning on it you are playing I've been doing it my whole life as a kid I've always been I was writing always working on stories and writing skits even when I

was a little kid I was that kid that you know I'd crawl out of the attic and I'd be on the roof and my neighbors would see me on the roof and I was about four years old because I like I like looking at the sky in the clouds and the stars and stuff and I call my mother and she'd be like your son is on the roof and to me it was just normal but she to her was it upsetting yeah she uh I gotta say she was she's such a beautiful soul that she

just basically just asked me to think about what I want to do with my life you know she never stopped me from doing anything it was very encouraging wow but she never stopped me but later on like when she saw some of the stuff I she was Southern so it'd be like I was on the I showed her when I was on the a400 the side of the airplane and Rogue nation and she's like honey is it is that you on the side of that airplane I said yes ma'am it is she goes oh Lord

yeah I'm so glad you didn't tell me about that one I just don't need to know you didn't have to keep some things from her I would guess I I did it was better afterwards would you okay I have some would you questions these are not would you rather questions these are would you and you can just say yes no whatever would you parasail over an erupting volcano you know I've I've been to an erupting volcano of course you have and parasailing over to be quite beautiful you were yes I would would you fly a

jet pack through a tornado uh well what kind of tornado what are the bad can I test the jet pack before we go into of course we get that testing before we have to evaluate that would you ride a shark like a cowboy hey you know I went diving with the whales blue whales a shark it would depend great white yeah have to be yeah I don't think they'd like that yeah okay would you gain a hundred pounds for a roll Les Grossman yeah oh yeah yeah I'm sure I know I told you this story

before I know I told you the story before but at the end of that movie I said to my uh I said uh I said Oh I thought Tom Cruise was in this movie she's like you idiot he was less gross than the whole time we you know um would you be a passenger in a plane flown by Harrison Ford yeah I would I would trust Harrison would you fly a plane blindfolded what fly a plane blindfolded you know what you actually at a certain point am I allowed to look at the instruments or I

just can't see them at all well I don't know what your powers are but I would say no you can't see anything no no dude I would do okay okay would you jump off one plane onto another plane that was flying yeah I'd do that yeah you do that depending on the speeds you'd have to evaluate that would you go back in time to stop the guy who killed Abraham Lincoln yes I will you would yes would you ever run with scissors what scissors you ever run with scissors you know like in my hand yeah

yeah we've all done that okay all right all right it's great to have you here I look forward to seeing you at the Academy Awards you're gonna crush the account well I hope so I mean I'm so glad you're doing it if it goes poorly you can fire me out of my camera makes it impossible dead reckoning part one comes out July 14th at the movies we'll be back with Camila Malone oh