Tom Cruise, known for his daring stunts, continues to earn accolades from industry peers. Beau Bridges, who acted with Cruise in the 90s romantic comedy Jerry McGuire, recently praised the actor’s evolving talent and courage. ‘I really appreciated working with him,’ Bridges remarked during the ‘Matlock’ For Your Consideration event. ‘He’s a wonderful actor and just gets better with age. I mean, he’s still doing all those crazy stunts and stuff. I thought he was great.’
Cruise’s penchant for performing his own stunts has become a defining aspect of his career. Earlier this year, Ethan Hawke expressed his frustration over Cruise’s influence on expectations for actors. ‘Tom Cruise has totally changed what’s expected for actors,’ Hawke told Variety at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. ‘Some part of me is getting angry because everyone somehow feels like they’re less if they use a stunt team.’
Cruise, never seen in superhero films from Marvel or DC, has built his action tenure in blockbuster franchises like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and Jack Reacher by performing real-world stunts. Last year, he faced considerable risk during Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, reportedly almost injuring his back. A famous scene included a high-flying biplane sequence, where his character, Ethan Hunt, performed airborne leaps and clung midair to a plane wing.
Director Christopher McQuarrie had remarked on the difficulty of such scenes. Cruise, recounting the filming, admitted to the intense physical strain. ‘Oh, this almost broke my back,’ the actor disclosed, according to Entertainment Weekly. In addition to the pain, the action led to his fingers becoming swollen due to the force experienced.
Despite the challenges, the collaboration between Cruise and McQuarrie continues to push boundaries in action cinema. While performing a crash into an aircraft side, Cruise reflected on the scene’s intensity, stating, ‘Oh, that was brutal. That hit, that was a hard one.’