One man who is total agreement with Tom Cruise’s approaches to stunt work is Wade Eastwood, who has acted as a stunt coordinator on nearly every single Cruise film since “Edge of Tomorrow.” He understands the impact that seeing the man himself has on a film. In an interview with Variety around the release of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” Eastwood said of Cruise doing his own stunts:

“If I’ve got a stunt guy working, we cut in and out, and the stunt guy does what’s required of him as a stuntman. With Tom, he’ll do what’s required of him as a stuntman, but he also has to act the character. That’s the biggest difference.”

When it came to the film’s most dangerous stunt, which was Cruise hanging off the side of the A400 in the opening scene, a stunt coordinator has a lot to wrangle. Not only does he need to prepare Cruise for a stunt nobody has attempted on film before, but he has to make sure he, you know, doesn’t die. I am sure Cruise would like to live another day as well, but as the star and lead producer on the films, he needs to make sure he gets the shot perfectly. As Ethan Hunt, he is not hooked onto the plane with a wire, as Cruise is. He is just hanging on. So while he needs to be safe, there needs to be some form of danger for him to really feel in the moment. As Eastwood put it, “Tom didn’t want to have the feeling of being too safe. He said it would ruin his performance.” Ultimately, he performed the stunt eight times. He didn’t die, they got the shot, and it’s perfect.