Tom Cruise explains why he never wears a helmet during his death defying Mission Impossible stunts

Tom Cruise has revealed why he never has a helmet on when he’s doing his life-threatening stunts on the set of the Mission Impossible franchise. 

The actor appeared on Australia’s The Sunday Project this weekend and gave a very simple explanation for the risky behaviour. 

‘Just doesn’t look cool,’ the 60-year-old deadpanned to laughter from the studio audience. 

‘I wear helmets when I ride motorcycles, and when I’m training, and I wear pads,’ he explained. 

‘But when you start to go film, all the pads come off. So I train in helmets, but when I’m jumping and racing high-speed bikes, then it’s not cinematic.’

Tom went on to reveal how he pulled off cinema’s riskiest stunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which has been described as his ‘most dangerous’ ever. 

In the film, which is the seventh installment in the franchise, Tom pulls off a speedflying stunt, which sees him launch himself off a mountainside on a motorbike and glide down to the ground, leaving the crew ‘terrified’. 

Tom says he practised skydiving for the scene and had a ramp built in England so he could do a few dry runs. 

He admits that he did not practise with a helicopter, which was a last-minute addition to the scene. 

The actor appeared on Australia’s The Sunday Project this weekend and gave a very simple explanation for the risky behaviour

‘Just doesn’t look cool,’ the 60-year-old deadpanned. ‘I wear helmets when I’m training. But when you start to go film, all the pads come off,’ he explained

Tom went on to reveal how he pulled off cinema’s riskiest stunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which has been described as his ‘most dangerous’ ever

Tom pulls off a speedflying stunt, which sees him launch himself off a mountainside on a motorbike and glide down to the ground, leaving the crew ‘terrified’. ‘I want to give everything. There’s stakes. There’s real stakes,’ he said

‘I want to give everything. To have that experience, to see that, it communicates to an audience when it’s real. It’s different. There’s stakes. There’s real stakes,’ he said. 

The official trailer for the upcoming Mission: Impossible installment was recently released.

The heart-stopping, high-speed clip showed plenty of action scenes with the Hollywood actor, whose film Top Gun: Maverick was a massive summer 2022 hit.

He stars alongside Pom Klementieff, Hayley Atwell and fan favourite cast member Simon Pegg. 

This is Tom’s seventh MI film and will be released in Australian theatres on July 8.

Returning to the sequel are Tom’s usual sidekicks – veteran Hollywood names Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby.

Tom joins his co-stars Pom Klementieff (right), Hayley Atwell (second from left) and Simon Pegg (left) in the latest installment