Tom Cruise on why he performed daring Mission: Impossible motorcycle stunt on first day of filming

Tom Cruise is opening up about why he and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director Christopher McQuarrie filmed the most dangerous sequence of the motion picture first.

In the scene, Cruise, 60, is seen riding a motorcycle off of a cliff before activating a parachute that lands him safely on the ground while the bike crashes.

Cruise, who is on the promotional trail for the summer blockbuster, explained to Entertainment Tonight that the rationale in filming the dangerous stunt first was to ensure that if he was injured, it would not shut down the $200 million movie from the get-go.

‘Well we know either we will continue with the film or we’re not – let’s know day one!’ Cruise, who plays Ethan Hunt in the action film franchise, told the outlet.

The veteran Hollywood star continued: ‘Let’s know day one, what is going to happen: Do we all continue or is it a major rewrite?’

The show biz stalwart previously hurt his ankle during the production of Mission: Impossible 6, impacting filming.  

The A-list actor said that he was intensely focused on the cinematic sequence involving the motorcycle, which requires the utmost in physical precision.

‘I was training and I was ready,’ Cruise said. ‘You have to be razor sharp when you’re doing something like that.

‘It was very important as we were prepping the film that it was actually the first thing. I don’t want to drop that and go shoot other things and have my mind somewhere else.’

He added of the mindset heading into filming it: ‘Everyone was prepped – let’s just get it done.’

Cruise said that capturing the moment was a cross-section of his own past experience with stunts, and the innovations of the filmmakers he was working with on the movie. 

The film’s director Christopher McQuarrie earlier this month told Empire magazine that leading off filming with the dangerous stunt set a tone for production.

‘Doing that on day one gave us all the time in the world to understand why he [Ethan] was doing what he was doing,’ he said. ‘If we sat around and tried to figure out these movies the old-fashioned way, you’d never find it, simply because it’s such a living, breathing thing.’

The A-list actor is known for doing his own stunts in his action films 

In the scene, Cruise is seen riding a motorcycle off of a cliff before activating a parachute that lands him safely on the ground while the bike crashes 

Cruise, who is on the promotional trail for the summer blockbuster, was pictured Monday in Rome signing autographs for fans 

The upcoming action blockbuster also stars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Czerny, Vanessa Kirby and Frederick Schmidt.

Cast members joining the action anthology for the new movie include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Cary Elwes, Rob Delaney, Indira Varma, Shea Whigham, Mark Gatiss, Esai Morales and Charles Parnell.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is slated to debut July 12.