A lot is made of the fact that Tom Cruise does his own stunts, and that those stunts are often some of the most incredible that we see at the movies. But what isn’t always mentioned is that the man is 62 years old. The fact that he’s even in the shape necessary to do stunts like that is incredible in its own right, but Cruise has an explanation which makes a lot of sense.
Nobody will ever accuse Tom Cruise of slowing down in his old age. Even at 62, he has the next (and maybe last) Mission: Impossible movie The Final Reckoning, that will see him hanging from an airplane. But Cruise already has other projects set up. Speaking with ET, Cruise says to stay in shape, like dealing with a car, it’s an issue of regular maintenance. He explained…
I look at a body kind of like a car. I work seven days a week. I live on movie sets and editing rooms. I just finished another movie. I have four other movies, the queue and I are lining up. This is what we do, while we’re editing, while we’re shooting, we’re lining up the next movie. For me, it’s like brushing my teeth. I have to take care of it.
A lot of people probably don’t take care of their cars the way Tom Cruise takes care of his body, but we all know we should. Especially considering the life that Cruise lives, that doesn’t always lend itself to having the time to do the work, he knows he has to make the time. And so he does.
By the same car analogy, doing regular maintenance means that when the work is being done, it doesn’t take as long as it would if you put it off. Which leads to having to do more significant work later. Because Cruise takes the time to keep in shape when he can, including eating like The Rock when he needs to, it doesn’t take as much. Of course, the fact that what he enjoys doing in his personal life sounds a lot like his movie stunts may also help. Cruise continued…
It takes a minute to do it, but that’s how I have to train my body or whatever it takes, whether it’s dancing or stunts. And also personally, the things that I like to do in my personal life. Flying aerobatic airplanes and jets and paragliding, or speed flying, jumping off mountains. So that’s just, you gotta do it. You gotta do it.
If one thing about Tom Cruise is clear, it’s that the man is committed. He’s talked about his continuing efforts to learn new skills, like learning how to dance, as well as his desire to always do his own stunts. He’s somehow able to find the time to do it all. Check out his full comments below.
With two massive Mission: Impossible movies, which took years of his life, nearly behind him, who knows what’s next for Tom Cruise? What we can be sure of is that whatever it is, he’ll give it his all and do whatever work he needs to make sure he is ready for it.
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