Tom Cruise breaks down his improvised fix after a stunt from the original Mission: Impossible movie wasn't working. Released in 1996 and directed by Brian De Palma, the debut installment in the hit action franchise sees Cruise starring as Ethan Hunt, an IMF agent working to discover a mole in his agency after a mission goes wrong. This first Mission: Impossible movie doesn't feature the same death defying stunt work that has come to define later entries, but it does feature one iconic sequence in which Hunt descends from wires while infiltrating a highly secure room inside the CIA.

During a recent interview with Empire magazine, Cruise outlines how they pulled this Mission: Impossible wire stunt off. According to Cruise, after some trial and error involving the wire rig and the type of metal it would be made of, when they were filming. The actor then turned to the crew for help, using some of what they had in their pockets as a counterweight. Check out Cruise's explanation below:

"I was in Japan promoting a film, and De Palma called me and pitched me this. It was Rififi, but how do we do it? I knew this rig and I came back and showed him the rig that I wanted to wear. I was showing him different kinds of equipment and movement, and I would find out, 'What could I do? How could I move through this space? What looks elegant?' I would practise to make it look elegant. And we were testing different metals (to hold Cruise in place). The first metal I tested was soft, and it broke. If I'm up high and it breaks, that's a problem.

"I'll never forget that day, because when I go from the computer down to the floor, it was very challenging, physically. We wanted it all to be in one shot. And my face kept hitting the ground as I went down. So I went to the crew guys and said, 'Empty your pockets, and put British [bank] notes in my toes, and balanced myself. And I went from the computer down, and didn't hit the ground. I'm holding, I'm holding, I'm holding it, and I was sweating. Everyone's holding their breath, and then I could hear Brian start laughing. He goes, 'Alright! Cut!' And we both laughed and hugged each other."

in terms of shaping what ends up on screen. Even for this debut installment he served as a producer, and this allowed him to play a more active role in bringing stunt sequences to life. Even though the wire stunt perhaps isn't quite as dangerous as his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning stunt when he jumped a motorcycle off a cliff, it still took a great deal of planning to ensure that it was safe and doable on camera.

The 1996 film was a critical and commercial success. Mission: Impossible currently has a 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 71% from audiences. It also grossed a staggering $457 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. Even though Cruise's Mission: Impossible stunts, such as his scaling of the Burj Khalifa, have become bolder and more complex, .

Cruise's stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies are thrilling to watch on screen, but it's also interesting to see how they were done. , which only makes them more worthy of appreciation.

Cruise continues to be committed to entertaining audiences, and some of his stunts in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning look to be his most dangerous and thrilling yet. Even though the original movie might not be the best or most exciting entry in the franchise, it still contains one of the most memorable action sequences, and it's now clear that Cruise was essential in bringing it to life.

Source: Empire