Tom Cruise On Doing an Underwater Stunt in ‘The Final Reckoning’ That Involved Breathing in His Own Carbon Dioxide: “You have to overcome all of that while you’re doing it, and be present”

Tom Cruise is known for pushing the limits of action filmmaking, and his latest stunt in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is no exception. The actor has built a reputation for performing his own stunts, from scaling skyscrapers to clinging onto airplanes mid-flight. But this time, he took things even further by filming an intense underwater sequence that came with real physical risks.

One of the major set pieces in Christopher McQuarrie’s upcoming film takes Ethan Hunt deep beneath the surface, inside the wreckage of the Sevastopol submarine. To bring this scene to life, the production team built an 8.5 million-liter water tank mounted on a gimbal that could rotate on command. This setup allowed them to simulate the chaos of an underwater disaster while keeping the sequence repeatable for filming purposes.

Cruise wore a specially-designed suit and mask, featuring an illuminated helmet to make sure audiences could clearly see his face. However, the gear came with a major drawback—he could only wear it for ten minutes at a time before suffering from hypoxia, a condition caused by a lack of oxygen in body tissues.

“I’m breathing in my own carbon dioxide,” Cruise explained. “It builds up in the body and affects the muscles. You have to overcome all of that while you’re doing it and be present.”

Director Christopher McQuarrie described the filming process as both terrifying and incredibly difficult. The scene was physically punishing for Cruise, and the challenge wasn’t just performing in such extreme conditions but also making sure the sequence looked chaotic yet readable on screen.

“He’s in a rotating structure filled with debris, and you had to find a way to make that environment look as chaotic and unhinged as humanly possible,” McQuarrie said. “But in a way that you could repeat, and that Tom could navigate, and survive.”

This isn’t the only dangerous stunt Cruise tackled for “The Final Reckoning.” He previously revealed that while filming another action sequence, which involved hanging off the side of a flying airplane, he repeatedly passed out due to lack of oxygen. “When you stick your face out [of an airplane], going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen,” Cruise explained. “So I had to train myself how to breathe.”

At 62, Cruise continues to prove that he has no intention of slowing down. His dedication to performing high-risk stunts has become a hallmark of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, and “The Final Reckoning” looks to be no exception. Whether this level of risk is sustainable remains to be seen, but one thing is clear—he’s willing to go to extreme lengths to deliver jaw-dropping action sequences.

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