Tom Cruise Reveals His Secret to Stunt Prep: A Hearty Breakfast

Hollywood action hero Tom Cruise recently revealed his key to preparing for aerial stunts full of high adrenaline: a healthy "massive breakfast."

Cruise, who made headlines by performing his own death-defying stunts, including hanging from the side of a military plane at the opening sequence of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, has performed numerous heart-stopping aerial action scenes for the Mission: Impossible series, where he stars as Ethan Hunt, an impossible mission force expert agent.

Speaking in an interview in People magazine's Mission: Impossible special issue, the actor said, "I really do eat a huge breakfast. The energy that it takes - I work so hard on that wing-walking." He continued, "I'll eat, like, sausage and almost a dozen eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and liquids. Oh, I am eating! Picture: It's cold up there. We're at high altitude. My body is burning a lot.".

Cruise also referred to the first stunt of *Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation* as one of his most perilous. Looking ahead to the eighth installment, *Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning*, in May, Cruise described a terrifying adventure in which he felt as if he were "spinning in a washing machine." The tank had been built by the crew to simulate the interior of a submarine that rotated 360 degrees and tilted to gauge Cruise's endurance for sustained, stressful situations in cramped spaces.

Even though the stunt involved danger, the Oscar-nominated star was sure, noting that he was well prepared. "Luckier when flying jets is that you simulate hypoxia and carbon dioxide buildup. You start to develop a sense of being able to know your body and how it's reacting so that I knew when to cut," Cruise explained, noting that he was able to draw from his experience as a pilot to know his body's limits when doing the stunts.

Having been captivated by watching wing-walkers as a child, Cruise has always had a passion for death-defying, heart-stopping stunts. He described his love of filmmaking, saying, "I love making movies. It's not what I do. It's who I am."