Tom Cruise Didn’t Get Paid to Jump Off Olympic Stadium

The scene, which was a nod to Cruise’s career as a stuntman, was part of the move to move the Olympics to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games and honored the city’s Hollywood side.

LA28 President Casey Wasserman revealed how the team pulled off the scene during Game Plan 2024, an event hosted by CNBC and business services company Boardroom.

Wasserman explained that the original plan was for a stuntman to do most of the scene wearing a balaclava, but the actor wanted to do it himself.

“About five minutes into the presentation, (Tom Cruise) says, ‘I’m in. But I’ll only do it if I get to do everything,'” Wasserman said.

Cruise has done his own stunts in recent years, including the exhilarating mountain jump in 2023’s “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” so it’s no surprise he wanted to do the sequence. But the LA28 boss said he did the whole thing for free, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

That’s a bit surprising considering the logistics of filming the separate jumps in Paris and Los Angeles. Wasserman explained that the star was busy filming the next “Mission: Impossible” movie at the time, but he still managed to squeeze in the Olympic jump.

“He finished filming Mission: Impossible in London at 6 p.m. and got on a plane right away. He landed in LA at 4 a.m. and filmed the scene where he gets on a military plane,” Wasserman explained.

“In LA he does two jumps out of the thing. He didn’t like the first jump, so he did a second jump. Then he helicoptered from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from 1 to 5, helicoptered to Burbank Airport and flew back to London.”

Given Cruise’s role in the 2024 closing ceremonies, it’s possible he could be involved in the 2028 opening ceremony as well. But there’s still plenty of time to figure out how he’ll top the stadium jump.

When Cruise spoke to Business Insider in 2023, he said that he tries to outdo himself with every project.

“I always push. I remember every time they say, ‘Can you top it? Can’t you top it?’ we push. Every film I make, regardless of the genre, I want to make it as entertaining as possible for that audience. I know I can do things better,” he said.