Tom Cruise Jumps Off Cliff: "It's Okay to Be Scared, You Have to Face It" (Comprehensive)

Movie 'Mission Impossible 7' Press Conference

Tom Ajeossi's 11th Visit to Korea
"I Feel Welcomed Every Time I Come to Korea"

"There has never been an enemy I wasn't afraid of, but I have never given up. I think about why I am afraid and how to overcome it. When I prepare repeatedly, I feel a sense of stability."

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise (60) gave this answer when asked about action acting at the press conference for the movie 'Mission: Impossible ? Dead Reckoning PART ONE' held on the afternoon of the 29th at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Tom Cruise [Photo by Yonhap News]

He said, "It's not that I'm fearless, but it's okay to be scared. It's okay to feel fear. I want to face the fear."

He continued, "Since I was four years old, I dreamed of making movies and traveling the world. I never officially studied acting, but I auditioned at 18, met a film crew, and have been studying on my own. I learned filmmaking by self-study."

Tom Cruise came to Korea for the 11th time with the movie 'Mission: Impossible ? Dead Reckoning PART ONE' (hereafter 'Mission: Impossible 7'), which will be released on the 12th of next month.

Starting with 'Interview with the Vampire' (1994), he has visited Korea 11 times including for 'Mission: Impossible 2' (2000), 'Vanilla Sky' (2001), 'Valkyrie' (2009), 'Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol' (2011), 'Jack Reacher' (2016), 'Mission: Impossible ? Rogue Nation' (2015), 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' (2016), 'Mission: Impossible ? Fallout' (2018), and 'Top Gun: Maverick' (2022). This is his 11th visit and his 5th visit for the 'Mission: Impossible' series.

'Mission: Impossible 7' depicts the story of Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) and the IMF team tracking a mysterious and powerful enemy to prevent a new weapon that threatens all humanity from falling into the wrong hands.

In the film, he performs high-difficulty action scenes such as riding a motorcycle on a high cliff and jumping off. The production cost of the movie is known to be $200 million (approximately 260 billion KRW).

Tom Cruise is famous for performing stunts himself without using doubles, such as hanging from helicopters and rolling down cliffs. He is attracting attention again for doing his own stunts in 'Mission: Impossible 7'. In particular, to avoid wasting the huge production cost even if he were seriously injured or killed, he filmed this scene first.

Regarding this, Tom Cruise said, "I have ridden motorcycles since I was a child, but it was my first time falling off a cliff." He added, "I think it turned out really cool," showing satisfaction.

He also said, "Storytelling, adventure, and providing enjoyment to the audience are my passions in life."

Director Christopher McQuarrie (from left), Pom Klementieff, Hayley Atwell, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Following last year's 'Top Gun: Maverick', Tom Cruise came to Korea this year with the seventh 'Mission' series and has earned the nickname 'Kind Uncle Tom' due to his particularly friendly attitude toward Korean audiences. When asked if he knew about this, he replied, "It's a really beloved and proud nickname."

He said, "Every time I come to Korea, I feel warmly welcomed," and added, "Last night, I had Korean barbecue, and it was delicious." He continued, "I also took a walk and greeted Koreans, and it felt special."

The 'Mission: Impossible' series has performed well at domestic theaters. The recent series attracted 6.58 million viewers for 'Mission: Impossible 6' (2018) and 6.12 million for 'Mission: Impossible 5' (2015), respectively.

Tom Cruise will attend the red carpet event held at the same venue in the afternoon and will depart the next day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.