(StraightShooterNews.com) – During a recent panel discussion in Santa Monica, LA28 President Casey Wasserman shared some unexpected details about Tom Cruise’s participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony.
Watch the video below.
At the CNBC and Boardroom: Game Plan panel, Wasserman revealed that Cruise, known for his daredevil stunts, did not earn a dime for his thrilling performance.
He participated without a paycheck, pulling off a series of high-risk maneuvers that fascinated the audience.
Wasserman recounted the initial doubts about getting Cruise on board due to anticipated high costs.
“The best part of the story is we pitched on a Zoom and the original idea was a person in the stadium as a stunt double,” he explained.
He thought the plan would involve a few hours of filming with Cruise before using a stunt double for the more complex parts.
However, just minutes into their meeting, Cruise committed to the role but insisted on performing all the stunts himself.
“About five minutes into the presentation [Tom Cruise] goes, ‘I’m in. But I’m only doing it if I get to do everything,'” Wasserman shared.
Although producer Ben Winston was initially skeptical about the plan’s feasibility due to the intensive rehearsal and shooting schedule, Cruise was fully committed to the project.
He completed a grueling schedule that included finishing a filming session for “Mission: Impossible” at 6 p.m. in London, arriving in L.A. at 4 a.m. in the morning and then performing multiple stunts right away.
“In L.A., he does two jumps out of the thing. He didn’t like the first one, so he did a second jump. Then he helicoptered from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from 1 until 5, helicoptered to Burbank Airport and flew back to London,” Wasserman detailed.
At the Olympics, Cruise made a dramatic entrance by jumping off the Stade du France, navigating through a crowd to receive the Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles.
He then rode through Paris on his motorcycle and eventually headed toward a plane near the Eiffel Tower.
The segment filmed at the Hollywood sign was also showcased, rounding off a series of stunts that were as epic as they were unpaid.
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