Hollywood legend Tom Cruise has secretly battled with producers over his death-defying stunt at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, with insiders claiming his inner circle is desperate to curb his passion for increasingly risky stunts in his 60s.
The A-list actor, 62, stunned the world after jumping from the roof of the Stade de France on Sunday night during an extravagant handover ceremony to Los Angeles in the French capital.
For the show, which took 18 months to prepare, Tom was strapped into a harness as he launched himself from a ledge in front of thousands of fans and Olympians.
But sources close to the scene say Tom clashed with his bosses behind the scenes because he claimed the safety ropes prevented him from jumping at higher speeds, while they were rightly concerned for his life.
“Tom helped create this stunt and said he needed to do something that had never been done before,” they told DailyMail.com.
Hollywood legend Tom Cruise has clashed with producers over his death-defying stunt at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, sources close to the event told DailyMail.com
The 62-year-old star leapt from the roof of the Stade de France on Sunday night in a stunning display.
‘He argued with producers about his safety rope, which was clearly visible, and felt it didn’t make the jump believable enough and he didn’t fall as fast as he wanted.
‘His inner circle has strongly advised him against the jump and told him he really needs to stop engaging in so many death-defying stunts.
“It’s one thing when you’re filming a movie, but now this Olympic stunt is incredibly worrying.”
The source added that there is a fear that one of his maneuvers could eventually backfire and he could end up seriously injured or killed.
They said: ‘Tom knows the risks involved and he doesn’t care. He refuses to back down. He truly believes he is larger than life.
‘Part of his belief has to do with the fact that he is one of the biggest action movie stars of all time.
“Part of it is his Napoleon complex and also the fact that he is practically a demigod in his religion. But he is no longer 25, not even 35 or 45.”
Tom is no stranger to daredevil stunts.
Insiders told DailyMail.com that Tom had a falling out with his bosses backstage when he argued that safety ropes prevented him from launching himself at higher speeds.
They claimed Tom “argued with producers about his clearly visible safety rope and felt it didn’t make the jump believable enough.”
From jumping off buildings to samurai sword fighting to climbing mountains without ropes, he has always insisted on doing his own stunts.
Last month, he was spotted hanging off the side of a plane while filming scenes for the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie.
In 2010, he hung nearly 820 metres from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, for the fourth Mission: Impossible film.
However, not all of his stunts have gone well and in 2017 he was injured when he unsuccessfully jumped from a building while filming Mission: Impossible 6 in London.
At the time, a video emerged showing the esteemed actor making a giant leap from a rig to a rooftop while strapped into a harness, but his jump fell short and he crashed into the side of a building, breaking his ankle.
Tom prepared for his abseiling stunt on Sunday night as Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet thanked everyone for “doing their part” at the Games.
As SHE sang and played the American national anthem on her guitar, Tom descended into the stadium.
Once safely on land, the Mission: Impossible star waved to several fans as he made his way through the crowd, and in one viral moment, one woman even attempted to kiss him on the cheek.
Gymnast Simone Biles and the mayor of Los Angeles then presented him with the five-ring Olympic flag, which he carried onto the back of a waiting motorcycle.
Dressed in his signature black leather jacket from Top Gun, the action star emerged from the arena standing on top of the vehicle.
The cross-Atlantic shift began with live performances by California natives Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg in Venice Beach.
The actor held the Olympic flag during the dramatic closing ceremony in Paris
Tom then loaded the flag onto the back of a motorcycle and rode through the crowd.
The star shared a selfie from the top of the stadium before performing the death-defying stunt.
The day before Tom’s big stunt, executive producer and creative director Ben Winston told Vogue that the masterpiece took more than a year to put together and that at times he feared they would never be able to pull it off.
“We’ve been planning this for a year and a half, and we had the idea that it would be really beautiful if we could take the flag from the Paris stadium and have it travel all the way to Los Angeles and then go live and do something spectacular here,” he said.
‘One of the things that Los Angeles is most known for is its beaches, so we thought, what if we could steal that flag, bring it to LA, and do a massive, amazing concept on the beach with all these amazing LA artists?’
Revealing Tom’s dedication to his job, Ben told how the actor was filming Mission Impossible in London when he took an 11-hour flight to Los Angeles, filmed for the Olympic video and flew straight back to the set.