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Tom Cruise has officially returned with his eighth Mission: Impossible chapter, The Final Reckoning, which had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It marks the third decade since Cruise entered this journey as a secret ops agent who dares to do the unimaginable. As Ethan Hunt, he has been betrayed, bruised, and almost killed at many points. Still, he kept returning to these missions even as he entered his sixties.
Parallely, Matt Damon entered another spy film universe in 2002 with The Bourne Identity as the elusive central figure. His Jason Bourne shared a few similarities with Mission: Impossible's Ethan Hunt. They were both covert operatives used just as tools by the respective authorities at times. So, they became fugitives against their choice. The projects they got involved in were often filled with life-threatening situations that tested their endurance.
While Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible is known more for its death-defying stunt sequences, Matt Damon's Bourne film series is seen more as a psychological espionage thriller. The latter also included elaborate and physically demanding action scenes, but unlike Cruise, Damon hasn't worked often on stunts that could be potentially life-threatening. During an appearance on Conan, Damon also admitted that he has been afraid of heights.
At the time, Conan O'Brien praised the Bourne films by saying:
"I enjoyed them all so much and my son is at an age where we're watching them together. He is absolutely hooked. So, we're watching it and the action is so amazing and then I read somewhere that you were afraid of heights and I thought, "That's not possible." Because I've seen you do too many cool stunts where it looked like you couldn't possibly be afraid of heights."
Jason Bourne star Matt Damon said that he didn't realize he was afraid of heights until he stood on a lofty building in Dubai:
"I jumped off a bridge in the second Bourne movie and I was fine. I was wearing a cable and a harness and a big crane it was attached to. I did it. But I was in Dubai in 2004 and went to the top of this building with my wife and this helicopter pad walked out and I went full lizard-brained."
Damon admitted that his mind froze when he stood at such a great height. Then, he shared an anecdote about Tom Cruise, who has jumped off a similarly towering building like it's nothing.
Jason Bourne star Matt Damon spoke about Tom Cruise's DIY stunt discipline for the Mission: Impossible films
While on Conan O'Brien's talk show in 2019, Matt Damon recalled an interaction with Tom Cruise after the release of his Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
In the film, Tom Cruise famously climbed off Burj Khalifa for a scene, even though it is considered the tallest building in the world. There was also a point where Cruise, as Ethan Hunt, ran down the floors from outside. So, during a dinner with Cruise and some friends, Damon asked him how he dared to perform this stunt. Cruise said:
"I've been dreaming of this shot [in Mission Impossible], for 15 years. Finally, I had the chance to do it. So, I go to the safety guy and tell him, "Here's what I'm going to do." I'm gonna explain the whole gag to him. The safety guy says, "You can't do that because that's too dangerous." And I'm like uh huh, uh huh. So then, I get another safety guy!"
Then Damon joked about the situation for a stunt guy who might have approved Cruise's choice to let him do this stunt himself for the Mission: Impossible:
"I told Mr. Cruz he could run off the top of that building. He said he could do it and I believe everything that man says!"
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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning hits the US theaters on May 23, 2025.
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