Tom Cruise on how he pulled off the latest Mission: Impossible stunts

All the Mission: Impossible films have led to the latest instalment Fallout, according to leading man Tom Cruise, which is why he pushed himself to extremes for the movie.

Opening here tomorrow, it sees Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his IMF (Impossible Missions Force) team, played by Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames with familiar allies such as Rebecca Ferguson, in a race against time after a mission goes wrong.

Cruise, 56, talked about how he pulled off the helicopter sequence, long line stunt and that headline-making, record-setting halo (high altitude, low opening) parachute jump.

This is an excerpt from the interview:

ON THE HALO SEQUENCE

We were told on numerous occasions that what we were thinking to do is impossible and it was never going to happen. And we were like: "Okay, okay."

Director Christopher McQuarrie designed the sequence to take place as the sun was setting. Then we realised we had a three-minute window for us to do the scene inside the aircraft and jump out.

I have to fly down and be within 90cm of the lens, because (the cameraman) is pulling focus, something never done before in the air. He is filming while also skydiving.

There was also the extreme training in skydiving I needed to do.

I am not only acting in a movie and producing the film, I am doing all my own stunts - from motorcycle, car, skydiving and helicopter. There is constant physical training.

We went to Abu Dhabi. (The people in) the United Arab Emirates helped us. They said: "We will give you our C-17. We will help you accomplish this."

We have a great relationship, (like) when I climbed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (for 2011's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), and they love movies. They knew what it was we were trying to accomplish, and they wanted to be part of it.

We had to figure out how to exit the aircraft because the aircraft is up to 320kmh. So, with that level of turbulence, we had to find a way to exit the aircraft for me to be able to get close to that 90cm.

If there was one mistake, that was it - the take is gone and we had to do it again. So we thought we were going to be there about a week but we ended being there over a month, maybe five weeks.

I am not someone who does (things like this) on a whim. I am meticulous on how I prepare with everyone in the team.

There are tons of briefings. I really create a team environment and I push for excellence.

But obviously, what we were doing is extreme. And we knew it and were respectful of that - we did not take it for granted. It definitely challenged all of us.

ON FLYING A HELICOPTER

I went to Airbus and trained at the facility in Dallas, Texas. The people were really wonderful and helped me throughout. I wanted to fly the Airbus helicopter which they call Squirrel.

The thing is, when I am flying the helicopter, I am not just flying the helicopter. It is the same thing when I am driving a car or (riding) a motorcycle, I am there with the cameras and setting a frame. Plus, I am acting as I am flying the helicopter low, fast and close to the mountains and the ground.

There was a lot of resistance. Firstly, it had never been done before in the way that we wanted to do it. And of course, everyone wanted to make sure that it was going to be safe.

I try to surround myself with the best people and have them challenge me and see how good I am. Like, am I good enough to be able to do this?

I said: "We are all professionals here, please put me through my paces and test me to see my ability. I want to make sure that you feel comfortable with my ability."

We end up having an amazing time in New Zealand... to be able to travel through New Zealand with a helicopter to the places where most people are not allowed to.

ON CLIMBING A ROPE ON A HELICOPTER, FREE FALLING

My adrenaline was definitely flowing in this movie. It was the kind of free fall into a bag. And I went out in an afternoon and rehearsed it - really, only once.

I did the climb once and I did the fall once. That was a heck of a workout. It was freezing on that day too. I was like, "Please, my hands are numb." I'm going up this thing and when I climbed it, I was like, "Okay, how will I make the fall work?"

I let go and I am just falling. When you see the take - it's like I hit that bag and roll over. When I roll over, I have to roll over the bag and grab the side of it.

ON BREAKING HIS FOOT DURING A ROOFTOP CHASE

The foot break was intense.

I have a cable above me and a cable just in case I fall. But I am going to run as fast as I can. I am actually going to try and make it to the other side - that is how you have to do that stunt.

For the first few takes, I went in quite hard and it knocked the wind out of me. But it looked so cool. So I was like, "all right, I can do this".

So I went in and the second I hit the wall, I was like, "man..."

And I looked down, I was like, "I'm going to keep going". So I crawled over the wall, just to get past the camera because I knew this was the take.

I knew instantly it was broken. I called McQuarrie and the guys in. I said: "I am sorry, it is a wrap. I broke my ankle."

I did everything possible to get back and in six weeks, we were filming.

And in 10 weeks, I was able to start running again.