tom cruise plane in movie

The Real Story of Darkstar, the Mach-10 Hypersonic Jet in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

The legendary Skunk Works had a hand in developing Tom Cruise’s fastest plane yet.

• The SR-72 doesn’t really exist, but engineers at Lockheed Martin had a hand in its development.
• The company’s famous Skunk Works division developed the SR-72 , as well as the real SR-71.

In Top Gun: Maverick , Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell takes his need for speed to a new realm: the hypersonic realm, that is. Thirty-six years after the first film debuted, Mitchell is a test pilot flying the SR-72 “Darkstar” airplane. Although fictional, the SR-72 has a real-world pedigree, with design help for the aircraft and models coming from the same group that is designing the real SR-72: the world-famous Skunk Works , Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs.

According to Lockheed Martin, the production team behind Top Gun: Maverick contacted the company’s Skunk Works division to assist with the SR-72 concept. The Skunk Works, a name drawn from the cartoon Li’l Abner , is the division of Lockheed Martin that works on classified aircraft programs. Established by legendary aviation engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, the Skunk Works has proven itself the most important and influential aviation design bureau of the modern era, responsible for the U-2 spy plane , SR-71 Blackbird , F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, F-22 Raptor , and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter .

The Top Gun team made a logical choice. After all, the fictional SR-72 “Darkstar” hypersonic aircraft is meant as a follow-on to the SR-71, which the Skunk Works also developed. Both are high-speed, manned strategic reconnaissance jets. The difference is that while the SR-71 had a top speed of Mach 3.3 (or 2,193 miles per hour), the movie’s SR-72 is firmly in hypersonic territory, reaching Mach 10, or 7,672 miles per hour. (Hypersonic speeds—faster than the speed of sound—exceed 3,000 miles per hour, or over Mach 5.)

Of course, the SR-72 Darkstar is also fake. The movie plane shares its name with the RQ-3 Darkstar , a high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance drone that Lockheed Martin developed in the 1990s. The real Darkstar was a slow-moving spy platform that flew at less than 5 percent of the movie plane’s speed.

But is the movie version closer to reality than one might suspect? The movie SR-72 bears a resemblance to Skunk Works concept art for the real-world uncrewed SR-72, also a hypersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft, first announced in 2016. The aircraft features a long blended wing and fuselage and small cranked arrow wings. The Skunk Works logo is prominent on the visible tail fin. According to The Washington Post , then-LockMart CEO Marilyn Hewson described it at the time as a Mach 6-capable jet.

The movie’s SR-72 (pictured at the top of this story) is virtually identical to a 2016 rendering that Lockheed Martin released on its website (pictured just above), right down to the Skunk Works logo on the tail. The only major difference is the addition of pilot cockpit windows on the left and right of the movie SR-72, whereas the real-world plane will be uncrewed and would not need any.

Lockheed Martin, on its Top Gun: Maverick webpage , explains it had a number of staff work on the movie project to flesh out what a Mach-10 plane might look like. The page has three short video vignettes featuring “ Jim ,” a conceptual designer who draws aircraft for the company. Using a pencil, Jim sketches the movie SR-72 while sitting outdoors in front of a CGI version of the aircraft.

The next LockMart employee is “ Becky ,” who describes her work as designing and fabricating different types of full-scale pole models. Pole models are models of aircraft that are mounted on tall poles for testing to determine their radar cross-section. The smaller the radar cross-section, the more difficult it is for a radar to detect the aircraft. Becky appears to be at the Lockheed Martin Helendale Radar Cross Section Facility, which had a moment on social media last year when a new, previously unseen aircraft shape was photographed at the facility.

The final two company employees profiled for Top Gun: Maverick are “Jason” and “Lucio.” Jason and Lucio are model-makers that actually cut and mold material to form a concept aircraft, and the video shows them working on a model of the movie SR-72. (Or is it the real SR-72?) Interestingly, Becky, Jason, and Lucio are all shown with a previously unseen teardrop-shaped aircraft mounted on the Helendale facility pole. Whether or not the aircraft is a real design under testing or something cool dreamed up to place on top of the pole remains to be seen.

The movie SR-72 could be a lot closer to a real aircraft than the general public realizes. There’s no Pentagon contract to build the real-world SR-72 yet; So far, it’s an internal Lockheed Martin effort, so it may never actually be built. But it seems likely that what’s on the silver screen is very much along the lines of what at least one defense contractor believes is a plausible aircraft. Unfortunately, it won’t have room inside for Tom Cruise.

Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News , and others. He lives in San Francisco.

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American Made

2017, Comedy/Drama, 1h 55m

What to know

Critics Consensus

American Made 's fast-and-loose attitude with its real-life story mirrors the cavalier -- and delightfully watchable -- energy Tom Cruise gives off in the leading role. Read critic reviews

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Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America and soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation spawns the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brings down the Reagan White House.

Rating: R (Some Sexuality/Nudity|Language Throughout)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Adventure

Original Language: English

Director: Doug Liman

Producer: Brian Grazer , Brian Oliver , Doug Davison , Kim Roth , Ray Angelic , Tyler Thompson

Writer: Gary Spinelli

Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 2017  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Dec 19, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $51.3M

Runtime: 1h 55m

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Production Co: Hercules Film Fund, Brian Grazer, Vendian Entertainment, Quadrant Pictures

Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

Domhnall Gleeson

Monty "Schafer"

Sarah Wright

Jesse Plemons

Sheriff Downing

Caleb Landry Jones

Dana Sibota

Judy Downing

E. Roger Mitchell

Agent Craig McCall

Alejandro Edda

Jorge Ochoa

Benito Martinez

James Rangel

Louis Finkle

Gary Spinelli

Screenwriter

Brian Grazer

Brian Oliver

Doug Davison

Ray Angelic

Tyler Thompson

Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis

Executive Producer

Terry Dougas

Brandt Andersen

Eric Greenfeld

Michael Finley

Michael Bassick

César Charlone

Cinematographer

Andrew Mondshein

Film Editing

Dylan Tichenor

Christophe Beck

Original Music

News & Interviews for American Made

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Critic Reviews for American Made

Audience reviews for american made.

The combo of director Doug Liman, writer Gary Spinelli and actor Tom Cruise all deliver huge in a film that serves as entertainment and a peek inside the corruption factory of the Reagan presidency.

American Made is a fascinating biopic about Barry Seal, a commercial pilot who worked with the CIA to run drugs and guns in South America. Set in the early 1980s, to combat the spread of communism the CIA recruits Pan Am pilot Barry Seal to fly recon missions in South America and eventually to run guns to the Contras; but things soon start to spiral out of the control. Tom Cruise gives a pretty strong performance, and director Doug Liman does a good job at giving the film a unique style; blending a political thriller with a crime drama, with some lighthearted comedy mixed in. Also, the sets, costumes, and soundtrack are all well-done, giving an authentic early '80s look and feel. Entertaining and fun, American Made is an interesting look at a little known chapter of the Cold War.

It's a pretty poor imitation of Scorsese, mostly because of the overly frantic editing and the fact that we just don't get a good sense of who Barry Seal is.

Say what you will of Tom Cruise as I'm fully aware that some don't take to him at all but, personally, I've always been a fan. That said, it's been some years since I've fully embraced a film of his as nothing has really showcased his abilities. As good as they were, I turned a little cold on the Mission: Impossible series where Cruise seemingly focused on being an action star for a while. American Made, however, sees him return to what he does best. This is a tailor made role for the likes of Cruise's cocksure mannerisms and shit-kicking grin. In fact, the film thrives on him in the lead which makes this very enjoyable entertainment. Plot: In 1978, skilled airline pilot Barry Seal (Tom Cruise) is contacted by CIA agent Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleason), who employs him to photograph communist facilities over Central America. Barry accepts but it's not long before he's contacted by the Medellin Cartel to transport drugs back to the USA. Before he knows it, Barry is making millions in drug and gun-running which involves everyone from the FBI, the ATF, the CIA and the the Contras in Nicaragua. The longer it goes on, however, the harder it becomes for Barry to get out. I've now lost count of the amount of films that portray a character that spirals out of control once involved in some drug running or criminal activity. Tv's Breaking Bad became a critically acclaimed phenomenon for a start but the ones that spring to mind, when comparing American Made to anything, are the 70's set Johnny Depp film Blow and, in terms of its style and vibrancy, Scorsese's Goodfellas. Now, I wouldn't put this in the same class as Scorsese's masterpiece but it's equally as good as (if not better than) the aforementioned Ted Demme film. There's a lot of style and pizazz to Doug Liman's portrayal of this very interesting time in American history. He gleefully exposes the political machinations behind the events and doesn't pull punches in indicting President Ronald Reagan, Governor Bill Clinton and the CIA in there involvement with such a huge drug running cartel and their intentions to quash a South American uprising from the Sandinistas. Put simply, everyone had their fingers in a lot of pies at this time in America and Barry Seal happened to be "the gringo that always delivered". It's serious stuff but what makes it so enjoyable is because Cruise injects such a tongue-in-cheek zaniness to the whole affair while Liman confidently handles the material with a great eye for the 70's and 80's period detail and intercuts the film with news footage of the events as and when they came to public knowledge. It's a good case of truth being stranger than fiction and that's what grabs your attention as you roll with the ridiculously over-the-top scenarios. Cruise is hugely appealing here. His southern accent adds another dimension and character to his resumé that's refreshing to see. He can play these characters in his sleep but it's been a while since we've seen it. It feels like old school Cruise and it's a pleasure to have him return. Mark Walker

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The behind-the-scenes story of shooting those crazy Top Gun: Maverick flying sequences

Tom Cruise insisted that his costars be filmed in actual flying jets.

Senior Writer

How do you convincingly shoot scenes in which actors look like they are flying in jets with extreme G-forces contorting their facial features as the planes perform extreme aeronautical maneuvers? You get the actors to do it for real. That, at least, was the conclusion of Tom Cruise when he began to think about how to shoot Top Gun: Maverick (out May 27), the action sequel in which his titular flying ace must prep a younger generation of pilots for a highly dangerous mission.

"It's the craziest idea," says Glen Powell , who plays one of the pilots Maverick trains in the film. "You kind of don't believe it. It was like: Okay, this is a really cool idea but it's never going to work."

Yet work it did, with Cruise, Powell, and other cast members believably looking in the film like they are really in the skies because they really were in the skies.

"It was a lot of work," admits Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski . "It was very tedious and difficult at times, but the footage speaks for itself."

When filmmaker Tony Scott directed the original 1986 Top Gun , he too had hopes of shooting actors in the air but was thwarted when cast members began throwing up whenever they were taken for a ride. "Though I was never really doing it, I learned the mechanics of operating the plane," Top Gun star Val Kilmer recalled in his 2020 memoir I'm Your Huckleberry . "We went up in the jets several times and... I have to report that I was the only one who didn't regurgitate, which, given the gut-wrenching drops and spins of those ferocious flights, was no mean feat."

In the years after Top Gun made him a global star, Cruise became a pilot himself thanks to Sydney Pollack, who directed him in 1993's The Firm and gave the actor flying lessons as a present. Cruise was determined to depict the aerial sequences in Top Gun: Maverick as realistically as possible, an ambition shared by Kosinski.

"I've always loved aviation, I was making model airplanes from a young kid and studied aerospace in school," says the director. "Every movie's a challenge, you know. I love that. If you don't have butterflies going into a project, it's probably not the right thing. I always want to look for something new to try and, yeah, this was a tough one but I had Jerry [Bruckheimer, the film's producer]. I had Tom, I had a great cast, and a story that we really believed in. So we gave it our best shot."

Cruise had played a military-school student in the 1981 film Taps and, together with costars Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton, attended a training boot camp ahead of the shoot. Inspired by that experience, the actor decided to put his fellow cast members through a training regimen which would allow them to be filmed in flying jets looking like actual, non-vomiting pilots.

"That was Tom's expertise," says Kosinski about Cruise's insistence that the actors be properly prepared for the shoot. "He's a pilot, and he's done aerobatics, and he was in the first Top Gun . He knew that they wouldn't be able to get in the plane and hold their lunch down and be able to do these scenes, so he created a training program that they all went through."

The actors began the schedule flying in single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawks before moving on to the Extra 300, which is capable of more acrobatic maneuvers, finally graduating to L-39 Albatross single-engine high performance jets, which prepped them for the F/A-18s in which they would be filmed during the shoot.

"Tom used part of the budget of this movie in order to ensure that we were comfortable and able to emulate a real-life fighter pilot," says Powell. "There's no way without that regimen — a thing that he didn't have on the first movie — that we would be able to pull off these performances. There's full scenes up in the air and we would have been passed-out bodies just going for a ride."

Did Powell throw up over his plane? "Not on the plane," says the actor. "You've got bags obviously. I never missed a shot in the bag."

While the pilots were preparing to act like real pilots, Kosinski was figuring out how to shoot them doing so. "[That] took a lot of preparation," says the director. "We had to work for about 15 months with the navy to figure out how to get cameras in the cockpit. We ended up getting IMAX-quality cameras into the cockpit with the pilots and the actor."

During the shoot itself, Kosinski had the strange experience of "directing" actors who were many miles away during the actual filming.

"I'm there, with the actor, when they're getting in the jet, I'm setting the cameras up, making sure all the angles are exactly what we need," says the filmmaker. "But once that jet pulls out onto the runway, they're gone for the next hour or two. As soon as they land, we take the footage, we went into the debrief, we put it all in and watched it together. We give them notes on what didn't work, and we'd cheer when something was great, and then we'd give them notes and send them up again in the afternoon. It was a very unique way to direct, because it was a lot of prep and a lot of rehearsal. And it was very tedious — you're only getting a minute or two of good stuff every day. But it's the only way to get footage that looks like this."

The flight sequences in the finished film are certainly thrilling (EW's Leah Greenblatt praised Kosinski for "sending his jets swooping and spinning in impossible, equilibrium-rattling arcs"), aided by the fact that the cast's faces can be seen enjoying and enduring the aerial acrobatics.

"You just feel the peril for everyone in the movie in a different way," says Powell. "If you were using CGI, audiences are very smart, they can tell the difference. When you are whipping through canyons at 650 knots, you can't fake that, and you can't fake the Gs on actors faces."

So, if Top Gun: Maverick is a success, can Kosinski imagine overseeing more of such sequences in a sequel?

"It's all about the story for Tom," says the filmmaker. "If we can figure out a way to tell what Maverick's up to next, who knows?"

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Related content:

• The sky's the limit for Top Gun: Maverick hotshot Glenn Powell
• Why Top Gun: Maverick starts exactly the same way as the original film
• Review: Top Gun: Maverick is a high-flying sequel that gets it right

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• The True Story Behind the Movie <em>American Made</em>

The True Story Behind the Movie American Made

American Made , the new Tom Cruise crime drama out Sept. 29, has all the makings of a romp: drug running and arms smuggling. An FBI sting. Enough cold, hard cash to make the phenomenon of raining money a plausible ecological scenario. And a sex scene in the cockpit of a plane. That’s flying through the air. With one participant being the pilot. Did we mention it’s Tom Cruise?

If it sounds like an exercise in screenwriting excess, it’s not entirely — the film takes as its inspiration the true story of Adler Berriman “Barry” Seal, a TWA pilot who became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel and, later, an informant for the DEA. It’s an ideal vehicle for Cruise, a.k.a. Maverick , whose mischievous swagger is accented here (literally) with a Louisiana drawl.

The movie hardly purports to be a documentary — director Doug Liman, who reteams with Cruise after Edge of Tomorrow , has referred to it as “a fun lie based on a true story.” And perhaps its looseness with the facts is for the best, as conflicting accounts make it difficult to get a clear picture on certain aspects of Seal’s seemingly made-for-the-movies life. It’s a thorny story that takes place against the backdrop of the Reagan-era War on Drugs and the notorious Iran-Contra affair , with Seal never hesitating to do business with opposing sides, so long as the payout was prodigious.

Here’s what we know about Seal — and what’s still up for debate.

MORE: Review: American Made Lets a Smug Tom Cruise Just Be Tom Cruise

Fact: Seal was an unusually talented young pilot.

According to Smuggler’s End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal — written by retired FBI agent Del Hahn, who worked on the task force that went after Seal in the ’80s — Seal obtained his student pilot license at 15 and became fully licensed at 16. His instructor was so impressed by his natural talent that he allowed him to fly solo after only eight hours of training. After serving in the National Guard and Army Reserve, he became a pilot with TWA, among the youngest command pilots to operate a Boeing 707.

Fact: He had a colorful personality.

As Cruise plays him, Seal was a blend of balls and braggadocio, fond of stunts and rarely registering the possibilities of danger or failure. According to Hahn, Seal’s high school yearbook photo was accompanied by the inscription, “Full of fun, full of folly.” His flight instructor described him as wild and fearless and generally unconcerned with the consequences of his actions. In an interview with Vice , Hahn says Seal was personable but “not as smart and clever as he thought he was.”

Partly Fiction: He was married to a woman named Lucy and they had three kids.

Sarah Wright plays Seal’s delightfully foul-mouthed wife in the movie, alternately exasperated by his schemes and enthralled by the riches they bring. In reality, Seal was married three times and had five children. He had a son and daughter with first wife Barbara Bottoms, whom he married in 1963 and subsequently divorced. He then married Linda McGarrh Ross in 1971, divorcing a year later, before marrying Deborah Ann DuBois, with whom he would go on to have three children, in 1974.

Fiction: The government first took notice of his smuggling when he was transporting Cuban cigars.

While the film depicts Seal’s foray into smuggling as beginning with Cuban cigars, his first documented run-in with the law for a smuggling offense took place in 1972 when he was one of eight people arrested for a plot to smuggle explosives out of the U.S. Though he wasn’t convicted, he lost his job with TWA. By 1976, according to Hahn, he had moved onto marijuana, and within a couple of years graduated to cocaine, which was less bulky, less sniffable by dogs and generally more profitable.

Fact: He smuggled drugs in through the Louisiana coast.

Seal and the pilots he recruited — including one he met in jail and his first wife’s brother — trafficked drugs over the border of his home state. As in the movie, he sometimes delivered them by pushing packed duffel bags out of his plane and into the Atchafalaya basin, to be retrieved by partners on the ground.

Mostly Fiction: Seal was chummy with the leaders of Colombia’s Medellín Cartel, including Pablo Escobar and the Ochoa brothers.

In the movie, Seal meets the cartel big wigs early on. In reality, Hahn writes, he did not deal with them directly, and they referred to him only as “El Gordo,” or “The Fat Man.” He finally met with them in April 1984 when he was working with the DEA on a sting operation intended to lead to their capture. (That operation would go awry when Seal’s status as an informant was revealed in a Washington Times cover story months later.)

Fact: Seal offered to cooperate with the DEA to stay out of prison.

The DEA was onto Seal for a long time before securing an indictment against him in March 1983 on several counts, including conspiracy to distribute methaqualone and possession with intent to distribute Quaaludes. As the movie suggests, there was some confusion among government agencies intent on taking him down.

His initial attempt to make a deal with a U.S. attorney, offering information on the Ochoa family, was rejected. But in March 1984, he traveled to Washington to the office of the Vice President’s Drug Task Force and cut a deal on the strength of his intel on and connections to the cartel.

Contested: He worked for many years alongside the CIA.

The film has Seal’s involvement with the CIA beginning in the late 1970s, relatively early on in his smuggling career. Under the handling of an agent played by Domhnall Gleeson, Cruise’s Seal gathers intelligence by flying low over Guatemala and Nicaragua and snapping photos from his plane. Later, the CIA turns a blind eye to his drug smuggling in exchange for his delivery of arms to the Contras in Nicaragua, who the U.S. government was attempting to mobilize against the leftist Sandinistas, who controlled the government. The movie even suggests that the CIA helped set Seal up with his very own airport in the small town of Mena, Ark.

According to Hahn’s book, rumors of Seal’s involvement with the CIA anytime before 1984 were just that — rumors. The only confirmed connection between Seal and the CIA turned up by Hahn’s research was in 1984, after Seal had begun working as an informant for the DEA. The CIA placed a hidden camera in a cargo plane Seal flew to pick up a cocaine shipment in Colombia. He and his copilot were able to obtain photographs that proved a link between the Sandinistas and the cartel, key intelligence for the Reagan administration in its plans to help overthrow the Sandinistas’ regime. But the final piece of the operation — a celebration of the successful cocaine transport, at which the Ochoas and Escobar were to be arrested all at once — never happened because of the revelation of Seal’s status as an informant.

Fact: Seal was assassinated in 1986.

Jorge Ochoa reportedly ordered a hit on Seal early in 1986. At the time, Seal was living in a Baton Rouge Salvation Army facility. Charges against him had not been fully erased as a result of his cooperation with the government, and he was sentenced to probation and six months residing at the treatment center. On the evening of Feb. 19, just after he parked his Cadillac, he was killed by two Colombian hitmen armed with machine guns.

Thanks in part to several witnesses, both men and four additional men who conspired in the killing were arrested within two days. Seal would go down as a legendary criminal, one of the most important witnesses in DEA history and — in Hollywood’s estimation, at least — a classic American story fit for only our most American onscreen hero.

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Write to Eliza Berman at [email protected]

Tom Cruise Crash Lands in ‘American Made’ Trailer (Watch)

By Dave McNary

Dave McNary

Film Reporter

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Tom Cruise combines piloting skills and charm in the first trailer for Universal’s drug-running drama “ American Made ” as he crash lands a small plane full of cocaine in a suburban neighborhood.

After he gets out of the plane, covered in cocaine, he flashes the usual dazzling Cruise grin and begins handing out cash to youngsters and saying, “You never saw me.”

In the film, Cruise portrays 1980s pilot and hustler Barry Seal. “I was running drugs for the CIA, the DEA and Pablo Escobar,” he says in a voiceover.

The film made headlines two years ago when a plane carrying crew members crashed on the set in Colombia in September 2015 , killing two people and seriously injuring a third person. Local authorities believe that bad weather caused the twin-engine Aerostar to crash.

Cruise was in production on the movie at the time of the incident, but was not on the plane. Universal decided last August to change the title from “ Mena ” to “ American Made ,” and move it from Jan. 6, 2017, to Sept. 29, 2017.

“American Made” is the latest collaboration between Cruise and director Doug Liman , following their collaboration on “Edge of Tomorrow.” The crime thriller also features Domhnall Gleeson, Lola Kirke, Jesse Plemons, Jayma Mays, Sarah Wright Olsen and Caleb Landry Jones.

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See the trailer for “American Made” below:

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‘Top Gun: Maverick’ director explains what it took to ace Tom Cruise’s awesome flight scenes

‘You just can’t fake what it’s like to be in one of these airplanes,’ says director Joseph Kosinski.

Anyone who fueled up on Top Gun: Maverick this summer knows the chart-shattering sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 classic features some of the most realistic and hair-raising aerial acrobatics ever committed to film. What you may not know, though, is how Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski collaborated with a team of ace real-life pilots to capture the movie’s authentic aerial combat sequences.

There’s no CGI along for the ride as Cruise and his crack team of present-day daredevils take what seems like an impossible fight to the movie’s unnamed bad guys. That’s because the onscreen action was captured exactly as it actually happened — a feat that required tons of practical expertise from the U.S. military pros who fly the film’s cutting-edge Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet (as well as legacy aircraft like Cruise’s old-school Grumman F-14 Tomcat) — all as part of a day’s work.

“I saw online that some Navy pilots were putting on YouTube these videos where they would film their training exercises by putting a little GoPro on the canopy next to them,” Kosinski told The New York Times of his initial research into how Maverick would set up its in-flight action. “And so there was this kind of off-kilter angle that was capturing their training flight, and when I saw that, I was like, this is more interesting than any aerial sequence I’ve seen in a movie in a long time. So, [I wanted to] get the choreography of dog fighting, and do it in a two-seat airplane so Tom can be in the back and the [actual] Top Gun pilot can be in the front and [a real] Top Gun pilot is in the same thing that Tom’s wearing.”

Though Cruise is famous for performing his own stunts , there are some things that just have to be handled by the experts — and that includes piloting an extraordinarily expensive aircraft paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense. Kosinski said Cruise challenged all of the film’s flying cast to get themselves into “the same aviation shape that he was,” easing the illusion that the helmeted pilots actually at the helm were Cruise and the rest of the cast.

“…I can shoot Tom with these cameras, and it’ll look like Tom’s flying it,” Kosinski explained. “That was the inspiration. Then we went to Top Gun [the real-life, Nevada-based Navy Fighter Weapons School ], and we worked with the best pilots in the world flying these sequences for us.”

Committing so much effort to nailing the real look and feel of a dogfighter’s view from the cockpit, confessed Kosinski, “was a lot of work.” But, he said, there’s simply no CGI substitute for capturing the real thing. “You just can’t fake what it’s like to be in one of these airplanes,” he said. “You can’t fake the imagery of what it’s like to be going 600 miles an hour 30 feet above the ground through a canyon. I think, as an audience member, something in your brain tells you it’s real, and there is a visceral response, and so I’m glad we did it.”

The blockbuster sequel continues to swoop box office receipts , collecting a global $1.4 billion and $731 million domestic haul as the year’s highest-flying movie (as well as Cruise’ highest-grossing film ever). If you missed the movie’s initial flight in theaters, not to worry: Top Gun: Maverick has just come in for landing at on-demand streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime and Apple TV+.

Looking for some action and adventure? Peacock has a slew of titles to get your heart rate up, including The Fast and the Furious, Ambulance, and Flashpoint. 

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Winning the Skies Without Losing Your Lunch: Filming ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

The makers of the “Top Gun” sequel discuss the challenges of filming practical aerial stunts.

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By Amy Nicholson

Before Tom Cruise signed on to star in the original “Top Gun,” he asked to take a test flight in a jet. Cruise wasn’t yet world famous, so when he arrived at the hangar, his long hair still in a ponytail left over from “Legend,” the pilots, according to one of the film’s producers, Jerry Bruckheimer, decided to give this Hollywood hippie the ride of his life. Zipping at 6.5 G’s — more than twice the G-forces some astronauts endure during rocket launches — Cruise felt the blood drain from his head. He vomited in his fighter-pilot mask.

He agreed to make the film.

Cruise continued to fly so fast, and so frequently, that he learned to squeeze his thighs and abs to stay conscious. His stomach adjusted to the speed. When the director Tony Scott put a camera in the cockpit, Cruise could smile for his close-ups. His castmates weren’t as prepared.

“They all threw up and their eyes rolled back in their heads,” Bruckheimer said in a phone interview. The original footage “was just a mess,” he admitted. “We couldn’t use any of it.”

“Top Gun” made Cruise a superstar — and the experience of shooting it stuck with him so much, he was convinced he needed to lead a three-month flight course for the cast of “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel, now in theaters, that has had 35 years to build up suspense. In the new movie, Cruise’s Capt. Pete Mitchell (known as Maverick) readies a dozen young pilots for a dangerous mission to destroy an underground uranium plant in an enemy land. Behind the scenes, Cruise did roughly the same thing, gradually raising the actors’ aerial tolerance, and confidence, from small prop planes to F-18 fighter jets. “He’s got every kind of pilot’s license that you could possibly imagine — helicopters, jets, whatever,” Bruckheimer said.

In essence, “Top Gun: Maverick” is a 450 mile-an-hour flying-heist caper. The mission leaders devise a difficult set of challenges for the pilots: zoom low and quick, vault a steep mountain, spin upside-down, plummet into a basin and survive a near-vertical climb at 9 G’s while dodging missiles.

Cruise, a contender for the most daredevil actor since Buster Keaton, was adamant that every stunt be accomplished with practical effects. Each jet had a U.S. Navy pilot at the controls, while its actor spun like a leaf in a windstorm. The deserts and snow-capped peaks in the background are real, and so are many of the performers’ grimaces, squints, gasps and moans.

“You can’t fake the forces that are put on your body during combat,” the director Joseph Kosinski said by phone. “You can’t do it on a sound stage, you can’t do it on a blue screen. You can’t do it with visual effects.”

From the safety of theater seats, the audience faces its own challenge: unlearning the computer-generated complacency that’s turned modern blockbusters into bedazzled bores. The imagery of the sky and ground spiraling behind the actors’ heads in “Top Gun: Maverick” looks like it must be digital wizardry. It isn’t.

The movie’s aerial coordinator, Kevin LaRosa II, and its aerial unit director of photography, Michael FitzMaurice, filmed from above using three aircraft: two types of jets with exterior cameras mounted on wind-resistant gimbals, and a helicopter, which proved best at capturing the speed of actors whizzing by. One specialized jet could film the same scene using two different lens focal lengths to double the footage captured on a single flight. Once LaRosa heard that the long-anticipated sequel was finally going to become a reality, he also developed his own aircraft, a shiny black plane with cameras that can withstand up to 3 G’s.

“That had never been done before,” LaRosa said in a video interview. As he flew next to the cast, LaRosa dodged trees while keeping an eye on the monitors to make sure FitzMaurice, controlling the cameras from the back of the plane, had gotten the shot.

Kosinski, the director, also spent 15 months working with the Navy to develop and install six cameras in each F-18 cockpit, which meant passing rigorous safety tests and securing the military’s all-clear to remove its own equipment. Luckily, Kosinski said, there were “Top Gun” fans among the commanding officers. “All the admirals that are in charge right now were 21 in 1986, or around there when they signed up,” he said. “They supported us and let us do all this crazy stuff.”

Usually, the Navy forbids pilots from flying below 200 feet during training. One of the film’s most staggering images is of Cruise in an F-18 whooshing just 50 feet above the ground, a height roughly equal to its wingspan. The plane flew so close to the earth that it kicked up dust and made the ground cameras shake. The pilot landed, turned to Cruise, and told the superstar that he’d never do that again.

The actor Monica Barbaro didn’t know how nervous she should be when she agreed to play the pilot Natasha Trace (nickname: Phoenix).

“When I met Joe in my callback, first thing he had me sign a waiver saying that I didn’t have a fear of flying,” Barbaro said by phone. “I just got goose bumps. I was so excited.”

Each flight day kicked off with a two-hour briefing for the pilots and film crew to go over every upcoming shot, movement and line of dialogue. Next, that sequence’s actors and pilots would rehearse the maneuvers in a wooden mock-up of the jet cockpit until the motions were ingrained. Then, they took to the sky to film as many takes as possible before the jet, or the performers, ran out of fuel. In the afternoon, they did it again.

Soaring above the crew, Barbaro and the rest of the cast took on a Swiss Army knife of skills. Instead of hitting her mark on the ground, she had to hit it in the air. The sun was her spotlight. A pilot’s kneeboard on her lap displayed her script, her movements and her necessary coordinates, plus reminders to check her parachute and shoulder straps, fix her hair and makeup, adjust her flight visor, flip on the bright red switch that controlled the cameras, and note down the time codes. Finally, Barbaro had to do her actual job: act.

“Tom just really encouraged everybody, if you are going to throw up, just learn how to do it and move past,” Barbaro said. “We would applaud when anyone threw up, so it became celebrated.” Glen Powell (he plays the hot shot Lt. Jake Seresin, who is called Hangman) even brandished his barf bag while gliding upside-down and flashing a thumbs up.

Barbaro held onto her lunch. But after her first dailies, she said, her face appeared so calm, it gave the impression that the clouds whooshing behind her were simply a green screen. Cruise’s training had prepared her too well.

She was sent back into the sky for a retake.

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Top gun 2: tom cruise's near-impossible aerial stunt explained.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explains the dangerous and near-impossible aerial stunt Tom Cruise performed in the long-awaited sequel.

Top Gun: Maverick   director Joseph Kosinski explains Tom Cruise's dangerous and near-impossible aerial stunt in the long-awaited aviation sequel. More so than any of this year's releases, Top Gun:  Maverick has gone through an incredibly long and difficult journey to finally get to the big screen. The movie was originally scheduled to be released in July 2019, but was first delayed to give Kosinski and his production team more time to choreograph and shoot Top Gun 2's stunts and   complex dogfight sequences. After that, Maverick suffered a multitude of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the long-awaited sequel to Tony Scott's 1986 classic Top Gun is finally hitting theaters this Memorial Day weekend. In addition to seeing Cruise reprise his iconic role as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell alongside a star-studded cast that includes Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Ed Harris, one of Top Gun 2 's biggest draws is its high-flying action. Many of the film's aerial sequences were filmed practically without the use of CGI, which has become a defining aspect of Cruise's tentpoles.

Related:  Does Tom Cruise Fly The Plane In Top Gun 2?

During an interview with ComicBook.com , Kosinski talks about one near-impossible aerial stunt from the film that he wasn't sure Cruise could pull off. The scene occurs about mid-way through the movie and sees Maverick " run the low-level course by himself ." The Top Gun 2  director says they had to get special permission from the Navy to film the sequence, which required Cruise to fly below 50 feet at a whopping 600 miles-per-hour, a feat Kosinski doesn't think will ever be done in a movie again. Read his full explanation below:

There's a sequence in the middle of the film where Maverick runs the low level course by himself. For that sequence we got special permission from the Navy to fly under 50 ft at about 600 miles per hour. So that's one of those things that I don't think will ever be done again.

One doesn't have to be an aviation expert to understand how dangerous flying a fighter jet at such a low altitude can be. Generally, aircraft are never flown lower than 500 feet above ground level, even in rural areas, and low-flying military training usually doesn't require pilots to go below 100 feet. The fact that the US Navy permitted Cruise to fly so absurdly close to the ground is a wonder in and of itself, let alone the fact he pulled it off flawlessly.

This near-impossible aerial stunt can be added to the long list of death-defying feats Cruise has performed throughout his career. While it seems at this point like Cruise enjoys attempting various unprecedented stunts merely for his own enjoyment, his commitment to realism does absolutely benefit his movies. Top Gun: Maverick reviews  have been praising the film as a pulse-pounding thrill ride, which audiences will be able to experience themselves on May 27.

Next:  Tom Cruise’s Reason For Doing His Own Stunts Makes Top Gun 2 Better

Source:  ComicBook.com

Key Release Dates

Top gun: maverick.

The Awful Accident That Happened While Filming Tom Cruise’s ‘American Made’

Death, severe injury, and charges of negligence loomed over the Hollywood star's 2017 film.

The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise's performance in American Made deserves praise, as he portrayed real-life pilot Barry Seal in a daring role.
• The tragic plane crash during the film's production resulted in two deaths and severe injuries to the surviving pilot.
• Lawsuits were filed by the families of the deceased pilots, alleging negligence on the part of the film's production and questioning safety measures.

Any movie fan not living under a rock is well aware of Tom Cruise 's affinity for aviation. Having attained a pilot's license in 1994, the 60-year-old actor has put his skills to jaw-dropping use in several films , most dangerously in the Mission: Impossible films and Top Gun: Maverick . While his role as Pete Mitchell in the latter film and its predecessor remain iconic portrayals of a pilot, his performance as a flying daredevil in another film – American Made – also deserves praise.

In 2017's American Made , Tom Cruise played real-life pilot Barry Seal , a man who would turn to drug smuggling in the 1980s. Featuring many aerial sequences and high-altitude stunts, many of which were performed by the actor himself, the film's production was beset by tragedy on September 11, 2015. Carrying three pilots working on the film, Carlos Berl , Jimmy Lee Garland , and Andrew Purwin , a twin-engine Aerostar 600 crashed while en route through the Colombian Andes . The accident resulted in two deaths and severe lifelong injuries sustained by the sole survivor. But how did such an accident happen? And who would answer to the grieving loved ones filing lawsuits with charges of negligence?

American Made

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Who Were Pilots Carlos Berl, Jimmy Lee Garland, & Andrew Purwin?

Having grown up among aviators in Venezuela, Carlos Berl followed in his family's footsteps and became a pilot himself. Eventually relocating to Florida and New York, he amassed a variety of licenses over the years, and in 2015, caught wind of an upcoming Tom Cruise-starring film looking for experienced pilots. Won over by the opportunity, but with a constant eye toward safety, Berl voiced concerns after learning the production wanted him to fly the Aerostar 600, an aircraft with which he had no experience and was infamous among aviators for its involvement in "more than 260 deaths in 191 accidents around the world since 1969."

A native of Georgia, Jimmy Lee Garland had also never worked on a film. But as a pilot and mechanic running his own aviation company and teaching lessons, his knowledge and experience put him on Hollywood's radar. In addition to serving as Tom Cruise's double, Garland also taught the actor how to fly a Cessna 414, noting that his student "liked to participate in the stunts" and was "a very good pilot." The month before the crash, Garland was in Colombia putting his skills to use, racking up many hours in flight and enjoying the good life in the hotels and casinos of Medellín.

Unlike Berl and Garland, however, Andrew Purwin's aviation record was not without controversy. Particularly known in the industry for performing helicopter stunts, and having worked on high-profile films like Pirates of the Caribbean , Tropic Thunder , and Transformers , he'd cultivated a reputation among colleagues as a "dangerous" and risk-taking pilot. Purwin was also well-known to the Federal Aviation Administration, though perhaps not for the most reassuring reasons. In 1996, he crashed a helicopter that resulted in the death of a business partner, and would eventually be prohibited from flying fixed-wing aircraft in certain "weather and regulatory conditions." Purwin was involved in "dozens of incidents" over the years, and according to some in Hollywood's aviation circles, was even a member of the so-called "death pool," a group composed of pilots considered likely to lose their lives in a plane crash.

What Happened on the Set of 'American Made'?

As cameras were rolling on American Made in Colombia, Berl, Garland, and Purwin were tasked with flying the twin-engine Aerostar 600 from Santa Fe de Antioquia to Medellín after a long day of filming. Embarking on what should've been a 35-mile flight lasting just 20 minutes, the trio took off around 5:30 P.M., only moments after Tom Cruise had departed the set in a helicopter. According to initial reports, the Aerostar encountered bad weather and crashed near the village of La Clarita.

Upon discovering the wreckage , local civilians found all three pilots alive, though severely injured. But after summoning help and returning to the downed plane, Carlos Berl and Andrew Purwin had perished. The lone survivor, Jimmy Lee Garland, suffered "a shattered vertebra, collapsed lung, herniated diaphragm, 10 broken teeth, broken ribs, a broken jawbone, and a cracked skull on both sides of a dislodged eye socket." Waking up in a hospital nine days after the crash, Garland would later claim to have no memory of the flight, who was flying, or how the plane went down.

What Happened After the 'American Made' Set Accident?

Many questions were being asked after the tragedy in the Colombian mountains. How could three experienced pilots, each of whom had logged hours over the dramatic terrain of South American jungles and rainforests, end up crashing on a routine flight? What kinds of safety guidelines and industry regulations did the film's production have in place to avoid such an accident? What, if any, external factors may have contributed to what happened? And perhaps the most crucial question of all, who was flying the plane? With survivor Johnny Lee Garland unable to remember anything about the flight and its demise, it appears the question of who was flying the Aerostar will never be answered.

The loved ones of Carlos Berl and Andrew Purwin filed lawsuits, each citing negligence on the part of the film production and making claims regarding shortcuts taken at the expense of overall safety. Filed a year after his death, the suit on Berl's behalf alleged that American Made 's producers, as well as his fellow co-pilots, pressured him into piloting the notorious Aerostar that he'd not been trained to fly. Filed in April 2016, the lawsuit on Purwin's behalf made similar allegations against the film's producers and flight coordinators, claiming that Berl was flying the plane and his inexperience contributed to the crash. For their part, the producers filed a countersuit against Purwin, claiming that his aviation company, Heliblack, supplied the film production with a compromised plane and that the pilot had been dishonest about his qualifications.

The True Story Behind Tom Cruise’s ‘American Made’

Regarding the events immediately preceding the flight, an anonymous source noted, "Apparently there was an argument about needing to leave immediately, even though they had some information about the weather that they should have stayed behind. I was just told there was intense pressure to get out as soon as possible." Another source, an experienced Colombian pilot, acknowledged, "I fly there regularly, and I would have stayed on the ground that day. You have to have experience to fly in Colombia. You cannot fly here like you fly in Miami, where there’s not a mountain anywhere. If you fly in South America, you have to be very trained in the conditions."

In April 2019, more than three years after the accident and a year-and-a-half after American Made hit theaters, the legal battles came to an end. According to Variety , the litigation was resolved in an undisclosed settlement between the plaintiffs and the film's producers . While it may never be known exactly why the Aerostar went down, or who was flying the plane in the first place, the tragedy behind the 2017 film shined a sobering light on the often contentious issues surrounding overall safety, the vetting of individuals, and regulatory processes as they relate to the logistics of film production.

Something Similar Happened on the 'Top Gun' Set

As tragic as it was, the accident associated with American Made wasn't the first of its kind while filming a movie starring Tom Cruise . Renowned pilot Art Scholl , 53 years old and known for his stunt work in Hollywood and air shows, was flying a Pitts Special biplane to capture footage for Top Gun in 1985. While in an inverted flat spin over the Pacific, Scholl suddenly radioed, "I've got a problem here." Moments later he crashed into the ocean, and though debris was recovered, neither the full wreckage nor Scholl's body was ever found by authorities. Much like the events leading to the deaths on American Made 's production, a level of mystery and speculation will forever shroud the accident involving Scholl , only further confirming the inherent risks and danger that come with efforts to capture thrilling aerial feats on film.

'American Made' Has Seen a Resurgence in Popularity on Streaming Service

Six years after its release, American Made has made waves on streaming platforms , particularly Netflix, in which it held a position in the service's Top 10 Movies for weeks. There is no simple explanation for why a film or TV show from yesteryear sees a resurgence among viewers, but Tom Cruise's reassertion as a cinematic force in recent years is a likely factor. Between Mission: Impossible - Fallout and the unexpectedly massive box office performance of Top Gun: Maverick , the 61-year-old superstar is enjoying a well-deserved career renaissance after a period of lukewarm reception among audiences. American Made is one of Cruise's most breezy and watchable efforts in a forty-year career, balancing its real-life narrative basis with a playful sense of humor and irreverence for its subject and lead character. And, of course, its status as a true-crime film can't hurt as it streams on a service well-known as a haven for such non-fiction fare . Even so, understanding the tragic context surrounding the film's creation remains important and sobering.

American Made is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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Simple Flying

What planes does tom cruise own.

Let’s take a look at Tom Cruise’s aircraft collection.

• Tom Cruise is a licensed pilot with qualifications as a multi-engine instrument-rated pilot and helicopter flying skills.
• Cruise owns a collection of airplanes, including a vintage P-51 Mustang fighter from World War II and a Gulfstream IV G4 jet.
• There may be additional aircraft in Cruise's fleet, such as a HondaJet and a Bombardier Challenger 300 jet, according to a travel expert.

It wasn't just a show for 'Top Gun.' Tom Cruise is one of the few actors who genuinely love aviation. He has been a licensed pilot since 1994 and is able to fly several types of aircraft. However, it doesn't stop with a license. The famous Hollywood actor also has a collection of airplanes varying from vintage fighters to business jets.

What kind of license does Cruise have?

In various discussions, Tom Cruise has revealed that his affinity for aviation was crucial to his initial attraction to the original 'Top Gun.' He shared that he holds qualifications as a multi-engine instrument-rated pilot and has continued to enhance his skill set throughout his life. Notably, he acquired helicopter flying skills for the remarkable stunts seen in the 2018 film 'Mission Impossible: Fallout.'

Plane collection

North American P-51 Mustang fighter

During a segment on The Late Late Show, Cruise took host James Corden for a ride in his own vintage P-51 Mustang fighter plane. Tom Cruise acquired this World War II fighter in 2001, which was initially built in 1946.

The P-51 Mustang was an American long-range fighter bomber that served alongside other conflicts during World War II and the Korean War. It was developed by North American Aviation and was retired in 1984. Nevertheless, even today, the fighter is utilized for air racing by civilian pilots. After being donated to an Illinois museum, the plane underwent restoration in 1997.

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Making his recent performance in ' Top Gun: Maverick ,' Tom Cruise takes to the skies in the P-51 Mustang fighter. What adds intrigue to this is the revelation that he wasn't just portraying the pilot on screen – he was actually at the controls of his very own P-51 Mustang fighter.

Gulfstream IV G4 jet

With an estimated price tag of $20 million, this jet boasts the capability to accommodate as many as 19 passengers. Notably, it reportedly comes furnished with luxuries, including a jacuzzi and a dedicated movie-screening room, according to Business Insider.

The Gulfstream IV G4 is a long-range executive jet designed and built by Gulfstream , a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States, from 1985 until 2018. Its production spanned from 1985 to 2018, resulting in over 900 G4 units taking to the skies. This jet can cover distances of up to 7,100 kilometers and achieve a top speed of 850 kilometers per hour.

Is there more?

Whether the actor has more aircraft in its fleet has been under speculation as it was never officially confirmed. But according to a Business Insider report, in addition to the vintage fighter jet and the Gulfstream IV G4, Jack Sweeney, who is famous for reporting the travel habits of numerous celebrities, including Elon Musk, said he has been able to identify Cruise's HondaJet and a Bombardier Challenger 300 jet.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here .

Sources: Business Insider , South China Morning Post

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Tom cruise accepts his mtv movie award flying in p-51 mustang plane.

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It’s a high-flying achievement.

Tom Cruise took the skies in his P-51 Mustang plane Sunday to accept his MTV Movie Award for Best Performance in a Movie for the film “Top Gun: Maverick.”

The 60-year-old, who had his golden popcorn trophy in the co-pilot’s seat, thanked his fanbase for their love and support in a pre-recorded message.

“Hi, everyone, thank you so much for this award,” said Cruise. “I make these films for you. I love you. I love entertaining you. How much you enjoy it, how much you appreciate it. There is no better feeling and I hope you enjoy this.”

The A-list actor also took time to plug his upcoming “Mission Impossible” film.

“I hope you enjoy ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1.’ It’ll be coming out in July,” said Cruise, adding that the film will be a “wild ride.”

“Have a wonderful summer. Thank you again for letting me entertain you. It’s an absolute privilege. We’ll see you at the movies,” finished Cruise before maneuvering his plane back down toward the ground.

The actor was nominated for the award alongside “Elvis” star Austin Butler, KeKe Palmer from “Nope,” Florence Pugh for the thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” and Micheal B. Jordan for “Creed III.”

The Post reached out to Cruise for comment.

The appearance inside the plane marked the “Jack Reacher” star’s second pre-recorded message of the evening.

During the coronation concert for King Charles III, the actor delivered another gravity-defying statement to the newly-crowned monarch.

“Your Majesty, you can be my wingman anytime,” said Cruise acknowledging the King’s 23-year military service record in both the Navy and Air Force.

Fans were divided over the obnoxious acceptance speech.

“Hey, this is the same clip from the coronation,” tweeted one fan.

“No one accepts an award better than @TomCruise,” gushed another.

“WAHHOOOO CONGRATULATIONS TC,” said one very excited person.

Other viewers slammed the Golden Globe actor’s win saying that Austin Butler, 31, should have won.

“Nah Austin should have won,” tweeted one person.

“You’re joking,” said another.

The 2023 MTV Awards were among the first casualties of the ongoing writers’ strike after host Drew Barrymore dropped out mere days before the show was set to air in support of the protestors.

Things we'll never forget: @TomCruise 's performance in #TopGun : Maverick 🎥 Congrats to Tom Cruise on winning Best Performance in a Movie at the 2023 #MTVAwards ! pic.twitter.com/dZr3Wglpdq — Movie & TV Awards (@MTVAwards) May 8, 2023

“I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike,” said Barrymore, 48, in a statement. “Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation.”

“And until a solution is reached, I am choosing to wait but I’ll be watching from home and hope you will join me. I thank MTV, who has truly been some of the best partners I have ever worked with,” Barrymore’s statement continued. “I can’t wait to be a part of this next year, when I can truly celebrate everything that MTV has created, which is a show that allows fans to choose who the awards go to and is truly inclusive.​”

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Tom Cruise Movies List

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1. Endless Love (1981)

R | 116 min | Drama, Romance

Parental disapproval of a passionate romance between two teenagers leads to arguments, circumstance, insanity and tragedy.

Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Brooke Shields , Martin Hewitt , Shirley Knight , Don Murray

Votes: 9,555 | Gross: $31.18M

2. Taps (I) (1981)

PG | 126 min | Drama

Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.

Director: Harold Becker | Stars: George C. Scott , Timothy Hutton , Ronny Cox , Sean Penn

Votes: 20,070 | Gross: $35.86M

3. The Outsiders (1983)

PG | 91 min | Crime, Drama

In a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: C. Thomas Howell , Matt Dillon , Ralph Macchio , Patrick Swayze

Votes: 97,331 | Gross: $25.60M

4. Losin' It (1982)

R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama

Set in 1965, four rowdy teenage guys travel to Tijuana, Mexico for a night of partying when they are joined by a heartbroken housewife who is in town seeking a quick divorce.

Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jackie Earle Haley , John Stockwell , John P. Navin Jr.

Votes: 5,220 | Gross: $1.25M

5. All the Right Moves (1983)

R | 91 min | Drama, Romance, Sport

An ambitious young football star is trapped in a dying mill town--unless his gridiron skills can win him a way out.

Director: Michael Chapman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Lea Thompson , Craig T. Nelson , Charles Cioffi

Votes: 20,380 | Gross: $17.23M

6. Risky Business (1983)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.

Director: Paul Brickman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Rebecca De Mornay , Joe Pantoliano , Richard Masur

Votes: 99,670 | Gross: $63.50M

7. Legend (1985)

PG | 94 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Mia Sara , Tim Curry , David Bennent

Votes: 72,349 | Gross: $15.50M

8. Top Gun (1986)

PG | 109 min | Action, Drama

As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Tim Robbins , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer

Votes: 501,829 | Gross: $179.80M

9. The Color of Money (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Sport

Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman , Tom Cruise , Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , Helen Shaver

Votes: 93,166 | Gross: $52.29M

10. Cocktail (1988)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Brown , Elisabeth Shue , Lisa Banes

Votes: 91,736 | Gross: $78.22M

11. Rain Man (1988)

R | 133 min | Drama

After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman , Tom Cruise , Valeria Golino , Gerald R. Molen

Votes: 546,036 | Gross: $178.80M

12. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

R | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War

The biography of Ron Kovic . Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bryan Larkin , Raymond J. Barry , Caroline Kava

Votes: 115,781 | Gross: $70.00M

13. Days of Thunder (1990)

PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport

A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Robert Duvall , Randy Quaid

Votes: 96,268 | Gross: $82.67M

14. A Few Good Men (1992)

R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller

Military lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jack Nicholson , Demi Moore , Kevin Bacon

Votes: 286,909 | Gross: $141.34M

15. The Firm (1993)

R | 154 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeanne Tripplehorn , Gene Hackman , Hal Holbrook

Votes: 147,521 | Gross: $158.35M

16. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Brad Pitt , Tom Cruise , Antonio Banderas , Kirsten Dunst

Votes: 346,949 | Gross: $105.26M

17. Mission: Impossible (1996)

PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jon Voight , Emmanuelle Béart , Henry Czerny

Votes: 469,740 | Gross: $180.98M

18. Jerry Maguire (1996)

R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Renée Zellweger , Kelly Preston

Votes: 286,694 | Gross: $153.95M

19. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Todd Field , Sydney Pollack

Votes: 374,526 | Gross: $55.69M

20. Magnolia (1999)

R | 188 min | Drama

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jason Robards , Julianne Moore , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 328,119 | Gross: $22.46M

21. Mission: Impossible II (2000)

PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt is sent to Sydney to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called "Chimera".

Director: John Woo | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dougray Scott , Thandiwe Newton , Ving Rhames

Votes: 377,316 | Gross: $215.41M

22. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)

Not Rated | 142 min | Documentary, Biography

The career and life of Stanley Kubrick is explored through pictures, clips from his films, his old home movies, comments from his colleagues and a narration by Tom Cruise .

Director: Jan Harlan | Stars: Katharina Kubrick , Malcolm McDowell , Stanley Kubrick , Barbara Kroner

Votes: 12,201

23. Vanilla Sky (2001)

R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise , Penélope Cruz , Cameron Diaz , Kurt Russell

Votes: 285,436 | Gross: $100.61M

24. Space Station 3D (2002)

Not Rated | 47 min | Documentary

From outer space countries don't exist.

Director: Toni Myers | Stars: Tom Cruise , James Arnold , Michael J. Bloomfield , Robert D. Cabana

Votes: 1,746 | Gross: $93.37M

25. Minority Report (2002)

PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery

John works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Colin Farrell , Samantha Morton , Max von Sydow

Votes: 583,707 | Gross: $132.07M

26. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

Upon learning that his father has been kidnapped, Austin Powers must travel to 1975 and defeat the aptly named villain Goldmember, who is working with Dr. Evil.

Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Mike Myers , Beyoncé , Seth Green , Michael York

Votes: 222,695 | Gross: $213.31M

27. The Last Samurai (2003)

R | 154 min | Action, Drama

Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise , Ken Watanabe , Billy Connolly , William Atherton

Votes: 470,422 | Gross: $111.11M

28. Collateral (2004)

R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jamie Foxx , Jada Pinkett Smith , Mark Ruffalo

Votes: 432,616 | Gross: $101.01M

29. War of the Worlds (2005)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise , Dakota Fanning , Tim Robbins , Miranda Otto

Votes: 474,655 | Gross: $234.28M

30. Mission: Impossible III (2006)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise , Michelle Monaghan , Ving Rhames , Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 390,347 | Gross: $134.03M

31. Lions for Lambs (2007)

R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.

Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Tom Cruise , Meryl Streep , Robert Redford , Michael Peña

Votes: 52,646 | Gross: $15.00M

32. Valkyrie (2008)

PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller

A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise , Bill Nighy , Carice van Houten , Kenneth Branagh

Votes: 259,003 | Gross: $83.08M

33. Tropic Thunder (2008)

R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller , Jack Black , Robert Downey Jr. , Jeff Kahn

Votes: 447,427 | Gross: $110.52M

34. Knight and Day (2010)

PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

A young woman gets mixed up with a disgraced spy who is trying to clear his name.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Tom Cruise , Cameron Diaz , Peter Sarsgaard , Jordi Mollà

Votes: 210,199 | Gross: $76.42M

35. Takers (2010)

PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A group of bank robbers find their multi-million dollar plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective.

Director: John Luessenhop | Stars: Chris Brown , Hayden Christensen , Matt Dillon , Michael Ealy

Votes: 65,738 | Gross: $57.74M

36. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller

The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Tom Cruise , Jeremy Renner , Simon Pegg , Paula Patton

Votes: 528,007 | Gross: $209.40M

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What's Going On With Tom Cruise's Space Movie? Here's What Elon Musk Says

Elon Musk speaks out on Tom Cruise's plan to make a movie in space.

Tom Cruise is a guy who is willing to perform incredible feats for the sake of his movies. He insists on doing his own stunts, which has resulted in Cruise free climbing buildings and jumping off cliffs. At this point, it seems the only thing Cruise hasn’t done is spacewalk, and that's potentially in the cards.There has been talk in the past about Tom Cruise filming a movie in space , but for that to happen, somebody has to be able to get him up there. On that note, Elon Musk has been linked to the production for a while and has now provided an update on its status.

The SpaceX CEO recently caught up with ET at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony and discussed a few topics with the news outlet. Eventually, he provided some thoughts on Tom Cruise's proposed space movie. The tech magnate revealed that he's spoken to the A-lister, but the latter half of his update may disappoint some people:

Tom Cruise has said he wants to do Mission: Impossible in space. We've had some discussions, but I'm not sure where his mind is at.

While Elon Musk calls it “ Mission: Impossible in space,” he’s likely conflating the actor's major franchise with the space movie idea, which as far as we know are separate projects. There have been no indications, at this point, that the Oscar nominee's plans to film a movie in space also involve the M:I franchise. Still, Musk, or somebody like him, is going to be key to a project like this. The most complex part of the whole endeavor would be figuring out how to get the Top Gun icon, any other needed actors, and all the necessary equipment, from Earth into orbit, and that's where Space X would come in. 

Why Tom Cruise Fired Mission: Impossible’s Insurance Company

We don’t know what the upcoming Tom Cruise movie set in space would be about, and it's not even clear just how many people within his inner circle are aware of that info. While the expectation is that only part of the Cruise movie would occur in space , there are a lot of unknowns here. 

Per reported details on the space movie , frequent Cruise collaborator Doug Liman is working on a script and plans to direct the project as well. Perhaps, now that Liman’s done with Road House , which he wanted a theatrical release for, he’ll have more time to dedicate to Cruise's cosmic movie.

It’s maybe not surprising that there hasn’t been a lot of movement on the actor's feature. He’s been pretty busy filming two back-to-back Mission: Impossible movies, one of which had to struggle through a global pandemic. He’s had a lot going on and probably hasn’t had the time to focus on his potential movie in outer space. His film aimed to be the first to be shot in outer space. However, a Russian production ended up winning that space race , becoming the first to shoot scenes outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Generally speaking, what Tom Cruise wants, Tom Cruise gets, so it seems likely that if the actor wants to shoot a movie in space, it will happen eventually. When any of this could actually happen is still very much an open question. We know that Top Gun 3 is also in development and, if Cruise does go to work on that after finishing the (now-untitled) Mission: Impossible sequel, then his dreams of heading to space (with the help of Elon Musk) will have to wait even longer. 

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13 of the best chase scenes in movie history.

Put your pedal to the metal: Here's a handful of the most heart-racing, mind-bending, edge-of-your-seat chase scenes in film history.

By Zoe G Phillips , Carolyn Giardina April 14, 2024 7:00pm

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You know the feeling: Your pulse rises as you lean forward, the hairs on your arms are lifting, and suddenly, you’re holding your breath. A good chase scene will leave you pinned to your seat, unable to look away no matter how many times you’ve seen the movie.

The art of the chase has changed drastically over the course of Hollywood history, shifting as new technologies and styles allowed filmmakers to push the boundaries of what it means for a character to narrowly escape. We’ve highlighted a dozen of the best examples spanning seven decades below, from the steep hills of San Francisco to remote treasure hunts in Egypt, lost cornfields in the middle of the country and high-rise buildings across Europe.

The best chase scenes choreograph high-stakes acting with deft camera work, graceful editing and a score that underlines the sequence perfectly. Watch for the nimble turns of Ansel Elgort’s Baby Driver in Baby Driver , the delightful music from Julian Nott in Wallace and Gromit’s The Wrong Trousers or the beloved fearlessness of Tom Cruise as he performs his own stunts in Mission: Impossible – Fallout .

Of course, a well-executed chase can be an indicator of a film destined for greatness, as many of the films on this list seemed to be. Among the 12 entries, there are a cumulative 24 Academy Awards, and many are single installments in fan-favorite franchises that continue to live on today.

Here are 13 of the best chase scenes in movie history.

'Raiders of the Lost Ark'

Harrison Ford’s archaeologist Indiana Jones has run from all sorts of dangers across the franchise’s five movies, but the opening scene in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), during which Indy, wearing his signature fedora and jacket, flees a Peruvian temple (and a giant boulder) after taking a valuable idol remains its most iconic.

'The French Connection'

In William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection, Gene Hackman’s detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle chases an elevated train by car, in hot pursuit of a hit man aboard the train. Brilliantly lensed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Owen Roizman on location in Bensonhurt, Brooklyn, the scene is widely considered one of the greatest car chase sequences ever filmed. The French Connection won five Oscars including best picture, director and editing for Gerald Greenberg.

Another sequence widely considered among the greatest car chases is the famous scene in Peter Yates’ 1968 thriller Bullitt . Steve McQueen’s Lt. Frank Bullitt is at the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT for this iconic sequence that was filmed and set in and around San Francisco. Multiple Oscar-nominated cinematographer William A. Fraker lensed the chase, and editor Frank P. Keller won an Academy Award for his work.

'The Bourne Ultimatum'

Paul Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum features Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) chasing a hitman through Tangier, including on a dirt bike and rooftops and after Damon jumps through a window, with hand-to-hand combat. (David Leitch is the stuntman who jumped through the window in the movie, which was lensed by Oliver Wood.) The brilliantly edited sequence and film delivered an Oscar to Christopher Rouse, as well as to the film’s sound editing and mixing teams.

'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'

In 1991, James Cameron released Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the classic sequel to his breakout The Terminator that featured a high-octane scene: A groundbreaking digital T1000 chases a young John Connor (Edward Furlong) who is on a motorcycle with the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent to protect him. The scene ends with the T-1000’s truck engulfed in a fiery explosion. Lensed by Oscar-nominated DP Adam Greenberg at Los Angeles’ Bull Creek, and edited by nominees Conrad Buff IV, Mark Goldblatt and Richard A. Harris, the movie earned four Oscars, for sound, sound effects editing, makeup and VFX.

'North by Northwest'

Cary Grant was at the center of the famous crop duster chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959). As Grant’s character Roger Thornhill seeks cover from an unidentified crop duster plane in a cornfield, he runs into the road, halts an oil truck and hides underneath the vehicle. The plane crashes into the truck and promptly explodes as Thornhill and the drivers escape. North by Northwest was nominated for three Oscars at the 32nd Academy awards, and the movie was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the U.S. Library of Congress.

'Mission: Impossible - Fallout'

2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout was Tom Cruise’s sixth installment in his beloved action franchise, for which he is infamous in doing his own stunts. In one scene, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt jumps from one high-rise building to another while chasing Henry Cavill’s August Walker. Famously, Cruise actually injured himself while filming the leap, breaking his foot when he slipped during the fall and shutting down production for six weeks.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2'

Harry, Ron and Hermione endured their fair share of epic chase scenes across the eight Harry Potter films, but the dragon’s escape from Gringott’s bank in the final movie (released 2011) might be the most fun to watch. After sneaking into the goblin-secured dungeon in pursuit of a horcrux, the trio busts out of the underground chamber by freeing one of the dragons kept captive by the goblins. The creature bursts through the bank’s lobby, which fans first saw way back in the first film, before flying high above London and carrying the students to safety.

'The Wrong Trousers'

The stop-motion antics of Wallace and Gromit are beloved across their many film and TV iterations, but the train chase climax of 1993’s The Wrong Trousers is particularly impressive. In the film, Wallace and Gromit pursue a criminal penguin on a moving toy train in a sequence that employs a delightful mix of swish-pan and POV shots with a flouncy score from Julian Nott.

'What's Up Doc'

Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal kick off the memorable chase scene in 1972’s What’s Up Doc by hopping aboard a delivery bike in San Francisco, a move that subsequently sets off a chain reaction of events that grow more ridiculous with each cut of the camera. Eventually, Streisand and O’Neal’s Judy and Howard carjack a Volkswagen Beetle in a sequence that actually damaged San Francisco’s Alta Plaza Park staircase (fans can still see chips in the steps’ cement where the car fell). The film was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

'Baby Driver'

There are few better examples on how to open a movie with a bang than the first scene of 2017’s Baby Driver , directed by Edgar Wright. Set to the the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s 1995 single “Bellbottoms,” Ansel Elgort’s titular getaway driver facilitates the escape of three criminal associates (Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal and Eiza González) after they rob a bank. The car chase that ensues could be considered a short film in its own right.

'Mad Max: Fury Road'

The sandstorm chase scene of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is the film’s most involved VFX sequence, with flurries of sand that whisk vehicles into the sky. As Charlize Theron’s Furiosa drives into the storm, Nicholas Hoult’s Nux continues his pursuit of her with Tom Hardy’s Max tied to the car. The scene climaxes when Nux attempts to sacrifice himself and Furiosa destroys the vehicle. The film won six Academy Awards in 2016, including for costumes, editing, makeup, production design, sound editing and sound mixing.

'The Blues Brothers'

Though this list notes chase scenes, 1980’s The Blues Brothers is more of a chase movie. Protagonists Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) speed their cars across most all of Chicago. Director John Landis had several cars built specially for the film, including three with one-gallon gas tanks used for jumps and another made with a lever to pull it apart for the scene when the characters arrive at the Cook Country Building.

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Nicole Kidman Seems To Shade Tom Cruise As She Reveals Love Advice She’d Give Her Younger Self

• Nicole Kidman reflects on her past struggles with Tom Cruise and offers advice to be kinder to oneself.
• She credits her loved ones with saving her from depression and helping her navigate challenges.
• Kidman opens up about the impact of her darker roles on her mental health, highlighting the importance of family support.

Before she was married to Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman was known for her high-profile marriage to Tom Cruise . The pair went through an infamous divorce after a decade together, which culminated with their two adopted kids choosing to live with Cruise.

While Kidman has been careful about what she says to the media about her ex-husband, she recently shared the candid advice she wishes she could go back in time to tell her younger self.

'Mission Impossible': The Cast Ranked From Richest To Poorest

Nicole kidman wishes she’d been kinder to herself.

“Be kind to yourself,” Kidman said to PEOPLE on Wednesday, May 10. “I’m my toughest critic. My biggest thing would be ‘Go easy on yourself, Nicky.”

She went on to give an update about her current marriage and the two teen daughters she’s raising with her country singer husband. “I have my sister, mother, nieces, nephews, daughters. I’m raising a soon to be 16-year-old and a 13-year-old who are divine,” Nicole, 56, said of her support system.

“They’re just lovely people and I’m so lucky that I have Keith, who’s just my love, my deep, deep love. That gives me the ability to go and do whatever I have to do because I know where I can come back to,” she continued.

The actress credits those around her for helping her stay sane in the ace of pressure, both from her career and living life in the spotlight.

Kidman Says Her Loved Ones Saved Her From Depression

“I’ve had so many mentors. I’ve had so many people that when you reach out and you go, ‘I’m really in need of help right now,’ they have appeared, saved me, helped me, taught me, guided me and been unbelievably generous towards me,” she continued. “I am the recipient of an enormous amount of love. A lot of people have believed in me and given me the courage and opportunity when they didn’t have to. I’m always passing that on.”

Kidman has previously expressed how difficult it was having her marriage to Cruise thrown in the headlines, adding that even the aftermath of their divorce left her in a fragile mental state . She’s credited her husband Urban for helping her bounce back after dark times.

These Nicole Kidman Movies Have Grossed Over $100 Million At The Box Office

More recently, Kidman has shared how some of her darker roles have affected her mentally, crediting her family for being a constant source of support, including while filming her recent Amazon series Expats about a mother whose child goes missing while they were living abroad.

Referring to the scene where Kidman reacts to the child going missing, she told The Guardian , “ I said, I cannot, cannot do this.’ It was like when a donkey just goes, ‘I’m not going,’”

“I was alone in Hong Kong without my family, which was a terrible mistake,” she further said of the experience. "I couldn’t just get on a plane and get to them. And they couldn’t get to me. That affected the performance, to the degree that it also affected my psyche.”