After James Corden called Tom Cruise’s HALO jump stunt in the upcoming Mission: Impossible — Fallout “no big deal” on Tuesday’s Late Late Show, the A-list actor made the host put his money where his mouth is when he joined the CBS late-night program on Thursday.
A HALO jump (High Altitude, Low Open) is a maneuver used by military personal to infiltrate hostile areas by jumping from a plane at a height of 25,000 feet and opening the chute at an altitude of under 2,000 feet. Cruise famously performed over 100 jumps to get the shots for an intense action sequence in the new film.
Cruise and Corden headed out to Perris Valley, Calif. where they jumped from a plane soaring 15,000 feet above the ground. Before the fateful leap, however, Cruise just seemed impressed that Corden actually showed up for the stunt. “I’m just amazed you’re here,” Cruise told the Late Late Show.
“I’ve actually been trying to get a hold of Tom and cancel, but apparently I had his number saved wrong in his phone, so I’d also like to take this time to apologize to Tom Hiddleston for all the texts I sent about me having food poisoning,” Corden said.
Cruise made sure to keep a tight hold on Corden to avoid the host making a run for it and the duo headed to their pre-jump briefing in which the host was spun around on a dolly by Cruise and they went over hand signals. “What’s the signal for I just soiled myself,” Corden asked.
Finally, the two stars suited in up in flightsuits — with Corden bringing his toiletries for the flight. Once onboard, they sang the Mission: Impossible theme song together and took flight.
Eventually Corden could delay no longer and the moment of truth was at hand as he and Cruise launched themselves from the plane into freefall. Corden was tied in tandem with an expert, while Cruise, a seasoned vet at this point, plummeted solo. During their descent, Cruise made sure to have plenty of fun with Corden, constantly floating up to him to tap his shoulder and give him nods of encouragement.
Once safely back on terra firma, the two stars embraced.
“That was unbelievable,” Corden said, breathlessly, while Cruise christened him: “James Corden, stuntman.”
