Rare photo of Tom Cruise’s death-defying stunt emerges on 60th birthday

Tom Cruise is renowned for doing his own stunts, but his latest manoeuvre on the set of Mission Impossible might be the most death-defying yet.

He’s a blockbuster legend for a reason.

Tom Cruise turned 60 today, and in honour of the milestone, Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie shared a rare photo of the US actor performing a truly insane stunt.

In the image, Cruise can be seen dangling from an airborne red biplane with very little – if any – assistance.

MI director Christopher McQuarrie shared a photo of Tom Cruise in honour of his 60th birthday.

While McQuarrie didn’t detail where the photo was taken, it’s most likely to have been during filming for the upcoming seventh Mission: Impossible movie, Dead Reckoning Part One, the penultimate film in the franchise scheduled for a 2023 release.

Cruise, meanwhile, spent his birthday at the F1 Grand Prix in the UK, where he was pictured chatting with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Lewis Hamilton’s family.

Tom Cruise at the UK F1 Grand Prix. Picture: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Cruise rocked his signature aviators. Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Cruise is renowned for executing the majority of stunts on his movies, though they don’t always go off without a hitch.

The Jerry Maguire star made headlines when he was injured on the set of Mission Impossible 6 in 2017, with leaked video footage showing his death-defying leap onto a rooftop go horribly wrong.

Cruise was seen slamming into a building, hanging mid-air in his harness before pulling himself up onto the roof and stumbling towards crew members.

Just a few months later, he was back on-set in London shooting stunts again.

Cruise in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. Picture: Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Cruise was recently asked at the Cannes Film Festival why he chooses to forgo a stunt actor, reportedly responding: “No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance?’”

Appreciation for Cruise, who has been working in Hollywood since the early ’80s, is at a fever pitch after the huge success of the long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

It became the fifth highest grossing film in Australia just a few weeks after its May release, and has soared past $US1 billion ($A1.47 billion) at the global box office.

Since its release, Top Gun: Maverick has received strong reviews and even stronger word-of-mouth recommendations, and, anecdotally, repeat viewing at the cinema.

This writer can testify to this, having seen it three times and counting.