Mission: Impossible 7 Star Greg Tarzan Davis Texted His Mom To Panic About A Stunt
When it comes to actors doing their own stunts, a few names come to mind. Keanu Reeves is so dedicated to performing the action in his movies that the VFX supervisor on "John Wick: Chapter 4" thought the star was going to die on set. Then, there's the legend that is Harrison Ford, who at 80 years old is still not afraid of getting physical for his movies, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" included.
But I think it's fair to say that no actor has dedicated themselves to performing their own stunts more than Tom Cruise, who for years has displayed an almost demented passion for putting himself in harm's way for the sake of a movie. Cruise has long insisted on doing as many of his own stunts as possible, and with his latest film, "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," he pulled off what is supposedly his most dangerous stunt yet: riding a motorbike off a cliff and plummeting to the ground before opening his parachute at the last second.
The "Mission Impossible" franchise has basically become an excuse for Cruise to push his stunt work further and further, which has proven a successful formula ever since the franchise was given somewhat of a soft reboot with 2011's "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol." But just because Cruise likes to push himself beyond where any other actor might dare to go, that doesn't mean his co-stars are always up for the challenge. When it came to shooting a particular scene for "Dead Reckoning Part One," for example, one of the movie's actors was actually downright scared for his life.
'He's driving, almost killing me'
As director Christopher McQuarrie revealed to The Hollywood Reporter, Henry Cavill was the only actor able to keep up with Tom Cruise during filming on 2018's "Mission: Impossible — Fallout." When rehearsing for the famous bathroom brawl between Cavill and Cruise, in which Cavill's infinitely-memed arm cocking move appears, a third actor had to be replaced by a stunt performer simply because they couldn't keep pace with the other two stars. But Cavill has a similarly alarming penchant for pushing himself beyond normal human limits when it comes to stunt work, so that makes sense. If you're Greg Tarzan Davis, on the other hand, you're much more sensible.
The actor, who appears as villain Degas alongside Shea Wingham's Jasper Briggs in "Dead Reckoning Part One," spoke to Collider about how he found himself unexpectedly thrown into the action for a chase scene through Rome, Italy. And it seems Davis didn't quite possess any Cavill-like interest in keeping up with the film's star, especially when he learned that Wingham would be the "stunt driver" for the scene. He said:
"We come to set, right? I knew we had to, you know, drift, follow behind Tom [Cruise] and stuff like that. And we're doing the seated positions where we have our dialogue, and all of a sudden they put cameras on the hood, and they're like, 'Alright, we're about to start driving.' So I'm just on my phone expecting a stunt guy to come in, and then [Wingham] starts the car, and I'm like, 'What...?' I'm like, 'What is going on?' And he's like, 'I'm driving, baby!' And he's driving, almost killing me, I text my mom, I'm like, 'Mama, listen, if something happens, blame Shea!'"
Are dangerous stunts enough?
Obviously, Greg Tarzan Davis was fine, and everything worked out. But there's a small part of me that wonders why the man wasn't told he'd be thrown into this dramatic chase scene without the aid of a stunt performer — especially since the infinitely more experienced Tom Cruise was leading the way. Still, Shea Wingham sounds like he was excited by the prospect of driving, so I'm sure it couldn't have been that dangerous a scene ... right?
Either way, at least Davis gets to say he kind of did some of his own stunt work for "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," even if it was against his will. And that's an impressive claim to be able to make, considering this film series basically shoots outlandish stunts before even knowing what the point of them is. Not that you'll see Davis casually standing on a flying plane any time soon, but the point stands.
It'll be interesting to see whether Cruise, Wingham, and Davis' efforts translate to box office success. The outrageous stunt work in the "Mission: Impossible" films is basically its main selling point, and it certainly seems the cast and crew pushed themselves this time around. In a year that's shaping up to be a real low point for blockbusters, with everything from "The Flash" to Pixar's latest and "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" underperforming, hopefully Cruise and his cohorts' efforts can help revive the blockbuster's fortunes.
"Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" free falls into theaters on July 12, 2023.