Tom Cruise held breath for 6 min. on Mission: Impossible’s underwater scene

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

We're all very familiar with Tom Cruise's hanging-off-the-airplane stunt he actually performed for the upcoming MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION, but the new trailer showcased a different scene where IMF's Ethan Hunt found himself doing some underwater spy business with no oxygen. Cruise reported previously that him and director Christopher McQuarrie had planned to do the scene with as few cuts as possible, but it looks though Cruise would actually hold his breath for 6 minutes and longer to get the job done!

Tom Cruise on the underwater sequence:

It’s something I have always wanted to do. [Christopher McQuarrie] and I have been thinking about it since working on EDGE OF TOMORROW. I have done a lot of underwater sequences, but we wanted to create a suspense underwater sequence without cuts. So doing that sequence was really interesting. We’re underwater and we’re doing breath-holds of 6 to 61/2 minutes. So I was doing all my training with the other stuff. It was very taxing stuff.

While doing breath-holds of even 10 minutes and longer are not unheard of, I think this is a little beyond what your average Joe is capable of or even comfortable with. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm watching characters in movies that are underwater, I get a little tense thinking about how much longer they can hold their breath than I can. If ROGUE NATION's scene sticks with extended shots that last minutes, it's really going to up the intensity factor and make a few people squirm. I will definitely be one of those people.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION hits theaters on July 31, 2015, so don't hold your breath just yet.