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Tom Cruise on the snapped ankle that halted 'M:I6'

May 01, 2018

Monitoring, May 01 (INP) - If the infamous "hobbling" scene in Rob Reiner’s "Misery" made you hide behind the sofa, then prepare to wince hard at "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" -- as Tom Cruise shatters his ankle for real. The injury has threatened or ended the careers of sports legends like Diego Maradona, Yao Ming and Derek Jeter, but 55-year-old Cruise calmly finished the take and was back on set within six weeks. "I’ve broken bones before in my life, but it was hard," the "Top Gun" icon, perhaps the most recognizable movie star in the world over the last four decades. "It was very difficult, because they were concerned I wasn’t going to be able to run for nine months at least and I’m in the middle. I’ve got a release date and responsibilities -- I didn’t want to stop filming." AFP caught up with Cruise at the annual CinemaCon industry gathering in Las Vegas, where he was promoting the sixth film in the lucrative spy franchise ahead of its July 27 release. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" was forced to halt production in London last year after Cruise slammed awkwardly into a concrete wall as he leapt between buildings while attached to cables. "I knew instantly my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again so just got up and carried on with the take," he said after the incident. Director Chris McQuarrie -- who was also at the helm for Cruise’s "Mission: Impossible 5" (2015) and "Jack Reacher" (2012) -- said he would "move heaven and earth" to ensure that fateful fourth take got into the movie. Cruise’s most difficult days were ahead of him, though, as he had to spend hours every day in rehab and climb a mountain in Norway when he returned to filming. "When you see the sprinting in the movie, I’m basically doing it on a broken foot. But I was able to get to a physical point where it wasn’t causing any more damage by doing that," Cruise told AFP. A veteran of more than 50 movies, the star is admired for his adventurous attitude to filmmaking, which over the years has involved some hair-raising moments on set. It all started comparatively sedately as Cruise announced himself to Hollywood with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama "Endless Love." Inp/khan