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Glen Powell shared how Tom Cruise advised him on “how not to die” before he filmed risky stunts for his new movie “The Running Man.”
During a Friday appearance on “The Graham Norton Show,” the 37-year-old actor revealed that his 63-year-old “Top Gun: Maverick” co-star, who is known for performing all his own stunts, gave him an hours-long breakdown on how to survive action work.
“I had to abseil down eight stories of a building in freezing conditions half naked and wearing a harness which cinched me – believe me nothing looked good,” Powell said while describing one particularly tricky stunt. “The crazy thing I found out after was that there was a guy whose only job was to stop me kicking a window – which means he was looking up my skirt all night – I wondered what he was seeing take after take!”
Powell recalled that he received a call from the “Mission: Impossible” star before shooting the sequence.
TOM CRUISE NEARLY BROKE HIS BACK PERFORMING BRUTAL ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ STUNT
“Tom rang me to give me the low down and, what I thought would be a 10-minute call, lasted two and half hours – he basically told me how not to die!” the “Twisters” star said.
Powell went on to share another piece of valuable advice that Cruise gave him during their call.
“He also gave me running lessons. He said, ‘You should film yourself running because you don’t look as cool as you think you do.’ He was so right,” Powell recalled.
Powell also opened up about Cruise’s mentorship during an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month. The Texas native explained that Cruise emphasized the physical reality of stuntwork and the importance of discipline.
“He was very clear about what that journey looks like,” Powell told the outlet of Cruise. “One was clearly stating that stunts are just as painful as the real thing. He’s like, you’ve got to really fortify your body because it’s like a normal fight — those physics are still the physics of what is actually happening. If you get slammed onto your back from a table, you’re going to feel that someone slammed you on the back from a table, and you’re going to do it 12 or 13 times. Right?”
“It was made very clear after talking to him that there was a real sense of discipline around these things, and to treat these stunts with reverence, because you can get extremely hurt, and he knows it better than anyone,” he added. “He’s broken every bone in his body. He’s like, this is not messing around.”
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Powell said that Cruise told him that performing his own stunts is a “great privilege” and he has a responsibility to make his action work look realistic to viewers.
“He was also talking about obviously the investment that it takes for an actor to do your own stunts — it’s a great privilege and it’s super important to sell it to an audience,” Powell said.
“To do all those things is really, really crucial to sell what you need to sell in a movie and to justify people’s ticket prices,” Powell continued. “If they’re following you, they want to know that that’s the commitment. If I want you to show up for me, I’ve got to show up for you.”
“I’ve got to say, Tom is obviously not only one of the greatest actors, but one of the greatest stunt performers,” he added. “And really to have him as a friend and a mentor to make sure that I survived this movie was extraordinary.”
“The Running Man,” which was directed by Edgar Wright, is set to be released in theaters on Nov. 14. The official plot synopsis for the movie reads, “In a near‐future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television — a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.”
It continued, “Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards (Powell) is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite — and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.”
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“The Running Man” also stars Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, William H. Macy, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Daniel Ezra and Jayme Lawson.
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Since co-starring in the 2022 blockbuster sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” Cruise has actively supported Powell’s career. On Thursday, Cruise posted photos of himself attending a recent screening of “The Running Man.”
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In one image, the “Minority Report” star posed with his arm around Powell as they held up boxes of popcorn and beamed at the camera. Cruise also included a group photo featuring himself with Powell, Domingo, Jones, Wright and Pace.
“Another great night out with my friends at the movies!” Cruise wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. “You guys crushed it, congratulations! I laughed, was on the edge of my seat, and ate way too much popcorn.”
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