Although Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames are the only actors who’ve appeared in every Mission: Impossible, Simon Pegg has been part of the film series for a significant amount of time too, making his debut as Benji Dunn in 2006’s Mission: Impossible III (which he shot as he was battling alcoholism). So Cruise and Pegg have been friendly with one another for over 15 years now, and recently the two actors found themselves living near one another. This set the stage for a day when Cruise flew his helicopter to Pegg’s house to show off some Mission: Impossible footage.
Simon Pegg lives in Hertfordshire, England, and in recent months, Tom Cruise was shooting a project in the area and decided to rent a cottage in a nearby village rather than crash on Pegg’s couch. In an interview with Square Mile, Pegg talked about how Cruise would fly to set in his helicopter and “buzz” Pegg’s house as he flew over, resulting in the Cornetto trilogy star and his family running to their garden to wave at him. Then one afternoon, Cruise decided to stop off at Pegg’s house after a day of work to show off a Mission: Impossible 7 sizzle reel, prompting Pegg to deliver the following warning to his neighbors:
Hey guys, just to let you know, Tom Cruise will be flying a helicopter into my back garden later, you might want to keep an eye on the horses.
You know you’re doing well in the world when you not only have a backyard big enough for a helicopter to land, but you can also tell your horse-owning neighbors that one of the world’s most famous movie stars will be stopping by in such an unorthodox vehicle without it being weird… well, not terribly weird, anyway. In any case, Pegg did his due diligence letting the people nearby know to keep an eye on their horses when Cruise’s helicopter arrived, and once his Mission: Impossible costar arrived, they watched the footage like it was just any other normal day. As Pegg put it:
Came in, had a cup of tea. We watched this thing, then he fucked off again.
While having someone visit by helicopter would be a strange occurrence for many people, for Tom Cruise, it could almost be considered everyday life. Back in July 2020, the man flew his helicopter to the Richmond Golf Club for some lunch while on a weekend break from Mission: Impossible 7 production. Then in August 2021, Cruise got permission to land his helicopter in the backyard of a home in Warwickshire, England after learning the local Coventry Airport was closed, and he reportedly took pictures with the residence’s family afterwards and even let the pilot take the kids for a ride. This event prompted The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson to reveal that Cruise once visited his home by helicopter too, and just a month later, the Ethan Hunt actor surprised some hikers with the aircraft.
So anyone who’s remotely close with Tom Cruise and has property big enough to land a helicopter should be ready in case he’s in the area and wants to visit, and even people who are complete strangers should prepare for the slimmer possibility he may need to stop by. As far as the actor’s professional work goes, Mission: Impossible 7 finished shooting last fall and he’s now in the midst of Mission: Impossible 8’s principal photography. The two movies have been reportedly been described as a sendoff to Ethan Hunt, and will come out on July 14, 2023 and June 28, 2024, respectively.
Fortunately for Tom Cruise fans, they don’t have to wait until next year to see him back on the big screen, because provided it’s not delayed any further, Top Gun: Maverick is finally set to fly into theaters on May 27. Find out what else is on the cinematic horizon this year by looking through the selection of 2022 movie releases.
