Tom Cruise Did His Daring Skydiving Stunt at Olympics Closing Ceremony for Free

Tom Cruise’s Paris-to-Hollywood trick was originally going to be filmed with a stunt double, but the actor said, “I’m only doing it if I get to do everything”

The pay day for Tom Cruise’s latest, greatest stunt may surprise you.

Cruise, 62, and his trusty stunts team accepted no fee for his impossible mission: swinging atop Stade de France and skydiving into the stadium during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games closing ceremony, only to seemingly reappear in the air above the Hollywood sign.

Casey Wasserman, president and chairman of LA28, the org behind the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games, revealed the stunt was done for free during a panel in L.A. on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The event, presented by CNBC and Boardroom, featured L.A. mayor Karen Bass, Team USA managing director Grant Hill and actress-entrepreneur Jessica Alba, who sits on the LA28 Board of Directors.

“The original idea was a person in the stadium as a stunt double,” Wasserman explained, per The Hollywood Reporter. “About five minutes into the presentation [Cruise] goes, ‘I’m in. But I’m only doing it if I get to do everything.' "

Related: 2024 Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony Full Recap: Tom Cruise Repels from the Roof, Snoop Dogg Performs and More

Of the pre-recorded Hollywood sign segment, Wasserman joked, “It’s amazing how fast he got to L.A., isn’t it?”

Although initially doubtful his team would be able to book the Top Gun star and pull off such an ambitious stunt sequence, the chairman said that “every step of the way, he got more involved and more engaged.”

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In fact, Cruise fitting the Hollywood sign shoot into his schedule was a daring stunt all its own. The actor-producer was busy filming the upcoming installment of his Mission: Impossible film series.

“He finished filming Mission: Impossible at 6 p.m. in London, got right on a plane. He landed in L.A. at 4 a.m., and filmed the scene where he pulls onto a military plane. In L.A., he does two jumps out of the thing," Wasserman recalled, revealing that Cruise "didn’t like the first one, so he did a second jump."

"Then he helicoptered from Palmdale to the Hollywood sign, filmed from 1 until 5, helicoptered to Burbank Airport and flew back to London,” the chairman continued.

Related: Stars for Simone! See All the Celebrities in the Arena to Cheer on Team USA Gymnastics at the Paris Olympics

Cruise also made time to attend events at the Olympic Games themselves, watching Simone Biles and the U.S. women's gymnastics team compete on July 28.

During the closing ceremony in Stade de France, he received the Olympic flag from Biles, 27, and Bass, 70.

France “deserves a lot of credit” for a successful Summer Games, added Wasserman. “They reminded people why people fall in love with the Olympics... they did it spectacularly."

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