Nick Offerman Talks Tom Cruise's "Death-Defying" Stunts in New 'Mission: Impossible' Movie (EXCLUSIVE)

Are you ready to trust Ethan Hunt one last time?

The eighth installment in the fan-favorite Mission: Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, seemingly closes the chapter on Tom Cruise's iconic IMF agent. But not before he pulls off a few more jaw-dropping, death-defying stunts!

In January 2025, Distractify caught up with beloved actor Nick Offerman, who joins the action-fueled franchise as General Sidney, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During our chat, Nick dished on what it was like stepping into the high-octane world of Mission: Impossible and gave us the inside scoop on one of Tom's biggest (and wildest) stunts in The Final Reckoning.

Around the time of our interview with Nick Offerman, director Christopher McQuarrie had revealed to Empire (via GamesRadar) that an early screening of the film sparked quite the reaction. He explained to the outlet, "We had a small screening, and someone said, 'I was suffocating throughout the entire sequence. I almost had a heart attack.' And I thought, 'I guess we did something right.'"

When we brought this up to Nick, he launched into an unforgettable story from set, one that just so happened to take place on Tom Cruise's 60th birthday!

As the Parks and Rec star recalled, the cast and crew paused filming to celebrate the four-time Oscar nominee with a birthday cake. But instead of a typical break, Tom surprised everyone with something a little more on-brand.

"Tom made a speech where he said, 'All I ever wanted to do was make the best movies. And so there's nowhere I'd rather be on my birthday than here doing this with you. And as a treat, we've cut together a sequence of some stunts that we shot down in South Africa involving a couple of biplanes,'" Nick shared with Distractify.

That "treat" turned out to be a jaw-dropping reel of daring stunts Tom had filmed for The Final Reckoning, naturally involving two biplanes and plenty of midair insanity.

"They showed us the sequence with a couple of biplanes, and Tom doing things on and around, and watching these biplanes and Tom do all of this death-defying stuff," Nick recalled. "We were standing there with him, so we knew he was OK."

Then, deadpan, he joked, "And even so, we all had to be hospitalized after watching it."

Nick didn't hold back his admiration for his co-star either, stating, "There's just nobody that does what he does. He is absolutely one of a kind, and that's the tension that they create is just so much more palpable than anything else I've seen a filmmaker do, because you have this guy who's like, 'Yeah, I'll jump off that building. Just make sure you're rolling!'"

As mentioned earlier, Nick Offerman joins the Mission: Impossible franchise as General Sidney, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — the highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces and the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of defense.

Pretty cool, right?

When we asked Nick what it was like to step into such a significant role in one of cinema's most iconic action series, he told us he was "honestly bowled over" to be offered what he called a "really fun little part" in the "final installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise."

"I don't generally get called by top-drawer, high-octane action movies," he admitted to Distractify, "but I was recruited by the brilliant director and writer Chris McQuarrie to play the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

He continued, "And it was just so much fun. I was like a kid in a candy store getting to be on that set with these people who make the best action movie franchise in history. To be a small part of that made me feel like a really lucky 12-year-old."

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters on Friday, May 23.