The movie that almost decapitated Tom Cruise: “It was an inch”
In many ways, it’s a miracle that Tom Cruise hasn’t already shuffled off this mortal coil while diving headfirst off a cliff or hanging off a building hundreds of feet in the air. The Hollywood icon is seemingly addicted to the adrenaline rush of performing death-defying feats for the entertainment of millions of cinemagoers he’ll never meet. In truth, doubling down on astonishing stunts and his infectious love of the movies has distracted most audiences from some of Cruise’s odder real-life tendencies, so in that respect, it’s been well worth the risk for him. Having said that, though, he was almost decapitated while shooting a movie once, and we’re not sure anything is worth that level of risk.
When Cruise signed up to star in Ed Zwick’s 2003 epic The Last Samurai, he threw himself into the role with customary dedication. In order to play Cavalry Regiment Captain Nathan Algren, who learns to be a samurai in 19th century Japan, Cruise embarked on a journey of physical and emotional transformation. He immersed himself in Japanese culture, trained extensively in sword fighting, and piled on 25 pounds of muscle, as that was the only way he’d be able to move adequately while wearing 50 pounds of historically accurate armour.
In the film, Cruise engaged in several intense sword-wielding battles with co-star Hiroyuki Sanada, who recently won an Emmy for his performance in FX’s Shōgun. He was hyper-aware of the danger involved, telling IGN, “I’m more concerned about not hurting someone else because when you’re moving those swords, even though at times they weren’t razor sharp, they could still cut your finger off at the speed we were travelling.”
Cruise found out just how much control Sanada had over his blade during their big face-off, though, which took place in the driving rain. He revealed, “You can’t really tell, but it was very unstable ground, rain. He was extraordinary…because he was bringing that sword just right there. He was very nervous about hurting me, so I said, ‘Look, don’t worry. Don’t worry. I’m okay.’ He never hit me with that sword.”
Despite Sanada being a very safe actor who took pride in taking care of his famous co-star, one extremely close call during the shoot caused the entire crew to look like they’d seen a ghost. In fact, Sanada told the Daily Mail, “The film crew watching from the side all screamed because they thought Tom’s head would fly off.”
You see, while shooting a scene in which both men were hurtling toward each other on mechanical horses, every single fibre of Sanada’s control was needed to avoid disaster. Cruise’s horse malfunctioned as the two actors met in the middle of the scene and didn’t drop as it was supposed to. Sanada was already swinging his sword, which was now on course to embed itself in Cruise’s neck. A horrified Sanada admitted, “Tom’s neck was right in front of me, and I tried to stop swinging my sword, but it was hard to control with one hand.”
Thankfully, the Japanese star is trained in martial arts, so he was able to halt his blade in mid-arc only an inch before it sliced right through Cruise’s neck. Or, at least, that’s the story.
When Cruise was asked about Sanada claiming he nearly lost his head, he smiled, “Did they say that? That I almost got my head cut off? Did they really?” He then laughed heartily, seemingly confirming that the incident had been blown out of proportion. However, to the interviewer’s surprise, he added, “No, he stopped at my nose.” Then he shrugged, “Maybe when I wasn’t looking. Yeah. Yeah. It was an inch. It wasn’t in my neck.”
So, instead of having his head lopped clean off, Cruise was more likely to have been an inch away from having a sword lodged in his face. But, hey, it’s all in a day’s work for a daredevil like him.
