Tom Cruise Once Saved Elisabeth Shue from Being Killed by a Helicopter Blade on the Set of Cocktail, Crew Member Says
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
Tom Cruise has saved countless lives on the big screen, but he’s apparently an action hero in real life as well.
Bill Bennett, the aerial camera operator on the set of the 1988 comedy Cocktail, wrote on Facebook about the death-defying stunt Cruise pulled off to prevent his co-star, Elisabeth Shue, from walking into a spinning helicopter blade on set.
Details of the shocking incident – which happened 34 years ago when safety procedures on set weren’t as tight – have only been revealed now.
“We were filming the scene from a helicopter, where Tom and Elisabeth are riding horses along the beach,” Bennett wrote in his post. “After a couple takes, the pilot would land the helicopter on the beach, and Tom and Elisabeth would come over to watch the shot recordings and get notes from the director. The only monitor was at my operating position in the left front seat of the helicopter.”
Bennett explained that the back area of the helicopter “where the tail rotor is spinning” is both “invisible” and “will kill you instantly” if you walk into it. Shue, however, wasn’t aware it was a “no go area.”
After watching playback of the scene on a monitor, Shue “took off suddenly, running towards the back of the helicopter,” according to Bennet.
“Tom is a pilot, rated in both airplanes and helicopters, and instantly saw the danger,” he continued. “He lunged after her, but only was able to grab her legs, tackling her to the ground. He rolled her over, dragging her at the same time, and you could see the momentary anger on her face while she was yelling ‘Why did you do that?’ But by that time he is pointing at the tail rotor which is now a couple feet away, screaming at her that she almost died.”
Bennet noted that Shue “turned white” when she realized she had almost been decimated by a helicopter blade, “and [Cruise] pulled her back towards the front of the helicopter and they walked away… Tom had, in that instant, truly saved her life.”
Bennett’s Cocktail anecdote comes days after it was reported that Cruise saved a cameraman from falling off a moving stream train while filming scenes for Mission: Impossible 7 in the U.K. last week.
According to The Sun, Bennett’s post was sent to Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie, who got confirmation of the story’s validity from Cruise himself.
