Tom Cruise Inspired Henry Cavill To Do His Own Stunts On The Witcher

Henry Cavill says Tom Cruise inspired him to do his own stunts on the Netflix series The Witcher.

Despite being 57-years-old, Cruise continues to put himself in harm’s way. Just look at the last two Mission: Impossible films. In Rogue Nation, he trained himself to hold his breath underwater for several minutes and strapped himself to the side of a perfectly good airplane as it took off. He then took it a step further in Fallout. We all know about him breaking his ankle when jumping from one rooftop to another, but he also trained to fly helicopters for the iconic finale.

Another insane stunt was the HALO jump. Cruise trained for an entire year to prepare while Cavill was only allowed to go up in the plane and make it look like he was jumping as well. Working with Cruise clearly made an impression on Cavill though because he now insists that he do his own stunts on other projects.

While speaking with Star Trek: Picard star Patrick Stewart for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Stewart asked him about performing stunts on The Witcher and he explained that stunts are just as important to storytelling as anything else.

“If an audience is watching Geralt on-screen, they must believe that it is me. If it’s not me, I feel like I’ve betrayed the character in some way, and so I try and do as much as a production will let me.”

And the physical work is a huge part of The Witcher as Geralt wields a mighty big sword. It’s a good thing Cavill is into doing his own stunts, too, as he has a lot more fighting to do in season 2 of the show, which will arrive sometime in 2021.

In any case, this is yet another reminder that stunt work needs to be recognized at the Academy Awards. It’s an integral part of any production and men and women are risking their lives entertaining audiences.