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Writer's pictureCharlotte Easterling

When Acting Becomes Reality

Post created by Amanda


When it comes to action movies, we often find ourselves amazed by the incredible feats and stunts displayed by the characters. And though in the back of our minds we know lot of these amazing acts are done by stunt doubles and edited by CGI, there is one actor who does neither of these, and instead makes sure every stunt the audience sees is real and done by himself: Tom Cruise. And if you are familiar with any of his films, you will have no trouble believing the complete dedication he gives to each scene and how much more amazing the movies are to watch as a result. But one repercussion of doing all of his own dangerous stunts is that he has had to deal with the various injuries that comes with them. Though they are usually nothing to serious, in his latest film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, he was forced to pause filming for several months due to breaking two of his ankle bones while filming a rooftop jumping scene.

To look at this issue anatomically, a broken ankle actually occurs when “a person fractures their tibia or fibula in the lower leg and ankle area” (Tom Cruise Breaks Ankle Bones in Stunt). This is because our “ankle” is actually the very bottom portion of where our two lower leg bones – the tibia and fibula – connect (Broken Ankle: Types of Fractures, Diagnosis & Treatments). They are held together by the anterior tibiofibular ligament, which is a type of dense, fibrous connective tissue that protects and supports the ankle joint. At the bottom of each bone is a knob called the malleolus – the “medial malleolus” for the tibia since it since lies towards the midline of the body and the “lateral malleolus” for the fibula since it rests on the outer edge of the leg – and these knobs are what make up the hard, ball-like portions of the ankle that you can feel with your hands (What is the Anterior Tibiofibular Ligament?). And though it wasn’t released to the media what exact part of Tom’s ankle broke, considering the structure of the ankle bones and the fact that he broke two of them, it is a good assumption that the break involved the medial and lateral malleoli.  

But although the anatomy and details of Tom Cruise’s broken ankle are interesting, quite possibly the most intriguing thing about this incident was that they actually kept the shot of him breaking his foot in the movie (Is That Tom Cruise’s Broken Ankle in ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’?). So, if you pay close enough attention, when you watch the movie you can actually see him breaking his foot as he jumps from rooftop to rooftop, and painfully limp away afterwards. I thought this was cool because its not often you see real life injuries incorporated into a movie, and in doing so the producers made the film more realistic and suspenseful for their viewers.


Broken Ankle: Types of Fractures, Diagnosis & Treatments. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_ankle-fractures.asp

Metro. (2020, February 26). Is that Tom Cruise's broken ankle in 'Mission: Impossible – Fallout'? Simon Pegg reveals all. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.metro.us/is-that-tom-cruises-broken-ankle-in-mission-impossible-fallout-simon-pegg-reveals-all/

Miller, S. (2020, September 4). What is the Anterior Tibiofibular Ligament? Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-anterior-tibiofibular-ligament.htm

Tom Cruise Breaks Ankle Bones in Stunt. (2017, August 22). Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://www.tarpleyfootandanklecenter.com/blog/item/125-tom-cruise-breaks-ankle-bones-in-stunt.html

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