Ethan Hawke says Tom Cruise has set a different standard for actors doing their own stunts, making some feel “less” for using a stunt team.
The Boyhood actor spoke about stunts in a discussion about his upcoming historical drama, The Weight, at Variety‘s Sundance Studio. Hawke told Variety that he performed his own stunts for the film, directed by Padraic McKinley, but said that Cruise has shifted expectations for actors.
“Tom Cruise has totally changed what’s expected for actors. Some part of me is getting angry over the years because everyone somehow feels like they’re less if they use a stunt team,” Hawke said.
Cruise, 62, has famously done his own boundary-bending stunts for years, from climbing the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to walking between the wings of a biplane mid-air. In June 2025, the Mission: Impossible actor set a Guinness World Record for “most burning parachute jumps by an individual,” after jumping out of a helicopter 16 times for the franchise’s finale.
But not everyone can attempt these death-defying stunts. And, according to Hawke, actors shouldn’t be expected to.
“What I liked about our movie is there were no ridiculous stunts. It’s human,” Hawke said. “It’s not about things blowing up, so most of the stunts were things we could do. They weren’t superhero things.”
McKinley, who previously directed Hawke in the 2020 miniseries The Good Lord Bird, chimed in, saying that the actor was undercutting just how much he did for the film.
“Ethan is not saying that he did every single stunt, including driving those old cars with insane clutches,” McKinley said. “He did every single one, except one little wide shot after he almost tore his hamstring off the bone.”
The Weight, starring Hawke, Russell Crowe, and Julia Jones, premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 26. Set in the 1930s, the film follows Hawke as a widower separated from his daughter, played by Jones. He ultimately becomes embroiled in a gold-smuggling scheme to secure early release from a work camp and reunite with his daughter. Along the journey, he faces brutal conditions. Hawke said that the action in the film stems from a human place, and has a purpose.
“It’s about love. That’s what makes the script timeless,” he said. “Some of the best action movies of all time are oriented about something real.”
