Tom Cruise, usually hailed because the flagbearer of blockbuster stunts, is understood for throwing himself into hazard on display, typically actually. However in a single occasion, it wasn’t for a scene or a headline that he performed the hero. It was to drag a co-star out of hurt’s manner, in actual life.
Whereas Spielberg as soon as credited the High Gun: Maverick star with “saving Hollywood” by pushing for theatrical releases, Tom Cruise could have finished one thing much more private within the late ‘80s: saving The Karate Child and The Boys star—and one of many ’80s’ most iconic actresses—Elisabeth Shue from a lethal helicopter accident whereas filming Cocktail.
What Occurred On The Set Of Cocktail
In 1988, Cruise starred in Cocktail, certainly one of his profession’s largest romantic hits, reverse Elisabeth Shue, who by then was a family title and a nationwide crush. However regardless of its sun-kissed aesthetic and breezy vibe, the movie’s shoot introduced its fair proportion of chaos. From sweating it out beneath the Jamaican solar to perfecting flamboyant bartending “stunts” with navy precision, the expertise was removed from a typical journey within the Caribbean. Issues took a darker flip when the crew introduced in helicopters for aerial pictures — a staple in Cruise’s profession lengthy earlier than the Mission: Inconceivable movies took flight.
Whereas a chopper was touchdown one afternoon, Shue stepped away from the monitor to evaluate some pictures. What she didn’t understand was that she was strolling straight towards the still-spinning tail rotor.
Within the iconic 1988 movie Cocktail, Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue captured the essence of the Eighties period, a decade outlined by its vibrant nightlife, flashy trend, and a rising cocktail tradition that swept by means of cities like New York and Miami. pic.twitter.com/Ql1YtLhsDO
— Hollywood Field (@hollywoodboxuk) April 12, 2025
How Tom Cruise Saved Elisabeth Shue’s Life
In keeping with aerial digicam operator Invoice Bennett, who recalled the incident in a resurfaced social media publish, the hazard wasn’t minor, through The Solar. Tail rotors don’t wait. “If you happen to stroll into it, it’s going to kill you immediately,” he stated. And Shue, unaware, was seconds from doing precisely that, for she not simply walked however ran towards the crew because the helicopter momentarily landed.
In keeping with aerial digicam operator Invoice Bennett, the hazard was actual and fast. A tail rotor is a dangerous enterprise that doesn’t wait, and strolling into one may be immediately deadly. As Shue unknowingly moved towards the helicopter, there was no time to name out a warning. Cruise acted on intuition — lunging ahead, grabbing her legs, and tackling her out of the way in which.
Nothing is topping Cocktail model of Elisabeth Shue. pic.twitter.com/fpyu1GKLY8
— Adam Clanton (@adamclanton) January 17, 2025
Elisabeth Shue Obtained Indignant At Tom Cruise — Quickly
Bennett wrote that Shue was livid at first and yelled, “Why did you try this?”— not realizing how shut she had come to critical harm or worse. However because the helicopter’s spinning blades handed by simply toes from the place she’d been, the shock set in. Her anger was pale-faced disbelief. Cruise had, in Bennett’s phrases, “actually saved her life.”
Tom Cruise, usually non-public about off-camera heroics, reportedly confirmed the incident, in response to The Solar. It won’t have made the ultimate lower of Cocktail, however within the lengthy checklist of Cruise’s death-defying moments, this one may be crucial — and essentially the most human. Paradoxically, it got here in what’s notoriously thought-about the weakest movie in each their careers.
Joyful Birthday American actor and producer Tom Cruise, now 61 years previous. Beneath, Tom as Brian Flanagan in Cocktail 1988, with Elisabeth Shue, Bryan Brown and Kelly Lynch. pic.twitter.com/wjh8MrhGgo
— Masquerade (@Masquerade2376) July 3, 2023
For extra such tales, take a look at Hollywood Information
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