‘Euphoria’ Star Sydney Sweeney Recreates Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ Stunt in the Sky
Sydney Sweeney has spent the past year building a reputation for chasing adrenaline just as hard off-screen as she does in front of the camera. Between bungee jumping, helicopter rides, and speedboating during a recent trip to Australia and New Zealand with boyfriend Scooter Braun, the actress has made no secret of her taste for genuine thrill-seeking.
That reputation reached a new level this week when Sweeney shared footage of herself taking on one of the most extreme stunts imaginable for someone without a Hollywood action franchise attached to their name. Strapped securely to the top of a small plane, wearing a red safety vest, protective goggles, and pigtail braids, she calmly held on as the aircraft barrel-rolled and flipped completely upside down mid-flight.
Posting the video to Instagram on Monday, August 24, Sweeney captioned the wing-walking stunt with a direct challenge aimed squarely at Hollywood’s reigning king of practical stunt work. “Watch out, Tom Cruise,” she wrote, elsewhere describing the experience simply as deciding to strap herself to a plane and go upside down.
The comparison wasn’t a random reach. Cruise famously performed his own wing-walking sequence in 2025’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,’ climbing onto the wing of a vintage Stearman biplane as it reached speeds of roughly 140 mph at 8,000 feet in the air. Cruise had previously said the stunt was something he’d dreamed of attempting since childhood, after watching an old black-and-white film featuring a wing-walker decades earlier.
That sequence came with real physical risk beyond the obvious danger of falling. Director Christopher McQuarrie has said the frigid winds hitting Cruise during filming in South Africa were strong enough to raise concerns about hypothermia, at one point forcing Cruise to lie flat on the wing between takes just to recover from the cold.
Sweeney’s own version of the stunt, hosted by the UK-based Wing Walk Company, drew an enthusiastic response from the outfit itself, which commented on her post praising her performance. Even the official ‘Top Gun’ Instagram account got in on the fun, referencing Cruise’s other signature franchise with a playful nod to “the need for speed.”
Sweeney’s friends and industry peers wasted no time reacting to the footage as well. Actress Leslie Mann left a comment on the post, while Sweeney’s photographer friend Eddy Chen admitted he was relieved he hadn’t joined her for the ride, joking he likely would have passed out from the experience.
The stunt adds another chapter to what’s already been an eventful year for Sweeney both professionally and personally. She’s currently attached to a sequel for her recent film with director Paul Feig, slated for a December 2027 release, and will next appear in ‘The Custom of the Country,’ an upcoming adaptation directed by Josie Rourke.
Whether Cruise himself responds to the good-natured callout remains to be seen, but Sweeney has clearly demonstrated she’s willing to put her own body on the line for a viral moment, no franchise required. For an actor known for keeping his stunt work firmly rooted in reality, it’s the kind of challenge Cruise might actually appreciate.
Who pulled off the more impressive wing-walking stunt?
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