Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Tom Cruise has got incredible humor and only people who worked closely with him have seen this side of the action star. There were a few rare occasions when theMission: Impossibleactor showed himself as hilarious in front of the world. One such moment was during the 2011 Annie Awards when Cruise pulled off a little different stunt from his usual ones.
Cruise was working with director Brad Bird inMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocolat the time. Cruise and Simon Pegg appeared alongside Bird during his award acceptance speech, holding a gun to his head. Bird appeared to be a hostage in the video who was forced to say the speech.
Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg Pulled Off A Little Comedic Stunt WithMI – Ghost ProtocolDirector
Before he directedTom Cruisein aMission: Impossiblefilm,Brad Birdhad a thriving career in animation. His works includedThe Iron Giant,Ratatouille, andThe Incredibles. He was honored with the special Winsor McCay award at the 2011 Annie Awards for his achievements in animation. He wasn’t able to attend the event but appeared via a video to deliver his acceptance speech.
“Everybody was in tears”: Tom Cruise Made Entire Jerry Maguire Cast Cry After Convincing Director to Keep One of the Best Quotes
Bird expressed his gratitude for the award, mentioning his co-recipients Matt Groening and Eric Goldberg. However, his speech treaded into weird territory soon, with Bird mentioning his involvement in the world of animation was coming to an end. He shared that he was moving to live-action, which is what he“always secretly wanted to be.”
He added that live-action was a“stress-free carefree world of creativity without compromise”when compared to animation. He then went on to praise actors and added that they were not paranoid about the advances in animation technology.
Bird says in the video,“Such notions are absurd and anyone that thinks that is an idiot and a communist.”If fans hadn’t guessed by then that something was off with the director’s speech, they were pleasantly surprised to see Bird being held at gunpoint by none other than Tom Cruise andSimon Pegg.
As Bird mentions hisMIstars’ names in the video, the camera slowly pulls out showing the two actors. It was a funny moment at the awards, revealing that Bird was forced to talk in favor of live-action movies by the two actors. Cruise and Pegg gave off some true gangster energy in the video as well.
While he mentions that he left behind animation as part of the comedy bit, Bird didreturn to Pixar to makeIncredibles 2in 2018. At the time, it became the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Brad Bird Once Shared That Tom Cruise Ruined Him For Other Actors
Brad Bird was truly impressed withTom Cruise’s stuntsin the film. He shared that Cruise’s commitment had ruined him for other actors. He shared that he was not going to understand anymore why other actors couldn’t do their own stunts in their films. Bird shared with theLA Times:
He’s ruined me for everyone else. I’m not going to understand after this point why any actor doesn’t want to do all of their own stunts and hang off of a mile-high building. He truly loves the movies and the movie-making process, and he knows a ton about it but is incredibly polite and shows up on time and has done all of his homework.
Only One Actor Besides Tom Cruise Has Appeared In Every Mission Impossible Movie
Brad Bird only directedGhost Protocolin theMission: Impossibleseries. The film received positive reviews and Bird’s direction received praise from the critics. The film grossed $694.7 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Tom Cruise andMIfilm at the time (via Box Office Mojo).
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocoland otherMIfilms are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3017
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
