Glen Powell Says Tom Cruise ‘Pushed’ Him to Skydive but He Nearly Died

“Top Gun: Maverick” star Glen Powell said that Tom Cruise organized his first skydiving experience.
He said on “The Tonight Show” the jump was nearly fatal when he couldn’t find his parachute tab.
Powell’s first thought was that Cruise would feel bad for pushing him to jump to his death.
Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Glen Powell said that he was thinking about Tom Cruise during a near-death skydiving experience.
Powell and Cruise both starred in “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was a box office success earlier this year.
During an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Wednesday, Powell recalled the first time he went skydiving after being persuaded by Cruise. He told Fallon that while they were doing reshoots for the “Top Gun” sequel in the UK, Cruise offered Powell the use of his skydiving team to allow him to take part in the activity.
“It was actually my second date with your girlfriend,” Powell said. “And when I got there, I found out that Tom’s only request is that Glen cannot go skydiving with another person. He has to go solo the first time. So I literally have to jump out of this plane by myself.”
Powell said that things almost took a turn for the worse when he couldn’t find the tab to open up his parachute.
“But the worst part is that I couldn’t find my tab when I was falling,” the 34-year-old actor said. “It’s the nightmare that everybody talks about. But my first thought — which is not, like, a selfless thought — but my first thought was, ‘Oh, Tom just killed me. He’s going to feel so bad.'”
Powell continued: “I was like, ‘God, he pushed me to do this thing.’ I’m looking for the tab and I’m like, ‘You’re not Tom Cruise. You’ll never be Tom Cruise. Why did you do this?’ And then I finally pulled it. I was way below altitude, came in hot. Made it, went back up, did it again.”
Glen Powell in “Top Gun: Maverick.” Paramount
Powell appeared on “The Tonight Show” to promote his upcoming film “Devotion,” which also focuses on US pilots.
Earlier this week, Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that he was offered “Devotion” first but Cruise persuaded him to do both movies after being offered the part for the “Top Gun” sequel.
“I said, ‘Hey, Tom, I already have a naval aviation movie that’s really close to my heart,'” Powell recalled. “And Tom said, ‘There’s room for two. You can do ‘Top Gun,’ you can do ‘Devotion. You don’t have to choose.'”
The “Scream Queens” actor continued: “The fact that Tom gave me the liberty to make both, Black Label and Sony gave me the liberty to make both — I feel like these are two movies that could not be more different from each other, but really complement just the love of aviation and the legacy of our men and women in uniform.”
“Devotion” is in theaters on November 23.