5 Actors Who Insisted On Doing Their Own Dangerous Stunts

Tom Cruise learned to fly a helicopter in six weeks to shoot one Mission: Impossible scene himself

For Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Cruise trained to qualify on a helicopter in about six weeks — a process that normally takes three months — training 16 hours a day so he could perform the aerial stunt himself rather than use a double.

Jackie Chan stripped the skin off both hands sliding down an exploding pole in Police Story

Chan performed the film's famous slide down a pole strung with exploding lightbulbs himself. He later said he was "really scared" going into it, and the stunt left the skin stripped from both his hands — he reportedly couldn't even open a car door afterward.

Christian Bale refused a stunt double for Batman's rooftop scene 1,450 feet up

For the shot of Batman overlooking Gotham from a real 1,450-foot skyscraper, Bale wouldn't allow a stunt double to stand in for him and did the scene himself.

Viggo Mortensen lost a tooth mid-fight in Lord of the Rings and just kept filming

Mortensen insisted on using a real steel sword rather than a lightweight prop for Aragorn's fight choreography and performed his own riding and combat scenes. During one take, he lost a tooth and simply had the crew glue it back in so filming could continue.

Jason Statham dangled out of a helicopter 3,000 feet above Los Angeles

Statham has performed some of his own most dangerous action sequences, including dangling from the side of a helicopter roughly 3,000 feet above Los Angeles — after being asked multiple times by the stunt team if he was sure, he insisted and strapped in himself.