The passing of the Olympic flag from one host city to another is an integral part of every Olympic closing ceremony. This year, Tom Cruise was part of the festivities, helping to bring the flag from Paris to Los Angeles in high-flying Hollywood style. But his pay for the stunt wasn’t nearly as impressive.
Entertainment executive and LA28 president and chairman Casey Wasserman explained how the pre-filmed episode came together during a CNBC x Boardroom panel on September 10. Hollywood ReporterWasserman explained that Cruise immediately jumped at the opportunity (no pun intended) to jump from the Stade de France in Paris.
“We did a presentation on Zoom, and the original idea was to have one person in the stadium as a stunt double,” Wasserman elaborated. “We said, 'There's no way we can pull this off. It's going to take four hours of shooting. We're going to do this. [in] With the Hollywood Sign, L.A. will hand over and be done with it. Maybe we'll get the other stuff and the rest will just be stunts.'”
Cruise was excited about the idea, but he had one condition. “About five minutes into the presentation, [Cruise] “I'm in. But I'll only do it if I can do everything,” Wasserman said.
In addition to filming his own stunts, Cruise, like everyone else involved in the project, did all of them for free.
This isn’t the only high-profile gig that famously doesn’t pay a dime. Every year, the Super Bowl halftime show performers don’t earn a dime for their work and instead, like Cruise, are paid to be seen in a unique way by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
The Summer Olympics will take place in Los Angeles on July 14, 2028.