Tom Cruise has been honoured with the Grande Medaille of the Aero-Club de France, presented to him by the organisation’s president Catherine Maunoury.
The award was for his “significant contribution to the history of aviation and inspiring future pilots,” according to a press release. The medal is the highest distinction from the institution, which was created in 1898, reported Deadline.
In the videos posted on social media, Cruise was seen shaking hands with officials and being presented with the award.
He will be next seen in ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’. He revealed in a recent interview that he passed out several times while filming a particularly intense action sequence for ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’.
The star, who has built a reputation for pushing physical boundaries, recounted the ordeal in a preview for the upcoming blockbuster during a recent interview, as per Deadline.
One of the standout stunts featured in the film’s teaser trailer shows Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt, hanging perilously from the wing of a 1930s Boeing Stearman biplane, racing through the skies over South Africa at 10,000 feet.
The high-speed stunt, where Cruise’s face is exposed to the wind at speeds of over 120 miles per hour, presented a serious challenge for the actor.
“When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen,” Cruise shared as quoted by Deadline, adding, “So I had to train myself how to breathe. There were times I would pass out physically; I was unable to get back into the cockpit.”
