We often see Tom Cruise kicking ass and saving the world on screen, but recently a story was confirmed about him saving his co-star in real life. Think back to the 1988 movie Cocktail. Yeah, that wasn't a big action movie, but it still had some danger. 

Cruise starred in the movie with Elisabeth Shue. And according to a new report from The Sun, the aerial camera operator Bill Bennett, who worked on Cocktail, wrote about the heroic act on Facebook. It's been reported that Cruise confirmed this with Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie.


Head over to The Sun’s website to read the full account, but here are the highlights. 

“We were filming the scene from a helicopter, where Tom and Elisabeth are riding horses along the beach,” Bennett wrote. “After a couple takes, the pilot would land the helicopter on the beach, and Tom and Elisabeth would come over to watch the shot recordings and get notes from the director. The only monitor was at my operating position in the left front seat of the helicopter... The rotor is invisible when it is spinning, and if you walk into it, it will kill you instantly. It is a totally 'no go' area when working around helicopters."

So Cruise and Shue watch the playback of the scene and then Shue “took off suddenly, running towards the back of the helicopter.”

“Tom is a pilot, rated in both airplanes and helicopters, and instantly saw the danger,” Bennett wrote. “He lunged after her, but only was able to grab her legs, tackling her to the ground… At that point she turned white, and he pulled her back towards the front of the helicopter and they walked away. All of us in the helicopter, we’re quite shaken up by the close call, but there was nothing to be said. Tom had, in that instant, truly saved her life.”

Thankfully, Cruise's tackle saved Shue's life, the movie went on shooting, and the story was virtually forgotten for the last 34 years until the Facebook post brought it up. 

It sounds like an exceptionally close call and is another moment in the lore of Tom Cruise. 

Let us know what you think in the comments.