A couple have described their thrill after bumping into Hollywood movie star Tom Cruise while he was filming scenes for the next Mission: Impossible movie in the Lake District.
Adam Wheeler and Lucy Hinch, of Barnard Castle, County Durham, were hiking in the Lake District with their Siberian Husky Blitz when they happened on the Top Gun actor shooting for the blockbuster.
The 60-year-old, who was being helicoptered to High Crag before soaring down to Buttermere below, happily posed for a photograph with the pair, before thanking them and leaping off again.
Adam said: “He was nice and polite and really humble. Tom Cruise apologised for the noise of the helicopters and asked if we were all right.
“He was making sure everybody who wanted to, got their photos with him. We were the last ones to get his picture and then he just paraglided off the mountain back to his camp next to Buttermere.”
He added: “I have seen a few of the Mission Impossible films but haven’t really watched many of his others – but I definitely will now.
“It was a real pleasure meeting one of the most famous Hollywood celebrity actors out there – one of the richest as well. It was not what we expected while out walking on the fells.”
The couple first became aware something was afoot when they saw helicopters flying Cruise to High Crag several times – unaware it was him.
Adam said: “He was doing all his own stunts. He was being flown up by one helicopter and then another would film him paragliding down. We saw him going down several times.
“As we were going down Haystacks and down to High Crag we passed quite a few people who were saying ‘do you know Tom Cruise is up there?’
“They were really excited, saying he was getting a picture with onlookers, people so we thought let’s get a move on hopefully we’ll catch him.
“When we got there there was no sign of him and one of his crew told us he might be a while, so we thought we’d hang on.
“We waited for about an hour and decided to go when there was no sign of him coming up. We got about five to 10 minutes down when two helicopters turned up.
“We thought right, if this is Tom Cruise we are going to turn around. When Lucy spotted him we decided to go over and see if we could get a picture.
“He was getting a picture with another family, so we just waited our turn. We joked how we had been waiting for him for an hour and had come back specially. He just laughed and said thanks for coming back.”
The next Mission Impossible is set to be released on July 7.
Meanwhile, Cruise hit the headlines recently after showing off his daredevil skills and performing a stunt in South Africa.
He was filmed on top of a small World War II biplane while in mid-air as it flew over the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa.
