The 'Top Gun' actor is known for sending his celebrity friends a Christmas cake every winter
Tom Cruise’s "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" co-stars have revealed the "thoughtful" gifts the 61-year-old star gave them during filming, and they are fitting of an action hero.
"He's always very keen to show his appreciation," Simon Pegg, who also starred with Cruise in the last four "Mission: Impossible" films, told People magazine. "I think he's so used to being the focus of attention, it's naturally his instinct to kind of reflect everything back. And he's always incredibly sort of generous in terms of his gratitude to us and how he thanks us and how he lets us know that we're valued."
Pegg said one day, when the cast had the afternoon off, Cruise flew them in a helicopter to go shark diving.
TOM CRUISE'S ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ DIRECTOR SAYS ACTOR REVEALED ‘WEIRDEST’ STORY ABOUT HIMSELF
Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" co-stars Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff said the star is a generous gift giver. (Don Arnold/WireImage)
"It's such a Tom Cruise thing," he joked. "We've been filming in a helicopter, and he flew us in the helicopter to this place where you could go into a cage and feed sharks. It was one of those days that we got to the end of the day, and we were like, 'That was a real Tom Cruise kind of day.'"
"Captain America" actress Hayley Atwell said she’s now on her fourth Christmas coconut cake from Cruise after working with him for three and a half years on the action movie.
She told People he also gifted her a "beautiful" amphora for her birthday.
"I'm like, 'It's a water jug. Nice,'" she said. "And then you taste it and you compare it to normal filtered water or tap water, and it's really light and kind of creamy. It's just a different level of clarity. It's beautiful."
Tom Cruise gave the "Mission: Impossible" cast gifts like skydiving lessons, shark diving and his famous Christmas cake. (James Gourley/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
"Guardians of the Galaxy" actress Pom Klementieff has also been gifted Cruise's famous cake, and said she savors the reportedly more than $100 bundt cake from Doan's Bakery in the Los Angeles area.
"I freeze it and then I eat it frozen, so I just eat it every day. That's what I did last year for Christmas. I started it when I got it and I ate it every morning, so I had a sugar rush. It was not good for my health, but it was delicious."
However, she said she was especially excited when Cruise gifted her with skydiving lessons after they wrapped filming.
Tom Cruise surprised a group of Atlanta "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" moviegoers on Tuesday. (Derek White/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
"He found a teacher for me and I learned how to skydive, and I got my license, and we even did jumps together," she told the outlet. "And now I'm addicted, so that's my new thing now!"
She said he gave her the "thoughtful" gift after she had asked to skydive with him and the stunt team during filming, but wasn’t allowed because she didn’t have her license.
It's not just his "Mission: Impossible" co-stars feeling the love.
Cruise also gifted his "Top Gun: Maverick" co-star Glenn Powell with flying lessons for Christmas one year.
Tom Cruise gifted Glen Powell with flying lessons one Christmas. (Marc Piasecki/FilmMagic)
"Try not falling in love with aviation after living out every pilot’s dream while shooting @topgunmovie," Powell wrote on Instagram in 2020.
"Especially when you see the way @tomcruise flexes it. After wrapping a shooting day, Tom would rocket off into the sunset in his P-51 while I would limply shuffle into the cast van. The wings were just so much cooler than the wheels...and for Christmas, Tom bought me an iPad with my flight school downloaded and prepaid. And yesterday, after months of flying, studying, and testing...I’m the real deal."
View this post on Instagram
Glen Powell starred alongside Tom Cruise in the wildly successful 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick." (Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
Cruise's generosity also extends to his fans.
On Tuesday, the star surprised moviegoers at an Atlanta theater by introducing the movie himself and staying to say hello and take pictures.
Tom Cruise and "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" director Christopher McQuarrie make a surprise appearance at a movie theater in Atlanta, Georgia. (Derek White/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
