Tom Cruise left James Corden absolutely terrified after convincing the late night talk show host to be his wingman as he flew them over the desert in two fighter jets.
After accepting the 59-year-old action star’s invitation to meet him at the Hollywood Burbank Airport at 5am, the English actor, 43, boarded a small aircraft with his friend headed to a remote desert.
Upon their arrival, Tom reminded James of their last adventure in 2018, which saw the The Late Late Show host jump 15,000ft out of a plane with the Mission Impossible actor.
Seeking the heights: Tom Cruise left James Corden absolutely terrified after convincing the talk show host to be his wingman on an adventure of a lifetime
In the clip, which aired on The Late Late Show, Tom went on to reveal his plans to pilot James in a vintage fighter plane in true Top Gun style, leaving James at a loss for words.
While looking slightly uneasy, the Cats star asked ‘who’ would be flying them, to which Tom, who got his pilot’s license in 1994, replied: ‘Ill fly you in it.’
‘But you’re not a pilot, you’re an actor,’ James cheekily reminded Tom.
The Top Gun: Maverick star was quick to retort that he also flies planes, which did little to comfort James.
Facing fears: After accepting the 59-year-old action star’s invitation to meet him at the Hollywood Burbank Airport at 5 a.m., the actor, 43, immediately boarded a small aircraft with his friend headed to a remote desert
Wingman: Upon their arrival, the father-of-three was informed that their next activity would be even scarier than their last adventure, which entailed jumping out of a plane
Cruise control: Tom and James had their names printed on the side of the plane
‘You also played a lawyer in a Few Good Men, but I wouldn’t want you to represent me in court,’ James quipped.
James continued to list his concerns about flying on a ’75-year-old plane’ with someone who isn’t a professional pilot, before hilariously running away from Tom.
Finally, James reluctantly agreed to the flight, before admitting that even boarding the plane was ‘terrifying’ as he climbed up the wing and into the cockpit.
As James sat in the cockpit, Tom walked him through the safety measures, including how they would have to use a parachute to land safety if they somehow lost the engine due to a fire or other unlikely scenario.
Scary: Tom went on to reveal his plans to pilot James in a vintage fighter plane for the afternoon, which left the Emmy winner nearly at a loss for words
Funny: While looking slightly uneasy, the Cats star questioned ‘who’ would be flying them, to which Tom, who got his pilot’s license in 1994, replied: ‘Ill fly you in it’
‘Are you joking,’ a terrified James asked, before quizzing Tom on how many engines the plane had, to which the actor replied ‘one’.
‘So when you say lose an engine, you mean lose the engine?’ James asked.
James, who is set to step down as host of the Late Late show next season, could be heard swearing as the pair finally began their journey, heading down the runway and taking flight in the vintage craft.
During the flight, Tom flew them over the desert landscape and turned the plane on its side as James jokingly held up a sign reading ‘help me’.
‘But you’re not a pilot, you’re an actor,’ James cheekily reminded Tom
Making a run for it: The Top Gun: Maverick star retorted he also flies planes, which still did not comfort the The Late Late Show host
Oh no: Corden continued to list his concerns about flying on a ’70-year-old plane’ with someone who isn’t a professional pilot, before running away from Tom
Another plane then flew up along side them and Tom joked that they had a ‘dogfight’ on their hands in scenes reminiscent of Top Gun: Maverick.
The second aircraft began chasing the pair’s jet and Tom began evasive maneuvers which left a terrified James swearing and screaming.
Tom decided to give his friend yet another fright as he glided over the top of a mountain, flying close to the peak despite James’s objections that he was a ‘mad man’.
After the bumpy ride, James looked queasy as he made it back to solid ground and was seen doubling over while Tom patted him on the back.
The Gavin and Stacey star told Tom he couldn’t believe this was his ‘idea of a fun day out’.
Fearless: Finally, James reluctantly agreed, before admitting that even boarding the plane is ‘terrifying’
Up in the air: Tom tries to walk him passenger through some of their safety measures, including how they would have to use a parachute to land safety if they somehow lost the engine due to a fire or other unlikely scenario
‘Are you joking,’ James asked, before they took off in the air
Struggle: James couldn’t keep it together as he was flown around by the Hollywood A-lister
But Tom revealed that the daredevil activities were not over yet as he told James: ‘The next plane has air condition.’
As they staged a Top Gun training session, Tom joked that they were going to get into some ‘serious Top Gun stuff’ before showing him the modern fighter jet they would be flying in the next day.
While training him for their next escapade, Tom told him: ‘You are my goose.’
‘When you say I am your Goose, it makes me feel excited and then I realize that Goose dies at the end of the film,’ James fired back.
Mirroring scenes in Top Gun: Maverick, the pair went on to train, play volleyball and tell stories beside a campfire before howling at the moon together.
Happy place: While James looked scared for his life, Tom was beaming
Wow! The pair went upside down in the fighter plane as they jetted over the desert
Grateful to be alive: Despite a bumpy ride, James grimaced through and made it back on land
Making memories: They go on to train, play volleyball and sit down by a fire and tell stories before howling at the moon together
While making s’mores, Tom burst out laughing as an uneasy James told him if he killed him during the next flight then he would haunt him for eternity.
The next day, the pair took to the air once again as they climbed into the cockpit of a sleek fighter plane.
During the flight, the duo sang a few bars of Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone together as James appeared to be in better spirits as he laughed while Tom performed stunts.
But his jovial mood didn’t last long as James appeared terrified as Tom once again flew them close to the mountainside, with Cordon joking that he could ‘touch the trees’.
‘This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,’ he added.
Nervous: As they made s’mores, Tom burst out into laughter before James told him if he killed him tomorrow he’d haunt him for eternity
Sporty side: The talk show host spun a volleyball on his finger at one point
Second flight: After taking to the skies in a fighter jet for a second time, Tom told his pal: ‘You can be my wingman, anytime’
Daredevil Tom continued to scare James as he continued to fly terrifyingly close to the mountaintop with James saying that the flight was ‘crazy’.
In the grand finale, Tom nosedived towards the ground as he said he thought he ‘saw something in the terrain’ before soaring at speed back into the skies and flying upside down.
‘You absolute b*****d!’, James said.
After their intense flight together, Tom told his pal: ‘You can be my wingman, anytime.’
‘You know what? I think I’m good,’ James concluded with a laugh.
The skit marked the release of Top: Gun Maverick, which has been unanimously praised in early reviews with one even declaring that it ‘improves upon the original in every conceivable way’.
Tom, who is famous for doing his own stunts, is said to have trained to withstand G-force power and actually flew in real fighter jets for the sequel.
Peter Hoskin for the Daily Mail gave the sequel to Tony Scott’s classic 1986 blockbuster Top Gun five stars, writing: ‘Whenever the film threatens to become too cosy, it shocks itself – and us – back into the present with another madly ambitious action sequence.’
Tom – who plays Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell – underwent a full Aviation Survival Training Curriculum before going up in the US Navy F-18, as did his co-stars.
They worked up to the supersonic jets by going up in a succession of slower planes first over many months.
Much has been made of Tom’s insistence on real flying scenes, with no CGI work. He has said in numerous interviews that he refused to even talk about a Top Gun sequel unless they flew in real planes.
Impressive: The sequel to Tony Scott’s classic 1986 blockbuster Top Gun has been unanimously praised in early reviews (Tom Cruise pictured in character as Maverick)
Tom said: ‘For years, people had said, ‘Can’t you shoot [the movie] with CGI?’ And I always said, ‘No. That’s not the experience.’ I said, ‘I need to find the right story. And we’re going to need the right team. This movie is like trying to hit a bullet with a bullet. I’m not playing.’
And Miles Tiller – who plays the son of Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw in – previously told how Tom put all of the cast through intense training to help them prepare for the project.
‘We were all mini Toms making this movie. He put us through… I’ll just call it a “Tom Cruise boot camp”. We were getting in killer shape,’ he told Total Film magazine.
He explained there was a lot of detail going into the performance, adding: ‘For the stunts and stuff that Tom does in movies, it’s usually a very specific type of training.’
‘You’re not just going into the gym and lifting some weights. We did flight training for three months before we started filming… We got put through the wringer.’
Preparing: And Miles Tiller – who plays the son of Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw in – previously told how Tom put all of the cast through intense training to help them prepare for the project
Elsewhere, it was revealed that James will step down as the host of The Late Late Show at the end of next season amid plans to spend more time back home in the UK.
The Brit, made the decision to quit at the end of season eight despite the best efforts of CBS executives who exclusively told DailyMail.com that they ‘desperately tried to keep him for longer’.
The star and his wife of 10 years Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with their three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four, but they are still trying to ‘figure out’ what’s next for the family.
An insider tells DailyMail.com that spending more time in the UK when the show ends is ‘definitely on the horizon’.
‘They sold their house in London so would have to look for a new base in the capital.’
He’s out! Elsewhere, it was revealed that James Corden will step down as the host of The Late Late Show at the end of next season
The Late Late Show, which films out of Los Angeles, first premiered in 1995 with host Tom Snyder. Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson followed as host until James Corden came along in 2015.
James promised to ‘go out with a bang’ as he informed audiences of his decision to step down.
Revealing the news during the latest episode of the US talk show he said the show had ‘changed my life’ and promised there would be ‘lots of tears’ when his tenure came to an end.
‘Seven and half years ago I started hosting this show and there’s no other way to put it, it has changed my life,’ he said.
‘I never saw as it as my final destination, and I never want this show to overstay its welcome, I love making it and I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what’s out there.’
The next move: Jules are mulling over a return to the UK with three children Max, 11, Carey, seven, and Charlotte, four, but they are still trying to ‘figure out’ what they will do
He added: ‘We are all determined to make this the best year we have ever had…we are going to go out with a bang.
‘The fact that you watch this…all over the world…is an absolute privilege for me and every single person who makes this show.’
‘We [CBS] desperately tried to keep him for longer but James only wanted to do one final year that will keep him on the show until next year,’ a senior CBS source revealed. ‘He’s been such a hit for us for so many years, we will miss him very much.’
‘It’s very rare to find a talent who can redefine a long running format. His skits went viral globally, smashing records and creating the most watched online clips in the history of late night TV,’ they continued.
‘The biggest stars in the world have appeared on his show – which even took him to the White House!’
Hit! With the immense popularity of the Late Late Show and segments like Carpool Karaoke, James has become one of America’s most beloved late night presenters
Source: dailymail
