In today's CGI-heavy world of blockbuster movies, it's hard to be overawed by the events taking place on your screen. A purple CGI villain murders the majority of your favourite superheroes? Meh. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson teams up with a giant albino gorilla to fight a flying wolf and monster crocodile? Been there, done that. Show me something new!
Which is why as a bit of a film nerd, I'm a huge fan of practical effects. The greatest effects teams can work tirelessly to create the perfect set piece from scratch, but it'll never match up to the pure, pulpy physicality that comes from playing out a movie in real life. Which is why I have a special appreciation for Tom Cruise.
Sure, he's not exactly the most likeable of celebrity personas - what, with the Scientology and all - but when filming for his flagship series Mission: Impossible, Cruise follows the Jackie Chan rule when it comes to stunts: film them all yourself, even as the laws of physics and your ageing, ailing body scream in vain for you to stop.
As the years have gone on, the Mission Impossible movies have gotten bolder and better in their set pieces, and Tom Cruise has injured himself many times bringing us some admittedly incredible entertainment. At a frankly baffling 56 years old, Cruise has to go through a hell of a lot of training to bring us these incredible stunts.
Sadly for Cruise, this means giving up one of his favourite things: sugar. Sugar is great for a lot of things, but one of those things is not keeping you in perfect for when you have to climb one of the world's tallest buildings or fighting Henry Cavill and his questionable facial hair, so when filming for Mission: Impossible rolls around, Tom Cruise has to resist the urge to shove Twinkies into his mouth.
It must take some immense willpower, but as part of his press tour for Mission Impossible: Fallout, Cruise talked to James Corden on his show The Late Late Show With James Corden, where he reveals how he fights his cravings for sugar by doing something rather odd with cakes.
Stay with us here. All will be explained if you watch the video below.
Sitting alongside co-star Angela Bassett, Tom Cruise explains that in order to stay ahead of his cravings, he'll send cakes over to his fellow cast members when he's preparing for his various roles. "I love sugar, but I can't eat it because when I'm training, I'm doing all these movies — so I send it to everyone," says Cruise.
But that's not all - after he sends his coworkers desserts, he's sure to follow up, asking fervently for feedback. He needs to hear back on his cakes - living vicariously through his colleagues' cake experiences. "I wait for the calls," he said. "Like, tell me about it."
Angela Bassett was there to corroborate his stories, so if you have any reason to doubt that Tom Cruise gets up to some insane shenanigans while preparing for his biggest movie roles. I mean, as long as we get more movies like Mission Impossible: Fallout (which I recommend you go see), then let the man send as many cakes as he wants.