Kate Winslet Beat Tom Cruise At An Amazing Movie Record
It’s no secret that Kate Winslet and Tom Cruise are very different actors: she is known for romance films and indie gems, and he’s known for death-defying stunts and action films. However, when Winslet was cast in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, it was her chance to enter the same stunt-heavy world as Cruise, and she even managed to beat the action veteran at his own game. According to the BBC, Kate Winslet held her breath on set for seven minutes and 12 seconds, beating the previous six-minute record established by Tom Cruise.
Kate Winslet Beats Tom Cruise’s Breath-Holding Record
Part of what makes this news more than a bit amusing is that Kate Winslet is the last person you’d expect to go toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in stunt shenanigans. After all, Cruise has built an entire career off risky stunts, and one of the great joys of watching a Mission: Impossible film is discovering the newest way the Hollywood legend has managed to nearly get himself killed for our viewing pleasure. Therefore, the fact that Tom Cruise set a record for holding his breath underwater for six minutes while filming a stunt for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation isn’t all that surprising.
Winslet Sets New Record In Avatar: The Way Of Water
What’s more surprising is that Kate Winslet would end up doing similar stunts, but it all happened thanks to James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. In that film, she plays an alien Na’vi, who is uniquely suited to the water compared to other members of the species. As reported by Variety, Winslet ended up embracing the free diving stunt practice as a way of making herself (and therefore her character) look more natural in the water.
Even Beat Her Own Record
Perhaps the most striking thing about this entire incident is that by the time Kate Winslet held her breath underwater for over seven minutes, she had already beaten Tom Cruise’s record. At one point, Winslet had managed to hold her breath for six minutes and 14 seconds: for those keeping track at home, that means Winslet had already exceeded Cruise’s record by a whole 14 seconds. When given the chance, though, Winslet jumped on the opportunity to beat her own record, and she managed to beat that old record by nearly a minute.
Thought She Had Died
Knowing that she was trying to break her already impressive record, Kate Winslet recorded her successful attempt. That means she has footage of herself blowing Tom Cruise’s record out of the water (quite literally), but her victory ended up being pretty frightening when she first emerged from the water: her very first words were “Am I dead, have I died?” Once she came to her senses, though, she immediately wanted to radio James Cameron about her achievement, causing the veteran director to later sarcastically comment “she’s not competitive at all.”
Avatar: The Way of Water Now Streaming On Disney And Hulu
We doubt that Kate Winslet had beating Tom Cruise at his own game on her bingo card, but her surprise achievement is just one more reason to rewatch Avatar: The Way of Water. The movie is an amazing triumph of writing, acting, and special effects, and it’s cool to know that Winslet transformed into a complete badass while filming. Honestly, we’re left with just one question: after all that water practice, do you think Winslet could more successfully fit herself and Leonardo DiCaprio on that door from the end of Titanic?
