Tom Cruise Makes Hollywood Sign History
The Olympic ceremonies were filled with celebrities, including Snoop Dogg and Billie Eilish. However, it’s Tom Cruise who is making waves for his unique stunt during the closing ceremony of the games that involved hanging from the Hollywood Sign—a first in the sign’s history.
Hanging From The W
The closing ceremony saw Cruise repelling down the roof at Stade de France on August 11, 2024. After greeting the crowds and Simone Biles, Tom Cruise took the Olympic flag and rode off on a motorcycle towards Los Angeles, the home of the Hollywood Sign and where the next Olympics will be held.
While that was the end of the live segment, it wasn’t all Cruise had to show to the fans. After he left, a prerecorded video showed Tom Cruise getting on a cargo plane, traveling to Los Angeles, and finally hanging from the ‘W’ in the Hollywood Sign, as you can see in the image above.
March
In addition to having Tom Cruise on the Hollywood Sign, the video also showed three additional ‘Os’, each covered with a different color to represent the five Olympic rings. While it was found that the image was doctored, or at least not up for very long, it was still an amazing sight.
However, it wasn’t during the closing ceremony that the most interesting part was recorded. Tom Cruise didn’t rush right to Los Angeles to hang on the Hollywood Sign right after showing up in Paris. Instead, that part was filmed all the way back in March 2024.
A Huge Secret
The team was pretty hush-hush about the whole situation. If people came by while on a hike, they claimed they were filming for a mayonnaise commercial, trying to keep the secret of why Tom Cruise was near the Hollywood Sign for as long as possible.
According to Jeff Zarrinnam, the Chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, not even the security cameras around the sign were allowed to record during this event to reduce the chance of the information being leaked.
A Historic First
Also according to Zarrinnam, this was the first time in history that any actor was allowed to touch the Hollywood sign.
Normally, even if there is acting done in front or around the prominent landmark, no touching is allowed. However, Tom Cruise’s Hollywood Sign stunt was the exception.
For the stunt, the rule had to be broken. Tom Cruise was allowed to not only touch but hang from the Hollywood Sign.
The trust decided to allow the actor to do this because Hollywood, and the sign in particular, because it’s such an important part of Los Angeles.
The Closing Ceremony
Though Tom Cruise was the only one allowed on the Hollywood Sign, the passing of the flag didn’t stop there. Cruise passed the flag off to Kate Courtney, a cycler.
She then rode her bike to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum and passed the flag off to Michael Johnson, who took it to Venice Beach where skateboarder Jagger Eaton finally planted it on the stage.
The stunt was applauded by many who are fans of the actor. The whole event felt completely like Tom Cruise, and like many of the roles he plays in movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible.
Though he’s not managed to win an Oscar yet for any of his acting roles, he can now claim that he’s managed to do something no other actor has before, and may not ever be able to do again, which is to touch, and even hang onto the Hollywood Sign.
