6. Holding his breath for six minutes (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation)  

The average human can hold their breath underwater for 90 seconds, and is likely to pass out if unable to breathe for longer than two minutes. For the untrained person, brain cells will begin to die after five minutes without oxygen. Cruise was underwater for six minutes filming the pivotal Rogue Nation scene where Ethan Hunt has to infiltrate a water-filled chamber to switch out the security key card disks. Avoiding flailing mechanical arms, then having the key cards knocked out of his hand and having to retrieve them, is tough to watch.

With significant training, and by slowing their heartrates, some people can hold their breath for as long as 25 minutes. Cruise’s six minutes remains an extraordinary feat, especially given he’s performing stunts at the same time, and at the time it was the longest any actor had held their breath for a scene—a record since broken by Kate Winslet while filming the Avatar sequel, where she was underwater for seven minutes and 14 seconds.