Jake Johnson took on his role in 'The Mummy' because his wife is fascinated by Tom Cruise.

Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson

The 39-year-old actor had reservations about signing up for the movie as he was aware of the 54-year-old star's passion for doing his own stunts, and was reluctant to put himself at risk, but eventually changed his mind at the request of spouse Erin Payne.

He said: "I remember saying to my wife 'I have a chance to play Tom Cruise's friend in 'The Mummy' but I don't know if I want to do it', because there were a lot of stunts and I know that Tom does them himself and I didn't want to die on the side of an airplane for a movie.

"And my wife said 'I have never said this before but I really want you to do it because I really want to hear more about Tom Cruise'.

"There is no PR team telling me to say this but he is genuinely just a sweet, passionate, awesome guy."

And Jake - who plays Sergeant Chris Vail - admits making the film was unlike anything he'd ever experienced because Tom is so "relentless" and passionate about details, to the point where the 'New Girl' star and his wife had to relocate to London just so he could learn to ride a horse with a family of experts sought out by his co-star.

He told the Metro newspaper: "It was a lot of work because Tom is relentless.

"He loves making movies in a way that, honestly, I have never seen. Every single detail matters to this guy.

"There is a sequence where I ride a horse, so he and Universal got me the best horse trainers - the Dent family in England.

"I moved my family to Richmond in London for three and a half months so I could train on the Dent farm, galloping through the English countryside. It was utter madness."


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