Tom Cruise on making Mission Impossible in the coronavirus pandemic

Tom Cruise had to get back to the 'Mission Impossible' set amid the pandemic because he is "responsible for tens of thousands of jobs".

Production was halted on many movie sets as the global health crisis hit but the actor felt it was crucial to return to set as soon as it was possible to do so safely because so many people - the cast and the crew - were relying on him to make it happen.

He said: "I’ve produced 30 to 40 movies. I am responsible for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of jobs. All my friends in the industry, people that are in distribution, and my crew were like, 'What are we going to do? I could lose my house!’. So I told the studio and I told the industry, 'We’re going back. We’re going to get everyone back to work. We're going to start shooting in the summer. And we’re going to figure out how to do it safely.'"

And the 58-year-old actor admits it was a logistical nightmare, as he opened up about the "high emotions" people experienced throughout.

He added: "It was seven days a week, it was around the clock, just dealing with a lot of high emotions with people, and helping them through it. There was social distancing, there were masks, there were bubbles of crew members – one make-up artist for every two actors, plus heads of departments staying in hotel rooms on their own, driving to set, shooting the scene and then returning to the hotel until needed – and pods of five people, ready to quarantine if anyone within one contracted the virus."

Tom was constantly told it wouldn't work but he was adamant that it would be successful.

Speaking to Empire magazine about the rigorous protocols and processes he had to put in place, he shared: "We had to create protocols with studios and insurance companies, and work on laws in each country, assuring them how we were going to film in the country. There were times when people said, 'It's not going to happen.' And I just kept saying, 'It's happening.'"