WHEN Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise dropped into North Yorkshire for some secret filming, we were all left wondering what he was up to.
The movie star was spotted - and photographed – at Levisham near Pickering in the North York Moors back in April 2021.
Cruise had earlier arrived on a helicopter, and a logistics base was set up some 20 minutes away from the film set.
Word got out that he was filming the latest instalment of his Mission: Impossible franchise - the seventh in the series. He was spotted with British actress Hayley Atwell - both wearing black masks because it was taking place in the middle of the Covid pandemic.
The Oscar-winning actor was photographed by a blue railway carriage - but the storyline, not surprisingly, was kept under wraps.
Onlookers could see Cruise - dressed in dark trousers and roll-neck sweater - at work by a modified train and tracks.
He was flanked by an entourage as he made his way across the set and spotted clambering on top of a carriage while apparently filming a stunt.
But now that Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One, is out in cinemas, all can be revealed about what actually happened when Tom came to work for a time in North Yorkshire.
Without spoiling anything about the storyline, the North Yorkshire filming slots into the daring finale of the film, where Cruise's character Ethan Hunt has to board a train, which contains Atwell's character Grace and a combination of baddies out to do no good.
The world thrilling does not do the action sequences justice - be prepared to be on the edge of your seat, or grabbing a neighbouring arm as the drama unfolds.
Cruise not only filmed in North Yorkshire for the movie.
He was also spotted in the Lake District, filming daring paragliding scenes for the movie.
One lucky onlooker saw Cruise paragliding by cliffs at Buttermere - which turns out to be a breathtaking part of the final movie.
Work on Paramount Pictures's Mission: Impossible 7 was hit by delays caused by the Covid pandemic, with filming in Italy in February 2020 brought to a halt as the situation worsened.
After a delay, filming restarted at locations including Warner Bros Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire.
The movie was expected to have been released last summer. The follow up, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part Two, is scheduled for release next year.
A last word: go see Mission: Impossible on the big screen - not just to spot Tom Cruise filming in our neck of the woods, but for a massive adrenaline rush while you do so!
The day we met Tom Cruise
TOM Cruise made even more fans during his brief spell filming in North Yorkshire for Mission Impossible: 7.
He posed for photos with wellwishers and onlookers during filming of action scenes on a train at Levisham, near Pickering, back in April 2021.
It was during the pandemic, so masks were worn and social distancing observed.
Among locals lucky enough to see and meet Tom were Harriet Allen and her mum Amy, who saw him at Levisham.
Harriet told The Press shortly after the meeting: "My mum and I live in Pickering and a few months ago we heard a rumour that Tom Cruise had been spotted getting off a helicopter up the railway line.
"We didn’t think much of it till I did a bit of Googling and things started to happen on the railway - two carriages and a strange train appeared one weekend when we were out walking."
Harriet said: "Last weekend my parents spotted a huge marquee up on the old trout farm site and we heard the helicopters, so last night we went up to Levisham to see what was going on!
"We kept away from the crew and sat on the moor, watching the train speed off and followed by a helicopter filming it. But then the train came back about 20 mins later, and they all got off.
"We decided to cautiously wander to the station and we saw Tom say hello to the small bunch of onlookers on his way to his trailer. Then an assistant came out of his trailer to ask who were the ones having photos. We assumed it was all pre-arranged but they came to each bubble of people, handing out masks if any one needed and organising our photos before the star himself appeared, with trademark aviators!
"He was lovely and gracious, stopping for photos with everyone and commented on how much he liked Yorkshire. A really lovely guy - he didn’t need to come and do this, we were quite taken aback."
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