Tom Cruise explained what he was thinking when holding onto the side of a plane for iconic Mission Impossible scene

Tom Cruise explained exactly what was running through his mind while he performed his petrifying plane stunt in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

Contrary to what you might think, it wasn't whether or not he might have left the iron on that morning - as he had more pressing matters at hand.

The action star, 62, is renowned for completing his own death-defying stunts in films, including riding a motorbike off a very tall cliff and scaling the Burj Khalifa.

Instead of relying on body doubles or special effects, he prefers a more hands-on approach, hence why he was seen clinging onto the side of an Airbus A400 travelling at speeds of 140mph in 2015.

Cruise put himself in harms way for the sake of the thrilling scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - and if you thought the final cut was great, wait until you see the behind-the-scenes stuff. Take a look at this:

The actor's iconic character, Ethan Hunt, finds himself stood on the side of the aircraft hanging on for dear life as it takes off during the fifth instalment of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

A featurette about the movie spilled the beans on what went into Cruise's stomach-churning stunt - which he completed a whopping eight times.

The star explained he had a lot of input into the scene, which was filmed at the UK air base RAF Wittering.

Recalling the moment he gave the green light for the four-engine military transporter to take off, Cruise said: "I give the thumbs up to camera, they're inside the airplane and I'm telling them, 'Let's go, let's go, let's go!'

"He [the pilot] is pushing that throttle forward and we are hammering down that runway. Like holy sh*t, the force of it.

"I was just trying to keep my feet on the ground, as I always had in my mind the image of when the airplane took off, my feet are going to come off.

"And the force of that wind...I'm trying desperately to keep my feet on the floor. That feeling man, it just...the airplane left the ground and I couldn't hold my feet on the side of that airplane anymore."

The actor clung onto the side of an Airbus A400 travelling at speeds of 140mph (Paramount Pictures)

The Jack Reacher star said he then began to feel 'the force going up in his body' as he eventually lost his footing and could only grasp onto the plane.

So, we've heard what was going on in his body, but what about what was going on in his mind?

Cruise went on to explain he was preoccupied by the 'timing' of everything, as he wanted to make sure he got the perfect shot.

Recalling his thoughts, he said: "How high are we above the ground? Now do I say my line? They want the line at a particular time where the lighting is good, where I'm not in shadow.

"So, all of these other things are really occupying my mind. [After] we landed, I was like 'Good, I've got that out of my system'.

"It's always the first [take]. It's like alright, everyone feels a little calmer, everything's fine."

Visual effects supervisor David Vickery admitted he thought it was a 'one-take' kind of situation, but Cruise had other ideas, as he went on to do the plane stunt another seven times.

All of Cruise's hard work paid off, as they got an incredible shot of his stunt (Paramount Pictures)

"I just said to the camera, 'Let's go again, I'm ready'," the stunt maestro continued. "Every time was like, holy sh*t. I wanted to make sure we had that shot."

Cruise was kitted out with a full-body harness for the stunt as well as being 'cabled and wired to the plane through it's door', according to the film's Director of Photography, Robert Elswit.

Elswit told The Hollywood Reporter: "Inside the aircraft was an aluminum truss that was carefully bolted to the plane, which held the wires that went through the door, which held Tom.

"He was also wearing special contact lenses to protect his eyes. If anything hit him at those speeds it could be really bad.

"They were very careful about cleaning the runway so there were no rocks. And we took off in certain weather conditions; there were no birds. And he’s sort of protected by the way the air moves over the wing."

The star's harness and any other safety gear was later digitally removed from the shot.

The crew had just 48 hours at the air base to pull off the incredible scene - which was more than enough time for Cruise.