Tom Cruise: 'I'm the Mother Hen' on Set When Costars Perform Scary Stunts

While Tom Cruise seems to have no fear when doing his own death-defying stunts, he says he worries about his fellow actors when they put their own lives in danger

Photo: George Pimentel/Getty

Tom Cruise can’t help but show his protective side while shooting on set.

The fearless megastar is famous for performing his own daredevil, never-before-seen stunts, like clinging precariously to the side of a moving plane during takeoff in his newest action flick, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Cruise isn’t so cavalier when it comes to his costars performing their own dangerous stunts, however.

“I feel responsible because they are doing it,” Cruise told PEOPLE at the movie’s premiere Monday in New York City. “I am little bit like the mother hen, watching when they are doing it.”

Cruise, 53, who is also a producer on the hit franchise, says he kept a close eye on costar Rebecca Ferguson during filming. “She always wants to go further and farther,” he says. “So I was very protective of her, Simon [Pegg] and anyone who was [doing a stunt].”

Ferguson, 31, said Cruise didn’t have to “convince” her to do any of the stunts in the movie, including a nail-biting, life-or-death underwater scene and a dizzying, high-speed motorcycle chase.

“The way I see him work peps me into wanting to try it out,” she said. “Because I had such a great team around me and felt so supported, I would know that I could always say no when I wanted to. There was always the possibility for somebody else to jump in but I knew I had the team around me to try things out … and I did it.”

The actress said she had to overcome vertigo to even tackle the scary action scenes.

“So the first day of filming was jumping off the Vienna rooftop,” she said. “I was terrified!”

Just before they jumped, she said she wrapped her legs around Cruise, held on tight and screamed.

“But you know what? Having Tom nearby? It helps,” she said.

Joining Cruise and Ferguson at the premiere were their costars Jeremy Renner, Pegg and Alec Baldwin, as well as director-writer Christopher McQuarrie and producer J.J. Abrams.

Cruise also revealed this week that a sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise is already underway.

“We’re starting to work on it now,” Cruise told Jon Stewart during an appearance on The Daily Show Tuesday. “We’ll probably start shooting it next summer.”

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

In the meantime, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation hits theaters on Friday.

For more on the premiere of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday