Hollywood’s most fearless actors

Movie stars often get branded 'pampered little brats' with too much money and a very healthy appetite for luxuries and special treatment. However, a small group of Hollywood stars have shown they are more than just a pretty face by insisting on performing the dangerous stunts we see on the big screen. From climbing the tallest sky-scrapers, to hanging off a speeding car, these stars really put in the effort for their buck.

Tom Cruise
Having clearly picked up a love of heights in 'Top Gun', the Hollywood adrenaline junkie opted to climb the world's tallest building (Burj Khalifa) for his latest death-defying scene in the new 'Mission Impossible movie. Cruise told the Associated Press, "I'll be spending many days, many hours on the side of this building. I can't give you details, but I will be up there." Not only this, but in his flick 'Knight and Day' Cruise even came up with a dangerous stunt in which he flings co-star Cameron Diaz around on a  motorcycle while she shoots oncoming enemies. Brave stuff Tom.

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Angelina Jolie
The Hollywood beauty has maintained her tough-girl image having starred in 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider', 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and 'Gone In 60 Seconds'. But, during filming for the rather pedestrian 'The Tourist' she proved her bravery and jumped from a moving car and hung from a very tall building all on her own. Similarly, for 2010's 'Salt' she walked on a narrow ledge from a 12-storey high building with just a single wire to protect her. In a flippant explanation on why she performed these frightening feats, she said that it was "to help her get back in shape after her pregnancy". Health tips from the very top there.

Jackie Chan
The epitome of an all-out action hero, Jackie Chan is known for opting to perform his own stunts. Just take a look through his film history for impressive stunt sequences, like 'Rush Hour' series, 'Police Story' series, 'The Spy Next Door' and 'The Karate Kid' to name just a few of the most recent ones.

Keanu Reeves
The monotone actor's most dangerous stunt was performed during the filming of 'Speed'. Director Jan de Bont wouldn't allow him to attempt a stunt that would have seen him jump from a car onto a bus at high speed. However, Reeves secretly rehearsed the scene without the director knowing and on the day of shooting he insisted on doing the stunt himself and executed it flawlessly. Not such a boring actor now, huh?

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Christian Bale
Famed for his physical transformations in film roles, the latest Batman is a dark… horse when it comes to performing stunts. During the shoot for 'Rescue Dawn' in 2006, Bale wrestled with real life wild snakes and hung from a rope dangling off a helicopter. When asked why he did he simply said "I want to be doing that. I'm not letting anyone else do that."

Matt Damon
This man was 'Bourne' (ahem) to be an action star. Whilst filming the hugely popular franchise this hard man did multiple fight scenes in the water and jumped from a bridge despite a threat of drowning in the deep water. If that wasn't enough, he also performed all of his car crash stunts himself.

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Although the reason behind Arnie doing all his own stunts in 'Conan' and 'Commando' was due to a lack of any stunt man who looked similar, this macho man has wrestled wolves, fallen from towers, and jumped off of planes too, making him one of the bravest men in Hollywood. Although we bet he gets a fright when Maria Shriver calls these days.

Daniel Craig
Having been slated as the new James Bond by fans and critics alike, the craggy actor decided to impress them by doing all his own stunts in 'Quantum of Solace', much to the dismay of the health and safety police. However, one of the most wince-inducing scenes occured in 'Casino Royale' which saw Craig get tortured with a carpet-beater around the man-hood region. Craig certainly had balls to make that film.

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Rihanna
Her 'S&M' video proved that chains and whips excite her, but her bravery also helped the pop star impress the cast and crew on her forthcoming movie, 'Battleship', because she did her own stunts and pulled off the moves "better than the stuntwoman". Director Peter Berg explains in Cosmo magazine, "she dove off the deck, slammed herself on a metal grate, grabbed an actor, and dragged him back to the raft."

Viggo Mortensen
'Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson reportedly referred to Mortensen as "the walking wounded" due to all the injuries he sustained while filming the trilogy on set. For instance, while filming a fight scene, the actor had one of his teeth knocked out, but returned to work immediately afterward. However, his most dangerous stunts were actually performed in the movie 'Hidalgo', where he raced at breakneck speeds on horseback.

Honorary mention - Harrison Ford
Despite being in his mid-sixties, according to Shia LeBeouf, the veteran actor did around 90% of his stunts in the latest 'Indiana Jones' movie. In all honesty, the stunts were only really considered dangerous because of his age, but he would repeatedly attempt the same stunt until he got it right, without taking a break.

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