Cary Elwes Reveals Tom Cruise's Shocking First-Day Mishap on a '90s No. 1 Action Hit

When people look back on the 1989 film Days of Thunder, a couple of key facts usually come to mind. One, the film set was where Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman met, fell in love, and married less than a year later. Second, it was made by the late Tony Scott, who was known for directing Top Gun, True Romance, and other cult-favorites throughout his career.

'Hello, Wall'

But if you ask Cary Elwes, he remembers Days of Thunder as the film where Cruise drove a racing car into a wall. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Elwes looked back on the first day on the set of Days of Thunder with a mix of amusement and abject terror.

Cruise, whether on purpose or by accident, "Put a car into the wall, actually, on his first day of driving," The Princess Bride star remembered. "And these things aren't cheap. And he was so funny. On film, his last words before crashing were, 'Hello, wall.'"

Despite driving into a wall, Cruise was a very experienced driver when he signed up to make Days of Thunder. In a 1990 interview with Rolling Stone, he talked about racing cars with Paul Newman at the Daytona International Speedway after the pair had finished filming The Color of Money.

No Hands at 120 MPH

Elwes, on the other hand, didn't have a history of racing cars in his free time. Already having a stressful day behind the wheel, he remembered trying to follow the complicated and dangerous instructions Scott had given him.

"I had to learn how to drive NASCAR," he explained. "And it was a challenge, because we had three cameras on the car."

"I had to drive among other stuntmen at Daytona. And I had to get up to 120 mph, something crazy like that," he continued. "He said, 'Okay, here's what you need to do. When you get up to speed, I want you to take the wheel with your knees, and then I want you to flip on each of the cameras, grab the wheel again, and then, when they're switched on, take the wheel with your knees again, and then clap each camera.'"

"And I said, 'You're joking, right?' Elwes said. "And he says, 'No, no, no, that's what we're going to do.'"

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 8:02 PM.