Why Henry Cavill's Mission: Impossible Bathroom Fight Was 'Uncomfortably Long'

The "Mission Impossible" franchise certainly has its share of iconic fight scenes. However, one of the most unforgettable comes in 2018's "Mission Impossible: Fallout," which sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and August Walker (Henry Cavill) battle a decoy for villain John Lark (Liang Yang) in a bathroom. 

Though the scene runs a little over two minutes, filming took much longer. In an interview with Collider, Cavill revealed, "Overall, the bathroom fight took four weeks to shoot, which, for a scene as intense as that, definitely felt uncomfortably long."

In addition to what's seen on-screen in "Mission Impossible: Fallout," the two actors worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get the choreography and stunts just right. These moves, said Cavill, became ingrained in his muscle memory. In fact, the process of bringing the bathroom fight to life was so taxing that, on the final day of filming the sequence, Cavill and Cruise admitted to each other how much physical pain they were feeling.

Filming such an "uncomfortably long" fight sequence isn't something every actor is physically able to do. According to "Mission Impossible: Fallout" director Christopher McQuarrie, the film was originally slated to include another household name in the role of decoy John Lark, who would take on Henry Cavill and Tom Cruise in the bathroom. 

However, this unnamed actor couldn't keep up with the duo. McQuarrie told The Hollywood Reporter, "It's a sequence other actors, when learning the level of commitment required, simply opted out."

The admitted exhaustion of Cavill and Cruise makes it clear just how brutal the creation of the bathroom scene was, and why stuntman Liang Yang was cast instead. In a social media post, Cavill praised the stamina of Yang, a member of Eastwood Action Stunts: "While I was shattered after the work we did together, he seemed unfazed and remained smiling ... a true champion in ability and especially character."