When Tom Cruise faced a gruelling challenge

Actor Tom Cruise said that he faced a "gruelling" challenge on the set of "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation".

The 52-year-old had to do a particularly "hairy" stunt for the film involving a motorbike, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"It was physically the most gruelling sequence. We're going at very high speed with Simon Pegg as my passenger, drifting through very narrow streets with cameras on (the bike)", Cruise told Yahoo! Movies.

"I'm not wearing a helmet or pads, and at one point I'm highsiding a guy. It was hairy, actually," he added.

Meanwhile, Cruise previously revealed he was left "scared" when one of his stunts for the action movie saw him hanging off a flying plane.

"I was actually scared. As always, I will do everything I can to entertain an audience and put as many people into your theatres ... I'm an aerobatic pilot and I've always wanted to do that," he said.

"I was in a harness, on my side, that was kind of loose so you can see the vibration of my body against the plane," Cruise added.

The "Jack Reacher" star also claimed that he nearly got injured during the stunt when he had to land the plane, despite the crew ensuring all debris was off the runway.

"I got hit by just a little particle. I literally thought it broke my ribs," he said.