Simon Pegg Recalled Meeting Tom Cruise And Their 20-Year-Friendship, But I’m More Happy He Answered The ‘Cake’ Question
The legendary “Tom Cruise Christmas Cake” won’t be going out to its lucky recipients any time soon. So that probably means that actors, creatives and other notables on the 2025 movie schedule just might have a chance to make this year’s mailing list.
Judging by a recent interview clip with Mission: Impossible 8 cast member Simon Pegg, he’s been set for at least 20 years – which is a hypothetical scenario the man probably didn’t see coming after his first meeting with the action superstar. And as it turns out, there was another pretty sweet treat that involved birthday greetings, a lot of phone time and that trademark Cruise determination.
How Simon Pegg’s First Day On Mission: Impossible III Introduced Him To Tom Cruise
Sitting down for an interview with the Making a Scene podcast, the Shaun of the Dead vet told the story of how this “bromance” of the ages technically started. Recalling how he was introduced to Cruise, as well as co-star Ving Rhames, on the set of Mission: Impossible III, Pegg shared that moment as a totally identifiable experience:
As if having three pages of dialogue delivered the morning on his first day wasn’t enough of a shock, Simon Pegg saw himself meeting two movie legends in one fell swoop. It’s certainly a first day for the books; and in this actor’s case, it was also the beginning of a decades-spanning partnership. Most of which can be observed by all Mission: Impossible fans with a Paramount+ subscription.
Recurring as IMF tech analyst-turned-field agent Benji Dunn for the five sequels after his debut, Pegg has been through quite a bit with Tom Cruise on and off screen. That apparently was enough to get the man one of those Christmas Cakes Top Gun: Maverick’s Glen Powell showed off not too long ago. But there was also another confection that Cruise surprised his then-new friend with, and in an equally unexpected manner.
That Time Tom Cruise Surprised Simon Pegg With A Birthday Cake On A Snowboarding Trip
Here’s a fun fact about Simon Pegg: he’s apparently a huge snowboarding enthusiast. Progressing through his interview with his hosts/Little Britain stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas, the Hot Fuzz star shared that Tom Cruise is a huge Shaun of the Dead fan. That, as well as their experience on Mission: Impossible III, probably contributed to him getting onto Cruise’s Christmas Cake list.
But as you’ll start to read below, there’s another baked good anecdote that Pegg has to share, and it’s a very personal one at that:
I was snowboarding in the alps, I was staying in a chalet, and it was my birthday. And Andy and Lorraine, that run this chalet that I go to, suddenly came out with a big chocolate cake – which said, ‘Happy Birthday, Simon. Love, from Tom.’ on it.
What makes this tale even more impressive is that Tom Cruise allegedly had to spend half an hour convincing the bakery that made this treat he was who he claimed to be. The process he had to go through, also recalled by Simon Pegg, was a bit of a mission itself:
He called a bakery in Thonon, which is a tiny village down the mountain, announced that it was Tom Cruise … had the cake made by this little bakery, and then they sent it up the mountain for my birthday.
That’s a lot of effort for a surprise, but considering Cruise’s recent Mission: Impossible storyboards, this feels more like “Mission: Difficult” than anything else. I certainly hope Simon Pegg likes that sweet treat, or at least knows people that do. If Kirsten Dunst’s remarks on Tom Cruise’s signature cake are any indication, he’ll be getting one annually for the foreseeable future.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is still being shown in theaters worldwide. While it’s not exactly a coconut bundt cake, it is Mr. Cruise’s gift to the fans. And who wouldn’t choose to accept that?
