12 Actors Who Managed to Hold Their Breath Underwater for an Unreasonably Long Duration

      Tom Cruise delivers impressive underwater acting in the latest installment of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. He is among the 12 actors who managed to hold their breath underwater for an astonishing duration.

      Esther Williams (Million Dollar Mermaid, 1952)

      Esther Williams is featured in a publicity still for Ziegfield Follies. – Credit: C/O

      Esther Williams, a competitive swimmer and actress, gained fame through a series of films that began in the mid-1940s, showcasing her talent for executing beautifully choreographed underwater routines in movies such as Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Dangerous When Wet (1953).

      While the exact duration she could hold her breath isn’t known, she certainly pushed her limits, enduring multiple eardrum ruptures from the countless hours spent in studio water tanks.

      She passed away in 2013 at the age of 91.

      Ricou Browning (Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954)

      Universal – Credit: C/O

      Ricou Browning, a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman, began his career in water performances, later transitioning to underwater newsreels. He was cast as Gill-man, known as The Creature From the Black Lagoon, after a film crew requested he showcase a location and swim on camera. He also appeared in the film’s sequels.

      In 2013, Browning shared with Florida’s Ocala StarBanner that he could hold his breath underwater for up to four minutes under ideal circumstances: “If you’re swimming quickly or fighting, you burn a lot of oxygen, which limits it to about two minutes at best.”

      Browning passed away in February at the age of 93.

      Shelly Winters (The Poseidon Adventure, 1972)

      20th Century Fox – Credit: C/O

      Shelly Winters reportedly trained to hold her breath for as long as four minutes during the filming of the ensemble-disaster epic The Poseidon Adventure, which revolves around an aging luxury liner capsized by a tsunami. Her performance earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

      Winters died in 2006 at the age of 85.

      Val Kilmer (Top Secret, 1984)

      Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Top Secret is an absurd blend of a war film and an Elvis film, featuring Val Kilmer as American singer Nick Rivers, who infiltrates enemy territory and falls for a German woman resisting fascists.

      The film includes several outstanding sequences, including one shot in reverse and another where a station moves away from a train, culminating in an underwater, Western-style fistfight.

      Directors David Zucker and Jim Abrahams revealed to ScreenCrush in 2014 that the actors held their breath underwater in increments of 10 to 15 seconds before resurfacing.

      Kilmer noted, “The hardest part was not laughing and running out of oxygen,” before sadly passing away earlier this year.

      Kurt Russell (Poseidon, 2006)

      Warner Bros. – Credit: C/O

      How long did Kurt Russell hold his breath for this Poseidon Adventure remake? Long enough that he nearly lost consciousness.

      He recounted to The Los Angeles Daily News, “There’s a scene where I’m underwater for an extended period, so I had to trust someone to come in at precisely the right moment and give me air. That’s a spooky experience,” he said.

      “I wanted to understand what it felt like, but psychologically, that’s a tough thing to do... letting go and trusting that you won’t drown.”

      Russell added, “The third time the guy swam out and put the regulator in my mouth, I don’t remember it. I was that close to the edge.”

      Jessica Alba (Into the Blue, 2005)

      Jessica Alba and Paul Walker holding their breath underwater in Into the Blue. Sony – Credit: C/O

      Jessica Alba began free diving while filming the late ’90s TV series The New Adventures of Flipper, applying her skills in Into the Blue, a heist thriller co-starring the late Paul Walker.

      “Free diving is like an extreme sports version of snorkeling,” she explained to CBS News in 2005. “That goes down to about 50 feet. You hold your breath, wear a weight belt, and descend as quickly as possible, holding your breath for several minutes.”

      Alba mentioned that she and her co-stars would compete: “I believe I had the longest hold at one minute and 20 seconds.”

      Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, 2015)

      Tom Cruise holding his breath in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Paramount – Credit: C/O

      In a video with Access Hollywood when Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation was released, Tom Cruise noted that “typically in underwater scenes, people hold their breath for 10 to 15 seconds maximum.”

      However, he trained himself to hold his breath