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While most Hollywood actors make good use of body doubles to perform stunts, those fearless and dedicated to their work take on the challenging tasks themselves. Here we list some of the craziest stunts performed by the actors themselves

Daniel Craig In Quantum Of Solace
Overcoming his fear of heights, Daniel Craig jumped down three stories onto a moving bus as one of the many stunts he performed in the movie. Not only was the fear of heights always present, but he also needed to time it perfectly so he would land on the bus when it was right underneath him. If he has misjudged by even a second, he would have either fallen flat on the ground, or gotten hit and crushed by the bus. We hope it was worth the risk!

Christian Bale in The Machinist
Jumping off a building or being in water are temporary dangers, but putting your body through extreme changes takes on a whole new level of craziness. For his role of a chronic insomniac in the Machinist, Bale lost a whopping 63 pounds by going on a diet of nothing more than coffee or apples a day. This dramatic weight loss was not required of him by the director, Bale took his role very serious himself. This is true dedication to work!

Keanu Reeves in Speed
Remember the low budget movie that made a killing off its great heart-pounding moments of insane bus driving? That was Speed! The movie that had us glued to it throughout its run-time, all thanks to Keanu Reeves action sequences. Reeves secretly practiced and insisted on performing the stunt where he jumped off a fast driving car onto the edge of the fast driving bus' door. He gave everyone a surprise by performing it to perfection.

Matt Damon in Bourne Ultimatum
Having the common fear of drowning, Damon was quite nervous, as a panic attack under water could have been dangerous for himself and the crew involved. He fought hard to keep his cool. Other dangerous stunts included jumping off a bridge, as well as few car crash scenes.

Jackie Chan
The name is self-explanatory. His long list of risky stunts performed in various movies are insurmountable. From bruises and cuts to second degree burns, and from almost paralysing himself to sustaining a neck injury, he has had it all! At one point, he hurt his head so bad one of his ears had start to bleed.

Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible series
This list cannot be complete without mentioning Tom Cruise performing his epic stunts in all of the Mission Impossible movies. He took on all sorts of dangerous stunts, from dodging trucks, to staying in water for long periods, to extreme rock climbing. Ofcourse his latest that will go down in history is his stunt hanging off the 130th floor of the tallest building in the world(at 2716.5 feet); the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Cruise, hanging only via a thin cable harness, had to climb up from the 123rd floor onto the 130th, had to fall a few stories down for one shot, and even ran across the face of the building at one point. How he did this without fainting or feeling dizzy at the amazing height is a mystery.

Sources:
The Crazy Gadgets and Crazier Stunts of <em>Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol</em> - Popular Mechanics
http://www.popcrunch.com/dangerous-movie-stunts/
Picture Source:
http://laceysfilms.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/quantum-of-solace-uk-us-2008/
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/952222
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/952222
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2007/aug/20/youreviewthebourneultimatu
http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=239&catid=7&subcatid=42
http://www.movieblogbuster.com/2011/12/25/mi4-ghost-protocol/