Tom Cruise endures eight rounds of icy water for ALS challenge

Tom Cruise braced the cold as eight buckets of icy water were poured over his head when he undertook the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Tuesday (19Aug14) on behalf of the cast of Mission: Impossible 5.

The action star was nominated by Hugh Jackman and the cast and crew of new movie Pan to take part in the highly-publicised feat, which raises money and awareness of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS and motor neurone disease, for the ALS Association.

Jackman requested all Mission: Impossible 5 personnel undergo the challenge but many were working on location, so Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie took on multiple icy buckets on the crew's behalf.

Before the challenge, which was recorded in a video and posted on YouTube.com, Cruise says, "Greetings Hugh Jackman and the cast and crew of Pan. Chris McQuarrie and I are here to accept your ALS Ice Bucket Challenge."

The director adds, "As we're days away from shooting, the entire cast and crew are spread out over three continents but we didn't want to miss the 24 hour deadline so Tom and I are here to take a hit for the team."

Cruise also notes the pair will make donations to the ALS cause "on behalf of every member of our cast and crew that were lucky enough not to be here today".

They then sit on chairs in a field and endure eight rounds of icy water being thrown over them. Cruise even yells out, "How much more?" as the onslaught continues.

They then nominated Hollywood producer David Ellison and film studio boss Brad Grey for the task.

Other celebrities who have taken on the challenge include Zac Efron, Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, pop star Lily Allen, Emily Blunt and Shakira.