Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz race cars, with hilarious results

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were guests on the very entertaining British car show, Top Gear. I used to watch this show with my husband (we can’t get it where we live now, but we’re going to rent it on Netflix on demand now that I’m reminded!) and it’s surprisingly entertaining for all genders and non-car enthusiasts alike. I’m not a car person at all and I love this show. They pull all sorts of fun stunts that can also be very dangerous, as evidenced by the very serious accident that co-presenter Richard Hammond suffered in 2006. Hammond has since fully recovered after a brain injury and is back on the show.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz separately raced a Kia around a track as part of Top Gear’s “reasonably priced car” race event, and I’m not going to post spoilers to the above video in this text because I want you to watch it and see for yourself! There are spoilers in the link to E!’s text quoted below. (The text itself doesn’t contain that spoiler.) I know it’s silly to talk about “spoilers” for a TV show, but if you watch the video you’ll see why I want to keep the suspense going. It’s fun and will brighten up your day:

Well if the movie thing stops working out (and, after the release of Knight and Day, you never know…), at least Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz can fall back on race-car driving.

Cruise and Diaz tore up the track during a joint appearance on the BBC’s Top Gear on Sunday, both zipping through the course in astounding time—with the Mission: Impossible star narrowly averting a potentially dangerous accident.

[Cruise’s near-miss is about at the three-minute mark in the clip above]

To promote the U.K. launch of their action flick, the actors got behind the wheel of a Kia for a segment called “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” and attempted to break the course record held by Harry Potter star Rupert Grint.

Diaz, wearing her best game face and dropping her best F-bombs (“some of this is actually broadcastable,” quipped host Jeremy Clarkson), went first and flew around the circuit, just edging Grint’s time.

Then came Cruise, who at the end of his ride drifted off the track and briefly went up on two wheels but managed to bring the car back down without killing himself.

[From E! Online]

For all you can say about Tom Cruise, he is a really good sport and he kept his composure while on the track. He was so calm when racing around while Cameron was swearing like a trucker! That may have a lot to do with the fact that Tom has extensive experience racing cars, having starred in the 1990 film Days of Thunder.

Knight & Day may not have cleaned up at the box office, but it’s hanging in there. So far it’s grossed $161.78 million worldwide and had a production budget of $117 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Add in the DVD sales and it’s in the black, although it surely didn’t make as much as the studio is hoping for. I’ll probably catch it on DVD. Cruise is not my favorite person, but I can suspend disbelief when I see him on film. He plays crazy so well.

Also, don’t Tom and Cameron seem really cozy with each other? If Cameron was getting touchy feely like that with any other co-star there would definitely be affair rumors.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are shown at premieres of Knight & Day in London (gray sweater dress, 7/22/10) and in France (black and white dress, 7/23/10). Credit: WENN.com