Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One star Hayley Atwell recalls how Tom Cruise helped her push through a particularly challenging action sequence. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the latest sequel in the long-running action franchise sees Cruise’s Ethan Hunt facing off against a formidable new enemy to take down a rogue AI. The Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One cast brings back a host of familiar faces but also introduces several new characters, including Atwell’s Grace, who gets to play a big part in the action.
Now, Atwell reveals to ET that one action sequence in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One proved especially physically demanding. Thankfully, she explains, Cruise picked up on her exhaustion and had just the remedy to get her back on her feet and ready for additional takes. Check out Atwell’s full comment below:
“The virtual train carriage with Tom. So, it goes from horizontal to vertical in six seconds, so we’d have to sprint on an incline and reach the bar before we were dangling over a ravine.
“And that to me — I mean I got adrenal fatigue at one point, and I just kind looked like a zombie, and Tom was like, ‘Are you okay?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t even know, Tom, what’s going on with me. I don’t know.’ And he said, ‘I know what you need. You need some chocolate,’ and I was like, ‘Yes I do.'”
Tom Cruise’s Attitude Toward Stunts Explained
Cruise is now an actor renowned for his dedication to death-defying stunt sequences in the Mission: Impossible franchise and beyond, which have in the past included prolonged breath-holds, advanced driving set pieces, helicopter maneuvers, and long-distance jumps between buildings. Whenever he is asked about these sequences, Cruise’s response is always more or less the same: he just wants to entertain audiences and provide the best possible cinematic experience that he can.
While Cruise clearly holds himself to a high standard and pushes himself beyond what basically any other actor in Hollywood is doing, he also clearly holds others to a high standard as well. Instead of letting other actors sub in stunt performers, he expects them to pull their weight, with Atwell herself undergoing extensive driving training for Mission: Impossible 7 to be able to pull off her own vehicle sequences around historical Rome monuments and architecture.
Cruise’s attitude towards stunts is exemplified in a comment from his costar on The Mummy, Jake Johnson, who recalls getting hurt after jumping from a three-story building. Cruise then clarified that there’s a difference between being “hurt” and being “injured,” with the former to be expected and meaning that one can keep filming. That being said, of course, Cruise and McQuarrie are also extremely diligent when it comes to safety, and behind-the-scenes material on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and other installments speaks to the months of training and extreme safety precautions that go into every stunt sequence.