Mission Impossible star Hayley Atwell on filming death-defying stunts with Tom Cruise: ‘I trust him implicitly’

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the upcoming film from the Mission Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. A new entrant in this franchise is actor Hayley Atwell who plays the character of Grace, and is seen performing in many of the high-octane stunts in the trailer of the film. In a new interview she revealed how had complete ‘real sense of trust’ in him for the action scenes. (Also read: Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One first reactions: Critics call it another winner for franchise)

Mission Impossible cast

Apart from Tom and Hayley, the cast of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One includes Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson and Pom Klementieff. The film had its first premiere in Rome a few days ago to strong positive reactions from the critics.

Hayley Atwell on Tom Cruise

Now, in an interview with Screen Rant, Hayley shared how she found herself feeling supported by his co-star Tom Cruise during the many important action scenes. She said, “He’s an athlete, he is a stuntman, and he’s one of the best in the world. When he comes to set, not only is he fully engaged in the technical side of things and the acting side of things, but he is so clear and aware physically of what needs to happen for a stunt to go not only smoothly, but in a dynamic way…. He actually kind of goes, “I want to be fearless in this way. I can only be fearless if I really know what I’m doing technically and physically and [am] really good at it.” And so for me, I trust him implicitly because I also know he trusts himself. His level of detail and attention, and his care for us and very much his care for me, was very much [like] a mentor.”

Hayley on performing stunts with Tom Cruise

The actor also added how she developed a sense of trust with him in some of the dangerous stunts in the action thriller. He said, “It’s a bit like having your boxing coach in the ring going, “Come on, you can do it.” There was a real sense of trust from him that I had earned, so I was able to drift him while he was in the passenger side and handcuffed to me, which is a huge thing for him to have put his life in my hands for that time. And that was also because, over time, we had developed that trust together. I had been fully embracing the process and what it would take to be able to get up to that level with him.”

Dead Reckoning is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout, that released in 2018. Dead Reckoning is being made in two parts. The first will release on July 12 in cinemas and the second is slated to release on June 28, 2024.