Tom Cruise gave ‘Mission: Impossible’ co-stars skydiving lessons, shark diving trips and coconut cake

Todd Gilchrist editor Since “Mission: Impossible III” in 2006, Simon Pegg has been part of the core ensemble of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, playing hacker and sometime field agent Benji Dunn opposite its stalwart star Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Pegg was never going to be the actor risking life and limb on screen — “it’s Benji’s job to be the one that actually says, ‘what the fuck are we doing here?’,” he observes. But over five installments of the indefatigable series, his character has shifted from questioning what Ethan is doing in the moment to believing absolutely in why he’s doing it, thanks in no small part to the writing and directing of Christopher McQuarrie. McQuarrie came onto “Ghost Protocol” as “a sort of master plumber to re-wriggle the pipes,” as Pegg characterizes it, and since became the series’ ongoing co-architect with Cruise. Their partnership reaches its peak, even if by all indications it’s far from over, with “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” half of an operatic culmination of narrative seeds planted since Cruise first played Hunt back in 1996. In a conversation with Variety, Pegg discusses what makes McQuarrie’s creativity so special, and his collaboration with Cruise et al so unique; he also talks about new details he discovered about Benji, explored the challenges of being self-referential in a franchise like this without undermining emotional stakes, and hinted at what is yet to come as he and the rest of the filmmaking team move on to “Dead Reckoning — Part Two.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses the ending of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” currently playing in theaters. “Dead Reckoning,” the seventh installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, is the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be split into two movies, but Tom Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie tried their hardest to give “Part One” a non-cliffhanger conclusion. The filmmaker recently told Total Film magazine that thinking about how to conclude the first of two movies kept Cruise up at night during the filming of “Part One.” “Where we ended the movie was always where we were going to end it,” McQuarrie said of the train action sequence. “How we ended the movie was a big, big mystery for us. It kept Tom awake at night throughout production. He would come in all the time and say, ‘This can’t be a cliffhanger, it’s got to be satisfying.’ The audience has to feel a sense of completion.”

Something that’s brought up in a new Happy Sad Confused podcast with “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning—Part One” star Hayley Atwell. The host of the podcast, Josh Horowitz, essentially says ‘Mission Impossible’ movies should not work.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” netted $8.3 million at the box office on Thursday, pushing the action sequel’s North American gross to $23.8 million after two days of release. The film, which finds Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt hurtling off cliffs, fighting knife-wielding bad guys on trains and evading pursuers while driving a Fiat through the streets of Rome, was incredibly expensive to produce. Shot during the pandemic (with all the attendant shutdowns, delays and health protocols that were a staple of the COVID era), the budget on the film ballooned to $290 million. So “Mission: Impossible” will need to generate a lot of repeat business if it’s going to turn a profit, and it needs to boom at the global box office.

Angelique Jackson It’s 10 a.m. in Sydney, where Hayley Atwell is preparing to walk the red carpet as the “Mission: Impossible” crew’s newest member, joining producer and star Tom Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie’s ensemble of battle-hardened actors. “This is a pure cinematic experience. It’s unadulterated entertainment, and of a huge scale,” Atwell says to Variety about “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” which finally hit theaters on July 12 following a two-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Flashy events like the Australia premiere (which featured a fireworks spectacle in honor of Cruise’s 61st birthday on July 3) mark the end of a four-year odyssey that pushed Atwell’s limits physically — leaving her hanging inside a train car that’s gone from horizontal to vertical, gripping anything nailed to the floor/wall/ceiling lest she fall to her death (or at least the safety rigging below) — and saw her creating a cunning character within the “M:I” universe.

Wondering if you should choose to accept the latest “Mission: Impossible” entry? Maybe you’re sick of all the bombast at the movie theatre lately? Well, put it another way: Do you really want to disappoint Tom Cruise?

Even Tom Cruise can’t believe some of the things he hears about himself. Cruise’s "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1" director, Chris McQuarrie, revealed in a new interview with the Times of London that the actor has heard some crazy rumors about himself, but was happy to debunk them. According to McQuarrie, he asked Cruise when they first met what the "weirdest story you’ve heard about yourself" was.  Cruise laughed and said it was the myth that people on set "were not allowed to look me in the eye." The first time the actor and director worked together was 2008’s "Valkyrie," and McQuarrie has directed Cruise in the last three "Mission: Impossible" films, as well as produced "Top Gun: Maverick." Simon Pegg, who joined the "Mission: Impossible" franchise in 2006’s "Mission: Impossible III," agreed that the stories surrounding Cruise are overblown.

Madison LeCroy scored an invite to the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiere — and she snagged a selfie with Ethan Hunt himself.

Tom Cruise makes epic blockbuster films, but the 61-year-old actor and producer doesn’t consider himself above his co-stars and film crew members.

How does it feel to be on the receiving end of completely wild, baseless dating rumors? Hayley Atwell did NOT like it!

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One co-star Tom Cruise have affected her.The actress, who is engaged to music producer, director and actor Ned ‘Wolfgang’ Kelly, in new interviews dismissed claims that she and Cruise were ever an item – and that such “grubby” speculation was “invasive”.She told The Telegraph that the rumours about Cruise were just that. “It’s tabloid journalism.

The Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One press tour is coming to a close as the movie is about to hit theaters everywhere!

No mission is impossible for Tom Cruise – even quelling the nerves of a particular actress with whom he has been romantically linked. Hayley Atwell, who stars alongside Cruise in his new "Mission: Impossible" film, says rumors that she was involved with the A-list star made her feel uneasy. "I would be like, ‘Ooh, there’s some weird rumors, and it feels base, it feels a little dirty, it feels grubby, it’s not what I’m about,’" she told The Independent.  "Why are things being assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my work colleague and boss?" Atwell said that throughout filming, she viewed both Cruise, who in addition to starring in the film is credited as producer, and the movie's director, Chris McQuarrie as "two uncles." The British actress says it was upsetting for the news to circulate: "It’s involving people in my actual life, my personal life, who have to be on the receiving end of that.

daredevil stunts can the silence the rumors about the “Mission: Impossible” star. From his sometimes abrasive perfectionism to his deep involvement with the Church of Scientology, Cruise, 61, prefers to keep public comments focused on his projects — leaving plenty of room for gossip about his personal life.But in recent interviews conducted with cast and crew around the upcoming “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One,” director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that there’s one dogged rumor that Cruise himself is happy to debunk.In a story in The Times, McQuarrie recalled asking Cruise for the “weirdest” story he’s heard about himself — the star revealed there was a rumor going around over the years that cast and crew members “were not allowed to look me in the eye.” Not true, said Cruise — an assertion backed up by co-worker McQuarrie.Additionally, while Cruise was seen getting frustrated on set in 2020, McQuarrie and co-star Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn) were quick to defend Cruise as the fun-loving, thrill-seeking guy.

Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One director, Christopher McQuarrie, and co-star, Simon Pegg, sit down for a new interview in promotion of the film.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…

Zack Sharf Digital News Director According to Tom Cruise’s frequent “Mission: Impossible” director Christopher McQuarrie, the mega-star actor once told him that the “weirdest story” he ever heard about himself was that his co-stars “were not allowed to look me in the eye.” McQuarrie and the rest of his “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” cast told The Times of London that rumor is just a myth. Simon Pegg said Cruise is far more generous and fun than that rumor suggests, and that he even “took us go-karting and zip-lining” during off hours on “Dead Reckoning Part One.” “I’ve been able to hack my way through all the bizarre mythology that surrounds him,” added Pegg, who has starred in every “Mission: Impossible” movie opposite Cruise since 2011’s “Ghost Protocol.” “On one side he’s Tom Cruise — this enigmatic film star everyone wants to know about. And on the other he’s just a guy. I like being normal with him.”

Tom Cruise has debunked the “weirdest” rumour that he’s heard about himself from the film industry.Across recent years, a rumour has emerged that Cruise is so intense on film sets that he requests that his co-stars don’t look him in the eye.Speaking to The Times along with his collaborators Christopher McQuarrie and Simon Pegg in new Mission Impossible film Dead Reckoning Part I, Cruise denied the rumour, with Pegg playing down the supposed intensity of his co-star.Asked to share the “weirdest” rumour he’s heard about himself, Cruise said he was confused by the rumour that people “were not allowed to look me in the eye” during filming.Pegg added of Cruise: “I’ve been able to hack my way through all the bizarre mythology that surrounds him.“On one side he’s Tom Cruise – this enigmatic film star everyone wants to know about. And on the other, he’s just a guy.

Hayley Atwell is setting the record straight when it comes to her rumoured romance with “Mission: Impossible” co-star Tom Cruise. The 41-year-old actress, who stars in the franchise’s upcoming seventh installment, “Dead Reckoning Part One”, responded to the speculation that she and Cruise, 61, have a secret romance.

Hayley Atwell is setting the record straight when it comes to her rumored romance with co-star Tom Cruise. The 41-year-old actress, who stars in the franchise's upcoming seventh installment,, responded to the speculation that she and Cruise, 61, have a secret romance during a recent interview. Speaking with, Atwell said she views Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie (aka McQ) as «two uncles,» noting that this makes the subsequent romance rumors between her and Cruise even more uncomfortable. «I would be like, 'Ooh, there’s some weird rumors, and it feels base, it feels a little dirty, it feels grubby, it’s not what I’m about,'» she said.