STACK #229 November 2023

MOVIE FEATURE

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Actors who perform their own stunts Tom Cruise From scaling the highest buildings in the world to clutching the side of aeroplanes and driving his motorcycle off a 4000-foot drop, Tom Cruise might be the GOAT of DIY blockbuster action.

Harrison Ford Scaling train tops and leaping from army tanks is all in a day’s work for Harrison Ford, who has many injuries and scars to show for it.

Charlize Theron The Atomic Blonde and Mad Max: Fury Road star has the hospital bills to show for her incredible work on screen. Cracked teeth, torn muscles, and slipped discs all feature on Charlize’s medical records.

With the iconic Opera House as a backdrop, we sat down with director Christopher McQuarrie and actors Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, and Pom Klementieff to discuss the latest instalment of the ever-enduring Mission: Impossible franchise. Words Glenn Cochrane

Jackie Chan Jackie Chan has slid down the sides of skyscrapers, been dragged behind buses, and rolled through flaming coals, earning himself a reputation as one of the greatest living action stars.

”Chris McQuarrie had come to see me in a play in London ten years ago, and took me out for dinner,” explains Atwell of how she met the filmmaking luminary. ”He said, ’I want to work with you, I just don’t know what the character or the story is yet.’ And I’d met Tom several times through screen tests and through a mutual friend. So I didn’t really come on feeling like I was a newbie. It felt like a natural progression of the conversation.” As for French actress Klementieff, she plays an assassin assigned to kill central character Ethan Hunt and Atwell’s Grace, and her character comes from the classic school of cinematic villainy. ”I was inspired by so many performances for my character, who doesn’t speak a lot,” she says. ”I was watching lots of movies with Clint Eastwood, with Steve McQueen, with Takeshi Kitano,” she adds enthusiastically. ”I was watching so many different movies - action movies, French movies - and then I got to do a lot of improvisation as well.” Pegg interjects, clearly in awe

”W hen I was on Mission: ’McQ’, as we call him,” says Simon Pegg. ”When he joined on part five, it felt like there was a creative partnership happening, and that’s only gotten more advanced and effective as it’s gone on.” The partnership Pegg refers to between Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise has become the stuff of Hollywood legend, the pair having made Valkyrie (2008), two Jack Reacher films, Edge of Tomorrow (2014), The Mummy (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022) together. They’ve become synonymous with staging death-defying stunts and breathtaking action, which reach a peak in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One . ”We talk about stunts over a very long Impossible - Ghost Protocol [2011], McQuarrie came in – or

period of time,” McQuarrie explains when asked if he and Tom have a little black book of antics they’d love to film. ”We have ideas that we’ll entertain and figure out somewhere down the road. Other things, like the motorcycle jump in this one – you can feel in other movies where we’ve sort of been rehearsing for this idea.” The ensemble cast features a bunch

of kick-ass women, who deliver some of the best action that the franchise has ever seen. Joining

of his co-star: ”Pom’s character says more with a little sniff than a lot of characters will say with a monologue. There’s this one scene where the camera closes in on her and she just gives a dismissive sniff. I love it, I love it!”

M:I stalwarts Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby are Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff, both of whom hail from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is out Nov 1

10 NOVEMBER 2023

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