A ‘Typical Tom Cruise Day’ In Cannes

Three
decades
and
seven
films
after
the
first

Mission:
Impossible
blockbuster
in
1996,

Tom
Cruise,
now
62,
returns
with
yet
another
installment
in
the
franchise,

Mission:
Impossible
–
The
Final
Reckoning.

His
co-stars
have
much
to
say
about
him:

Hayley
Atwell
calls
Cruise
a
one-man
studio,
Greg
Tarzan
Davis
says
the
man
is
film-making
school
in
himself,
Simon
Pegg
remembers
when
they
went
feeding
sharks,
Esai
Morales
recalls
the
energy
he
brings
to
every
frame
and
Angela
Bassett
just
loves
to
see
him
run.

Cruise
has
not
only
headlined
the
series
as
Ethan
Hunt,
the
American
spy
out
to
kill
the
baddies
and
save
the
world,
but
has
also
redefined
what
it
means
to
be
an
action
star.
He
has
been
battered,
broken
many
bones
and
still
insisted
on
doing
his
own
stunts.

Hayley
Atwell
plays
Cruise’s
ally
Grace,
and
says
he
is
never
just
an
actor
on
set.
He
is
many
things.

“I
think
it
is
his
ability,
how
to
be
spatially
aware
and
how
he
can
be
focused
very
intensely
in
the
scene.
But
you
also
know
that
he
can
see
through
the
lens
what
is
picking
up
on
the
camera,”
Atwell
told
PTI
in
a
virtual
interview.

“He
knows
where
the
focus
puller
is.
He
knows
what
the
lighting
is
doing.
If
someone
sneezes
at
the
back
of
the
set,
he’ll
bless
them
and
ask
them
if
they
are
okay.
He
has
the
ability
to
be
an
actor,
a
producer,
a
writer,
a
director,
a
lighting
designer,
a
focus
puller
and
a
cameraman
all
at
the
same
time,”
she
said.

Cruise,
who
debuted
as
Hunt
in
Brian
De
Palma’s

Mission:
Impossible,
has
almost
written
himself
into
legend
in
his
subsequent
turns
as
the
spy,
giving
audiences
a
cinematic
experience
in
all
MI
movies
since.

He
has
taken
the
art
of
performing
stunts
to
an
unknown
level
—
jumping
from
one
building
to
another
in

Mission:
Impossible
III
(2006),
scaling
the
Burj
Khalifa
in
2011’s

Ghost
Protocol,
hanging
off
a
flying
plane
in

Rogue
Nation
(2015)
or
riding
a
motorcycle
off
a
cliff
in
the
previous
entry

Dead
Reckoning
(2023).

In

Final
Reckoning,
speculated
to
be
his

Mission
Impossible
swansong,
Cruise
has
pulled
off
some
more
daring
stunts,
including
one
where
he
hangs
from
the
wing
of
a
plane.

“He
was
up
there
piloting
the
plane
himself
obviously,
and
he
was
performing
on
the
wing.
And
he’s
the
only
one
really
who
can
be
aware
of
what
the
camera’s
going
to
pick
up
and
where
the
light’s
going
to
be
and
how
much
he
needs
to
kind
of
position
himself
so
that
the
camera
can
see
his
performance,”
Atwell
said.

“So
that
feels
very
Tom
Cruise
to
me.
He’s
a
one
man
studio,”
she
added.

Simon
Pegg,
who
has
been
a
regular
in
the
franchise
as
tech
genius
Benji
Dunn
since

Mission:
Impossible
III,
recalled
the
time
the
cast
was
shooting
in
South
Africa.

“We
were
doing
a
drive
up
this
big
long
road
and
the
helicopter
would
follow
up
the
road
filming
us
and
then
we’d
get
to
the
top
and
we’d
all
jump
in
the
helicopter
and
Tom
would
fly
us
back
down…
And
then
we’d
do
the
shot
again,”
he
said.

The
actor
said
they
tried
the
shot
six
times
and
Cruise
flew
them
down
every
time.

“We
got
the
shot
and
we
had
a
little
bit
of
time
left
in
the
day
and
Tom
said,
‘Hey,
do
you
want
to
go
diving
with
sharks?’

“And
we
said
sure.
And
so
we
all
got
in
the
helicopter
with
Tom.
We
went
out
to
the
coast
and
the
next
thing
we
knew
it
was
me,
Pom
(Klementieff),
Tarzan,
Hailey
and
Tom
all
in
a
cage,
feeding
these
giant
eight
foot
copperhead
sharks.
That
is
a
typical
Tom
Cruise
day.”

Angela
Bassett
first
worked
with
Cruise
on
the
sixth
movie

Fallout
in
2018,
playing
CIA
deputy
director
Erika
Sloane.
She
returns
for
0Final
Reckoning,
but
this
time
as
the
US
president.

In
both
movies,
Bassett
said
she
would
always
look
forward
to
Cruise’s
running
sequences
that
have
also
become
a
signature
of
the
franchise.

“On
set,
I
remember
seeing
the
movie
or
seeing
all
his
movies
and
commenting,
‘Boy,
that
guy
can
run.’
I
know
they’re
all
the
big
crazy
stunts
that
he
does
but
I
really
just
love
to
see
him
sprint
nonstop,”
she
said.

Her
off-stage
memory
of
Cruise
is
watching
him
dance.

“We
know
he’s
a
pretty
good
dancer,
a
good
dance
partner.
So
his
birthday
occurred
while
we
were
working
and
we
were
able
to
get
him
to
give
us
a
few
steps
here
and
there.”

Esai
Morales,
who
plays
the
villain
Gabriel
in

Final
Reckoning,
said
he
is
in
awe
of
the
Hollywood
superstar
as
well
as
Director
Christopher
McQuarrie,
who
has
helmed
all
the
four
instalments
since

Rogue
Nation.

“There’s
nothing
they
won’t
tackle.
There’s
nothing
they
won’t
consider
at
least,
to
bring
joy
and
thrills
to
their
audiences,”
he
says.

Ethan
Hunt
is
now
older
and
weather-beaten,
and
just
as
compelling.

According
to
Morales,
the

MI
franchise
sees
Hunt
evolve.

“You
see
him
from
this
cheeky
young
agent.
If
you
go
back
and
see,
he
is
literally
cheeky.
He
is
like
a
kid
in
the
beginning
of
this…
Into
this
weathered
person.
Every
line
in
your
face
is
a
story.”

He
also
remembered
the
time
Cruise
screened
a
behind-the-scenes
promo
for
the
cast.

“It’s
nice
to
have
a
dinner
party.
And
then
he
said,
‘I’ve
got
a
surprise
for
you.’
And
we
watched
this
massive
screen
and
at
the
end
of
this,
you
see
this
little
boy
emerge
from
him.
He
would
go
like,
‘Isn’t
that
great?’
And
it’s
so
infectious
and
you
really
see
that
these
folks
live
for
their
audiences.
They
live
to
entertain
and
hopefully
enlighten,
but
mostly
entertain.”

Greg
Tarzan
Davis,
who
also
starred
in
Cruise’s
2022
blockbuster

Top
Gun:
Maverick,
said
the
superstar
always
puts
his
best
foot
forward.

“He
demands
a
certain
type
of
excellence
and
hard
work.
And
it
was
cool
to
be
able
to
see
it
through
both
projects.
He
embraces
the
fandom
and
what
the
audience
wants
to
see
and
he
gives
his
all
to
it.

“What
I
learned
from
him
is
understanding
how
the
audience
views
film
and
storytelling.
I’m
looking
forward
to
taking
all
the
knowledge
of
this
Tom
Cruise
School
of
Filmmaking
and
applying
it
to
my
own
projects
in
the
future,”
he
told
PTI.

Mission:
Impossible
–
Final
Reckoning,
directed
by
McQuarrie
and
co-produced
by
Cruise,
will
release
in
India
on
May
17.

Among
those
who
attended
the
red
carpet

MI
premiere
were

Eva
Longoria.

Halle
Berry
is
a
jury
member
at
the
festival.

Zoe
Saldana,
who
starred
in
2006’s

Mission
Impossible
III,
arrives
with
husband

Marco
Perego.

Heidi
Klum.

Andie
MacDowell,

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff