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MISSION POSSIBLE
Working on stunts with Tom Cruise is surreal but he makes it so easy, says Hayley Atwell
HAYLEY ATWELL admits making it as Tom Cruise’s co-star in the latest Mission: Impossible film still hasn’t sunk in.
And it’s not surprising. After all, the part was created specially for her and she was told to “make it up as you go along” when it came to her stunts.
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The British actress, 41, even found romance with Tom in real life.
She is now receiving rave reviews for her role as Grace in the seventh instalment of the spy action movie franchise, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, which opens tomorrow.
In an exclusive interview, Hayley said: “I remember we were shooting this scene where I am sitting in a car handcuffed to Tom.
"And I just had this surreal thought, ‘I am in a Mission: Impossible movie with Tom Cruise’. That was my real ‘pinch me’ moment.
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“There was a lot of physical work and there were disciplines I had to learn that I didn’t think I ever would.
“There was stunt work time on a gun range, mixed martial arts and hand-to-hand combat.
“The great thing about Tom is that he finds the very best people in the world at what they do to come and teach you — and that makes it so much easier.”
Hayley and Tom, 61 — one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors — were first named as an item in December 2020.
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Despite a 20-year age gap, they were said to have become “fairly inseparable” after they “hit it off from day one” on the film.
The couple were spotted holding hands at a London film screening and in 2021 spent most of the year together shooting the movie across the UK, as well as in Rome, Venice and Norway.
They attended a number of events together, including the Wimbledon tennis finals in July 2021.
‘Body on the line’
Their relationship marked the actor’s first high-profile romance since his divorce from actress Katie Holmes, 44, in 2012.
But it did not last and Hayley got engaged to British-based artist Ned Wolfgang Kelly after a whirlwind romance in April this year.
She later claimed her relationship with Tom was “platonic” but said she loved all of the cast and crew.
Stars including Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby all appear in the high-octane flick.
Christopher McQuarrie directs the opening film in the two-parter, which follows Tom’s character Ethan Hunt and the IMF agency team as they attempt to track down a deadly technological weapon.
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Fans have already seen footage released of Tom driving a motorcycle off a cliff and plunging 4,000ft into a ravine, separating from the bike and base-jumping the final 500ft to the ground.
Most film bosses would keep amazing scenes like this a secret.
But McQuarrie has packed so many stunts, fights and high-speed chases into the movie that he was not worried about losing the wow factor.
In fact, it was the accomplished director who approached Hayley to give her a part in the film, although her role “wasn’t written” at that stage.
Her relationship with Tom — who is also divorced from Mimi Rogers, 67, and Nicole Kidman, 56 — might well be over but Hayley does not have a bad word to say about him and his acting abilities.
The actress, who splits her time between London and California, revealed: “He is fearless, but so much work goes into him being fearless. Absolutely nothing is left to chance.
“That is why people feel so safe when filming action scenes with him.
“He knows his stuff and then he knows it a little bit more. We all see these amazing Mission: Impossible movies but trust me when I tell you Tom puts his body on the line for fans.
"I don’t know where his level is. I can just see him keep on pushing and pushing it.”
A recording of Tom ranting about Covid breaches on set was leaked to The Sun in December 2020.
But Hayley insisted he puts everyone around him at ease during filming.
She added: “There is probably this level of nervousness for people when working with somebody like Tom because of his level of fame and what he has achieved.
“So what really struck me about him is how comfortable he wants to make everybody feel.
"Not just those on screen, but the runners, those working in wardrobe, those working in lighting.
“It doesn’t matter, if you are part of the project, he places value on you and I think that is why people so quickly warm to him.
“People were even bringing their families to set and he had time for every single one of them. He really is one of the good guys.
“He wants to feel like a family and for everybody to feel part of the team.
“That doesn’t just come across in his work ethic, but with the kindness he treats everybody with.”
In her glowing tribute, Hayley added: “His knowledge is incredible.
‘Still hungry’
“When I refer to him as a one-man studio, I’m not joking.
“There is nothing this man does not know about filmmaking. He is producing and directing at the same time as acting. The commitment is incredible to see.
“He is still so hungry to create cinema that the audience is going to love and hasn’t let his success get to him in any way. I don’t think there has ever been anybody quite like him.
"Long before I knew I would be working on Mission: Impossible, I was a big fan of the franchise and, of course, a huge admirer of both Tom and Chris’s work.”
It isn’t surprising Hayley was destined to be a movie star.
She is the only child of Allison, a British motivational speaker, and Grant, an American photographer. They named her after the actress Hayley Mills.
When she was offered a place at Oxford University to study theology and philosophy she instead decided to pursue her dream of being in theatre.
Hayley went to the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama in central London and made her stage debut in a 2005 production of James Kerr’s translation of the Ancient Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound.
Hayley is best known for her role in Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger, which catapulted her to fame in 2011.
But she has also starred in many period dramas, including 2008 film Brideshead Revisited.
It was on the set of that movie she was asked in a “delicate way, very discreetly, very subtly” to lose weight for the Twenties drama.
Co-star Emma Thompson stepped in and made it clear to movie bosses that it was a ridiculous suggestion.
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Hayley says she gets bored by talk of her weight because she always wanted to be an actor, not a “model”.
And she will surely prove those Hollywood credentials in her biggest role to date, when fans flock to see M:I 7 tomorrow.
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