Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill: Enemies in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

By: Lynn Barker

In the new action/thriller Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Impossible Mission Forces’ Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and team join forces with CIA assassin August Walker (Superman Henry Cavill) to prevent a mega-disaster. Arms dealers and a group of terrorists known as the Apostles plan to use three plutonium cores for a simultaneous nuclear attack on the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The weapons go missing and it’s up to  Ethan and his crew find them and race against time to prevent the ultimate disaster.

Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill got together to talk about their amazing stunts and adversarial "frenemies" relationship in the new film. Tom, as usual, did his own risky stunts in the movie and Henry, used to stunts against a green screen for his Superman portrayals, was challenged to do the same. Check out their comments on this high octane film!

Q: Henry were you a fan of all the Mission Impossible films?

• Henry: I think I’ve always been a fan of the Mission Impossible films. It’s the kind of movie where, when it’s run at the cinema, that’s the one you go watch because you know it’s going to be a good ride regardless. It’s a spy movie but set contemporary and it’s realistic. There are some gadgets in there which might be a stretch of the imagination but it’s entirely feasible. Everyone loves that and I’ve always been a fan.

Q: Tom, were you a fan of the TV “Mission Impossible” series growing up?

• Tom: I loved the TV series growing up. I loved the music. To be able to take it from a Cold War series (in the 1960’s) and make a film and bring in to modern audiences in the cinema is great and without a doubt one of the most challenging films to make. The sequences are about practical (on set) action. We want to create movies that are elegant and entertaining and gripping and use all of our skills as filmmakers. It’s hard work but exhilarating for everyone.

Q: Henry, talk about your character August Walker.

• Henry: The character I play is a member of the CIA. He’s the Director of the CIA.’s number one assassin. He’s a cleaner. He goes in a takes out people you can’t capture. He’s rather notorious within the CIA.  The way the IMF (Impossible Mission Forces) and Ethan Hunt look at him is he’s the enemy because he’s being forced on the team by Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett), the Director of the CIA. so he just plays along with that. He plays the nice guy. ‘I’m just doing my job.’

Q: How does Walker feel about Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt?

• Henry: I think Walker has watched Ethan from afar. He’s one of the top guys in this very strange section of the CIA., the Impossible Missions Forces and obviously knows Hunt has ability but thinks of him as someone who doesn’t have what it takes to do the necessary things. He puts too many people and things at risk because he has a moral code which is too strict.

Q: Tom, have Ethan Hunt and his team changed since the last film? 

• Tom: The journey that Ethan and his team go through is an odyssey and definitely inspired by the story. It’s an epic tale. It’s a personal tale. There are incredibly huge emotional stakes for the characters.

Q: What is different about this new “Mission”?

• Tom: “Mission” is a tougher “Mission”. It’s not less entertaining. I think we pulled out all the stops. All the “Missions” have led to this one. I love the toughness of the movie and characters. We talked about emotions in this one. It is the culmination of all the “Missions”.

Q: Who is on the IMF team this time around?

• Tom: It’s Rebecca Ferguson who plays Ilsa but the core team is Simon (Pegg), myself and Ving (Rhames) and Alec Baldwin as the Secretary of the IMF.

Q: Henry, did you have to train for the stunts in the film?

• Henry: I’ve been training with Wade Eastwood (2^nd Unit Director) and his stunt team. They are a very talented bunch. I’ve made friends with a lot of them throughout the process and been doing a lot of fight stuff with them. On this movie I’ve done stunts which I haven’t done before. They’ve been teaching and training me on the basics of each stunt. This is definitely more involved than what I’ve done before. That was hanging on a wire with a green screen (for his Superman role).  When you’re hanging on a wire over a 1,900 foot cliff, (he laughs) it’s a little different. It feels different or if you’re hanging out of a helicopter in New Zealand in the winter it’s different rather than just doing it on a stage. It’s at least partially real and the danger is real. Mission is famous for the actors doing their stunts. They let me do it and I loved it. It’s been an incredible experience.

Q: Was there a stunt that was particularly scary or hard for you?

• Henry: The one that comes to mind is the helicopter in New Zealand. Winter there is chilly and we were flying over glaciers and stuff. You think you’re in a helicopter, you are indoors-ish but, the doors are open and I’m leaning out of them most of the time. I think (the temperature) got down to minus 15! Flying through glaciers and canyons while being chased by another helicopter twenty feet away and firing a machine gun out the door was every boy’s dream. I want to grow up and be G.I. Joe basically. Tom is flying his own copter and it’s amazing what he does. The training he’s gone through to fly a helicopter is extensive.

Q: So Tom, you fly a helicopter now?

• Tom: Yeah. I went to Airbus and trained at their facility in Dallas, Texas. I wanted to fly the Airbus helicopter. They call it “the Squirrel”. When I’m flying I’m acting and setting the frame for the camera. Flying low, close to mountains or the ground. There was a lot of resistance to me doing this stunt. It’s never been done before the way we wanted to do it. Everyone wants to make sure it will be safe. I made the pros put me through my paces and test me (as a pilot). Like everything in “Mission”, every day was filled with adrenalin.

Q: Henry, tell us about more of your stunt action.

• Henry: Another stunt that comes to mind was Pulpit Rock in Norway which is about 1,800 feet and the weird thing about that is you’re standing up there and you realize how high it is and you’re walking off the cliff backward. It’s so high and so shear that it doesn’t look real. It looks like a painting from up there so I didn’t feel quite as bad until you are hanging down there while they are discussing the shot and the wind starts to pick up and you feel yourself blowing from side to side. ‘I really hope this stuff holds’. That was good fun. I loved that.

Q: Did Walker have a different fight style than Ethan Hunt?

• Henry: We wanted to make it different from Hunt. He’s an assassin and knows how to fight but his strengths lie more in brutality and a brawler style. It’s fight to kill, fight to completely disable so you can kill.

Q: So what was it like to perform stunts with Tom Cruise?

• Henry: He’s obviously very experienced and performing stunts with Tom is a cool thing to be able to say. He knows the angles. He knows what works. He knows that he has to do his part of the stunt and I do mine. From that, you end up with a winning formula.

Q: Okay Tom, your turn. Talk about working with Henry.

• Tom: Henry was so helpful and so professional throughout. I get to work with people I really respect and want to work with. I’ve enjoyed his work in the past ‘This guy is really talented’. He came to this film and really brought it. He is pulling no punches, not holding anything back and he was very committed. As he said, the things he had to do in that helicopter…it was freezing. It was extreme and he just went for it.

Q: Simon Pegg is a fan fave. Talk about him, Tom.

• Tom: We had him on MI3. I had seen him in Shaun of the Dead and said ‘This guy is fantastic!’ He came in a did a day or two in MI3 and look at the progression of his character. We wanted to bring him back.

Q: Talk about the international locations.

• Tom: It’s a love letter to Paris and London, beautiful locations in Norway, India. We shot the helicopter sequence in New Zealand. Beautiful country. The scope of the film is enormous and the story warrants that.

Q: You always do your stunts and they are dangerous. Talk about that.

• Tom: We like to do things practically (in camera without SPFX). How can we immerse an audience in an environment? I always push myself to use my physical ability. It does make a difference. Even our trailers have a different look, a different vibe.

Q: You performed what is called a HALO jump. What is that?

• Tom: A HALO jump is high altitude low opening. You jump out high and open (the chute) very low. This sequence takes place over Paris. We’re like 35,000 feet and we open just above (the ground). We do that so the aircraft we’re in looks like a commercial airliner (way up there) so they don’t know we are military. I was skydiving and I had to land within three feet of the camera lens (to stay in focus). I had extreme training in sky diving. It’s very technical, dangerous and grueling. I do all my stunts so I was constantly training. It challenged all of us. We were all so proud of what we accomplished.

Q: You broke your ankle making this? How?

• Tom: The foot break. That was intense. I have a cable above me and a cable in case I fall. I hit and had to run as fast as I can and I hit the wall and looked down and aaagh. I kept climbing over the wall just to get past camera. I knew instantly it was broken. I called the guys over ‘I’m sorry. It’s a wrap. I broke my ankle’. They’re like “Well how do you know?’ “I just know I broke it. Let’s get me to a hospital’. In ten weeks I was able to start running again.

Q: Henry, describe your overall experience making this film?

• Henry: It’s been a real journey and what I like most about it is that despite the long hours and hard work, everyone has kept a wonderful personality throughout. It’s a great thing to be a part of. I think this is going to be the best one yet and I look forward to watching the movie myself.

See Mission: Impossible - Fallout in theaters Friday, July 27^th!

 

Have Your Say

Have you watched all of most of the Mission Impossible movies? Are you a Tom Cruise or Henry Cavill fan? Would you be up for doing your own stunts making a film? “Cruise” on in with a comment.