Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was recently released in theatres and along with deadlier stunts than ever it brought some new faces to the franchise. This includes Hayley Atwell is known for her work as Agent Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, getting to work with a superstar like Tom Cruise is a big deal and Hayley Atwell understood what all the hype is about.
While Tom Cruise is an exceptional actor whose talent knows no bounds, people do wonder how he is in real life. There are many stories about the actor going out of his way for strangers and treating his fans with the utmost respect. Well, if you still have doubts about Tom Cruise’s nice guy persona, Hayley Atwell’s experience working with him will clear them all up.
Hayley Atwell Talks about Tom Cruise’s Kindness
Speaking with Yahoo! Lifestyle, Hayley Atwell opened up about what it was like working with Tom Cruise and what the actor’s personality is like in real life. She stated that he’s funny, self-aware, and does not let fame get to his head.
“He’s so funny and self-aware and disarming about his own fame, and he goes out of his way to make people feel really comfortable.”
Atwell then recalled how Cruise went out of his way for her grandmother as he took her for a helicopter ride over London on Christmas Eve. The actress believes it is important for people to hear the stories of his generosity on set.
“He was so kind to my family and other cast members’ families. He took my grandmother on a helicopter ride on Christmas Eve over London. That’s pretty amazing. People don’t often hear those kinds of stories of how generous and kind he is off off-screen.”
The Captain America actress then gushed on about Cruise made her feel comfortable thanks to his welcoming nature. Despite being a newcomer to the Mission: Impossible franchise, Atwell stated that Cruise’s kindness toward her allowed her to do her job to the best of her ability.
“I think that he knows that if you’re creating an environment where people feel seen, they feel like it’s a welcoming one, it’s a wholesome one because friends and family are welcome. And in that world, it’s going to provide an environment where people really feel creatively free. And I so appreciated that, stepping into something of this kind of scale and size and ambition, having his kindness alongside that enabled me to work better.”
So there you have it. The many stories you might have heard about Cruise’s generous and kind spirit are true after all.
Atwell and Cruise were rumored to be in a relationship with each other which the actress shut down in an interview with The Independent. She stated that it felt “a little dirty” when people made baseless assumptions about her relationships with her colleague or boss.
How Tom Cruise Inspired Hayley Atwell
We are all aware of the fact that Cruise performs his own stunts for his films, no matter how dangerous they may be. For Dead Reckoning Part One itself, the actor rode a bike off a cliff putting his BASE jumping skills on full display. This is considered to be the most dangerous stunt of his career yet.
Not many can do what Cruise does but he managed to inspire Atwell to perform her own stunts in the film. In an interview with Parade, the actress talked about how she worked with stunt choreographer, Wade Eastwood, for her screen test.
“I do all my own stunts in the movie. The audition part of the screen test was for me to work with Wade Eastwood, the stunt choreographer. I worked with him for about two hours where he was testing my natural talent, fitness levels and coordination when it came to unarmed combat.”
On how Cruise proved to be an inspiration for her, Atwell stated,
“Tom is such a disciplined athlete. He’s very specific, he’s adamant about the health and safety protocols on set and making sure that there is a lot of communication and a lot of preparation that goes into these stunts so that they are done competently. And not only being able to do it once or twice, but multiple times from multiple angles, for multiple takes. And in different ways.
He was very inspiring in that way and so it meant that I was with a team of world-class trainers and athletes, real experts in their fields, from kickboxing champions to Olympic winners. That meant that I had the same discipline and work ethic that I saw he had, which is to educate yourself on as much as you want.”
Atwell spent five months in training as she drifted across the streets of Rome. She also recalled how being surrounded by the beautiful city, her team, journalists, and Cruise’s fans upped the pressure so much that she had to remember to calm her nerves.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is currently in theatres.
Source: Yahoo! Lifestyle; Parade
