Tom Cruise made an impassioned speech about cinemagoing from Rome’s Spanish Steps at the world premiere of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”
“There is a community that we are all part of — different cultures and ways of life, we all join together to enjoy cinema,” said Cruise, dressed in a crisp blue suit and wearing aviator shades. “It’s something that I grew up with, that made me and inspired me to dream and want to travel the world.
“My goal since I was little was to make movies and travel. And not just be a tourist, but work in that world and understand their culture. Through my movies, I’ve been able to have that because everyone here has allowed me to entertain them. It’s a privilege that I have never taken for granted. It’s my passion to entertain you, and I will always fight for big theaters and that kind of experience for everyone.”
Cruise also paid tribute to his “Mission: Impossible” director Christopher McQuarrie, calling the helmer his “creative brother.”
“He’s had a hand in every single film I’ve made over the past 16 years,” Cruise declared. “Uncredited, he wrote ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” He’s had a hand in editing and writing every single I’ve ever done. He is my creative brother and an exceptional human being.”
Cruise, who reprises his role as Ethan Hunt in Paramount’s latest tentpole, added: “I want to thank Rome and the city. And also we got to film in Venice, which was extraordinary, during some very difficult times in this country. I dreamed to be coming here and [sharing] it with all of you.”
The seventh installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise was partly filmed in the Italian capital, where the cobblestoned streets provided the perfect pavement for drifting cars burning rubber in numerous hair-raising chases that are likely to go down in action film history. The Spanish Steps, by the Piazza di Spagna, is the setting of a wild car chase involving a massive Hummer chasing a tiny vintage yellow Fiat 500 driven by Cruise and Hayley Atwell, who are handcuffed.
On those very steps, Cruise — who spent the weekend in Rome ahead of the premiere — wooed crowds screaming “Tom! Tom!” on the sunny Monday afternoon.
Cruise came to Italy with director McQuarrie and an ensemble cast of returning talents including Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby on the red carpet. Franchise newcomers Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham and Greg Tarzan Davis were also among those who made the trek to the Eternal City for the launch.
Atwell, who plays thief and agent of chaos Grace, told PvNew during a weekend junket that she trained for months on a race track with stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood for her Rome chase. only after her hardcore training did she arrive in Rome to work alongside Cruise, who was determined to keep the stunts as real as possible.
“I was handcuffed to Tom Cruise, who is in the passenger seat,” Atwell recalled. “Both Wade and Tom said: ‘We want you to go in front of this monument, do some 360 doughnuts, drift in, drift out, dodge cars and keep going.'”
During this feat, Atwell was told that “Tom’s going to be suggesting lines to you [while] he’s going to be acting as Ethan. But he also might give you moments of direction, too. Like: ‘turn left’ or ‘slow down,’” she said.
So Atwell’s challenge, as she was drifting, was to work out: “Is Tom as a producer telling me as Hayley to slow down because something is unsafe? Or is he as Ethan telling Grace to slow down?”
“It was an amazing day,” Atwell noted. After it was over, McQuarrie took her out to lunch and said: ‘Tom put his life in your hands today. That was no small thing,’” she added.
By contrast, Pom Klementieff – who plays the psychopathic villain Paris – didn’t train at all for scenes in which she drives the Hummer in pursuit of the yellow Fiat as it comes darting down the ancient staircase filled with screaming people who are jumping and running.
For Klementieff, the hard part was “not having too much fun doing it,” she said during the junket. “I was trying not to laugh the whole time, because for me it was so funny to be chasing a Fiat [500] … in this crazy Hummer.”
“ I had to tone it down a bit. I had to remember that I’m a villain,” she laughed. But Klementieff also noted “that some of that [irony] is in the movie, of course!”
Paramount’s July 12 U.S. release of “Mission: Impossible 7” – which also shot in England, Abu Dhabi and Norway – was pushed back several times from its original planned 2021 launch date due to pandemic-related setbacks.
In February 2021, the movie was forced to halt production in Italy, days before its planned shoot in Venice, as the country contended with one of the highest COVID death rates in Europe.
“It was an absolute miracle this movie was made in the height of COVID,” said Vanessa Kirby, who in the film reprises her role as the powerful arms dealer White Widow.
“In every city we were in across the world, it was the middle of COVID,” she added. “So it was amazing that they got the system [COVID production protocol] in place — and Tom drove it.”
