Spoiler Alert: This article contains some spoilers for ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
Opening in theaters on May 23rd is the final ‘Mission: Impossible’ film entitled ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning‘, which is once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie (‘Jack Reacher’) and stars Tom Cruise (‘Top Gun’).
In addition to Cruise, the movie features returning franchise actors Hayley Atwell (‘Captain America: The First Avenger’), Ving Rhames (‘Pulp Fiction’), Simon Pegg (‘Star Trek’), Pom Klementieff (‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’), Angela Bassett (‘Black Panther’), Shea Whigham (‘Joker’), Greg Tarzan Davis (‘Top Gun: Maverick’), Henry Czerny (‘Scream VI’), and Esai Morales (‘La Bamba’).
Also returning to the franchise is actor Rolf Saxon (‘Saving Private Ryan’), who played William Donloe in 1996’s ‘Mission: Impossible’. He was the CIA analyst that Ethan Hunt (Cruise) stole the NOC list from in that famous scene from the first movie.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Rolf Saxon about his work on ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’. The actor discussed returning to the franchise, his character’s pivotal role in the story, how the script changed on set, creating his backstory, reuniting with Tom Cruise, how he was cast in the original, what it was like appearing in that film’s iconic scene, his admiration for the legacy of the franchise and Cruise’s stunt work, and what it means to him to be part of one of the most popular franchises in cinematic history.
Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’
Moviefone: To begin with, how did you find out that you would be returning for ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ and were you surprised to get a call 30 years after filming the first movie?
Rolf Saxon: Honestly, I thought it was a joke. I thought a friend of mine in Scotland was winding me up. Suddenly, I get an email to meet Christopher McQuarrie, and I see the address and I think, “Oh, that’s good, man. I’m going to owe you big time on this one, dude.” So, I’m in a t-shirt with a glass of wine and McQuarrie comes up and it’s like, “What? Wait, what?” I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it. It was insane. He offered me the job within about three minutes, and he spent the next hour telling me what he thought. I couldn’t even joke about, “Oh, let me think about it, Chris. I might do this. I might not.” I just went for it. I thought it was a joke, and it wasn’t. So, I’m still having difficulty with this. No kidding. I had two lines, maybe three minutes on screen in the first movie and suddenly I’m doing this. Unbelievable.
MF: When it was announced that you would be returning, many thought it would be just a cameo, but your character plays a pivotal role in the story of the film. Was it always designed to be like that or did your part grow through production?
RS: Two things. One, Chris works in a very improvisational way. When I first came on board, it was a very different concept. Not hugely, I mean, it was still the same thing, but the way I was introduced was one way when we started filming, and then they decided to change an integral part of the story structure. So, that had to be readjusted. With that came a further readjustment. I was put in act three of the film. Again, this job has been like that for me. It’s like, “Wait, what? Seriously are you winding me up now? Is this a joke?” With Chris, I realized very soon, he doesn’t joke about stuff like that ever. Never. So, when he says something like that, it’s like, “This is wonderful.” I mean, I don’t know what his original concept of it was, to be honest with you. There was no script that I could read. It was just what he was telling me. That’s what I was going on. Then, as I said, we started filming it, and then we changed it. He then said, “We’re going to do something here and there, and we’re going to do this now.”
MF: A lot of time has passed since the last time we saw your character, and some of that is explained in the movie but did you create a backstory for yourself so you would understand how he got to this point in his life?
RS: Christopher was clear on what he wanted. As an actor, when one gets that kind of direction, it’s up to us to sort through that. Because of this, the energy and the positivity that’s around that just permeated that set. When someone said something like that, instead of like, “How am I going to do this?” It’s like, “Okay, this is cool. This is great.” It’s much more proactive. You’re not on the back foot so much, you’re on the front foot. I love that and that wasn’t a fluke that from day one to the last day for me was like that. So yeah, we worked, Chris and I talked a lot about what it was going to be, and then Lucy (Tulugarjuk) came on board. When she came on board, we did some more chatting about it. Then it was just a matter of making it work with what he was presenting us.
MF: You had only one scene with both Henry Czerny and Tom Cruise in the first movie, but you didn’t have any speaking lines in those scenes. What was it like to reunite with both of those actors on this movie and get to act opposite them this time around?
RS: Yeah, it was great. I mean, to get to act with Tom Cruise, again, it sounds a little bit fan-like, but it was brilliant, man. I mean, it was great. He brings, again, an energy and a positive focus that, there’s only one Tom Cruise. That’s it. There’s a reason for that. I got to experience it, which was wonderful. Henry, I met on set, but before we started working together, and it’s the first time I’d seen him in 30 years, I walked up to him and I said, “Hey, listen, I just want to say, no hard feelings.” He looked at me, and then he just started laughing. He’s got a great sense of humor. We’ve been tight since then. I mean, we get on very well. He’s a lot of fun.
MF: Can you talk about the first time you saw Tom Cruise again after all these years? Did he thank you for returning to the franchise?
RS: The first day I was brought on set just outside of London, to the studio. I was brought on just to see the set because there were two sound stages they were using. One of them was for a tunnel sequence that they had rebuilt where Luther (Ving Rhames) was working in that room. I was brought on to see it, meet a couple of heads of department and stuff. I came in around this corner and through this room, and there was Tom, the heads of department, and Christopher McQuarrie. I got this big round of applause, and Tom came up and hugged me. Simon Pegg was also there, who I’ve known for many years ago. I was made to feel so welcome immediately on the set. Tom just said, “Anything you need, let me know.” He’s not a warm and fuzzy kind of guy. He’s not that kind of Californian thing, but boy, he’s a hundred percent there.
MF: Can you talk about how you were cast in the first ‘Mission: Impossible’? Did you audition for director Brian De Palma?
RS: I was doing a David Mamet play, a tour. We’d done a theater, and it was very successful. So, we went on tour with it. I got a phone call from my agent saying they want to set up an audition for this movie. Tom Cruise is going to do ‘Mission: Impossible’. I said, “Like the TV series? This is going to be interesting.” So, I took a three-hour train ride and met them at Pinewood Studios. Brian (De Palma) was working at the time, so there was a little bit of a delay, and I had to be back for the curtain that night. So, I went in, I was there with him for about three minutes, and that was it. As I walked out, I turned to the casting director, and I said, “Well, that was a waste of time.” She said, “No, you were in there longer than anybody else. I think he really liked you.” I thought, “Yeah, right. Thanks. Appreciate it.” So, I got on the train back three hours just in time for the half hour call, and I got a message saying, “Phone your agent.” And I thought, “Oh, that’s cool. Okay.” So, I did the show. The next morning, I called my agent and he said, “Yeah, they’ve offered you the job. They want you to do it.” I said, “You’re kidding.” I was doing another film, a much better part, but they said they were going to work around it. So, I thought, “Okay, cool.” Of course, that film has completely disappeared. It’s funny how things work. That’s how I got that one. Again, this job has been like that from the get-go. A constant series of surprises, and very pleasant ones.
MF: The scene from the first film where Ethan Hunt is stealing the NOC list and Tom Cruise is hanging from the ceiling above you has become one of the most popular scenes in cinematic history. How has it felt over the years to know you were part of such an iconic movie moment?
RS: Well, I’ll be honest with you, Jami. I had no idea of this. I mean, I saw myself in the movie, I’m critical of things I do. So, some of it I like, some of it I didn’t like. I’ve seen it, and all my friends and family say, “Oh, you’re brilliant.” They’re your friends and your family, what are they going to say, you stink? No. So, McQuarrie said what you’re saying, and I thought he was blowing smoke. When I came to London, I was in a hotel. I met a guy, I didn’t know him, but I could tell he was American. So, I said, “Hey, how are you doing?” We chatted for 30 seconds on an elevator ride, and then I didn’t see him again for a couple of days. The next time I saw him was on the set for ‘Mission: Impossible’. It was Greg Tarzan Davis. He looked at me and pointed and said, “Oh, my gosh, you are William Donloe.” Christopher was standing behind him. I thought, again, between the two of them, they’d worked this out. Tarzan said, “No, man. I suddenly realized you’re the guy.” He said, “You looked a little familiar. But I thought, it was just me.” He said, “That is a great scene. Everybody knows it.” To be honest with you, I still find that difficult to believe, the fact that I’m in it. It’s more to do with what Tom’s doing and the film, I’m in the background of it. So, while I am part of it, it’s a tiny little part. I’m ecstatic about it. Don’t get me wrong. I love being a part of it. It brought me back. So yeah, I’m very happy.
MF: What is your opinion of the direction the series has gone in since the first film, and Tom Cruise’s incredible dedication to the stunt work?
RS: I’ll be honest, this is not my genre of film. I’ve watched every single one of them. I watched the second one because I was in the first one. But it became very much, “I love these.” I love these films. They’re great fun. This is not my normal genre, what I normally watch. So, that says for me how good they are. I’m not someone who gravitates to this kind of thing, and I love them. I watch them as soon as they come out. What I think of the franchise, it’s grown and grown. I mean, when we did the first one, it was a gamble. Tom was taking a big chance, and it paid off. That’s before he was the Tom Cruise he is now. That could have failed. So, because of him and his guiding, and especially when Chris came on, I think the last four films, they’ve got a working relationship that just gets bigger and bigger. Technology has improved. They do amazing things with technology, except the stunts. There’s no technology there. There’s none. That’s all him. That, I think, is one of the major selling points of the film. You’re seeing a human being doing everything that he does. I mean, I wouldn’t train to do those stunts. No way. I have friends who are stunt performers, and one of them who is American guy, he’s been doing it for a long time, and he said he’s never met any stunt person who has a sense of physical space the way Tom Cruise does. He doesn’t get excited, or nervous. He gets problem-solving. He said, “I’ve never seen anybody do anything the way he’s doing this.” I thought, “Well, it makes perfect sense.” But stunts can go wrong, and stunts have gone wrong with him. He’s broken bones. He’s injured himself, but he’s never come close to dying. That is a mark of, I think, how good he is at this and his team around him. He gets the best in the world. He can do that, and it works.
MF: Finally, you were in the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ and now you’re in the last. What does it mean to you personally to have been a part of one the most popular film franchises of all time?
5AaefAclQbFxKKldaHR185RS: Again, it’s a gift. This from the outset has been a gift, an unknown gift in the beginning. I mean, this kind of thing, I suppose someone like Tom can do this kind of thing as an actor. He can say, “This is what I want to do,” but to be able to do that is a whole other thing. This was presented to me on a platter. I am fortunate that I’m the one it was presented to. Do you know what I mean? I spend a long-time perfecting what I do as best I can. So, when something like this comes up, hopefully I can do it. But the right place, the right time kind of thing comes to mind. I’ve had a lucky career. I’ve been very lucky. I’ve done many things that I’ve been gifted for. But this has got to be at the top. This is great.
What is the plot of ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’?
Following the events of ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning,’ Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team must stop the villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales) from gaining control of the powerful sentient AI known as the Entity, which has plans of its own for the world.
Who is in the cast of ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’?
- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
- Hayley Atwell as Grace
- Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
- Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn
- Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge
- Angela Bassett as President Erika Sloane
- Esai Morales as Gabriel
- Pom Klementieff as Paris
- Holt McCallany as Serling
- Janet McTeer as Walters
- Nick Offerman as General Sydney
- Hannah Waddingham as Admiral Neely
- Shea Whigham as Jasper Briggs
- Greg Tarzan Davis as Degas
- Tramell Tillman as Captain Bledsoe
List of Movies and TV Shows in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ Franchise:
- ‘Mission: Impossible‘ (1966 – 1973)
- ‘Mission: Impossible‘ (1991)
- ‘Mission: Impossible‘ (1996)
- ‘Mission: Impossible II‘ (2000)
- ‘Mission: Impossible III‘ (2006)
- ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘ (2011)
- ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation‘ (2015)
- ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘ (2018)
- ‘Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One‘ (2023)
- ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning‘ (2025)
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