The Joy of Tossing Ethan Hunt/Tom Cruise Out of Windows: “Well, to me, the fun of the movie is in the same movie having the crazy, larger than life moments and also the incredibly relatable intimate character moments. So part of that stuff, the jumping off the building, the repelling down - which obviously was a nod to the first films - that stuff was for me just part of showing the extreme measures that Ethan has to go to to either pull off a certain mission or rescue the woman he loves. It’s classic old school physical thrills, but those don’t really thrill us anymore unless we have characters that we relate to. So the goal was to try and do both.”
Why Mess With Success?: There’s a romantic interest this time around and we see more of Ethan Hunt’s home life. Abrams said that’s because, in part, he didn’t want to copy the first two movies. “What I thought was, my dream version of Mission Impossible still hadn’t gotten made,” said Abrams, “which was a version that allowed us to see who these characters were as people, not just as spies. I loved the idea of exploring what does it look like when Ethan Hunt goes home? Not just what does his home look like, but who’s there? If there’s a woman in his life, does she know what he does? My guess is no. And if not, how does he live with himself betraying this woman? He must know these two worlds are going to collide. It’s going to happen. So that became one of the themes of the movie.
It was not a question of messing with success. I actually felt that the first two films, for me, would have been even better had they spent some time investing in the characters and the people. In a movie like Jaws, when Roy Scheider is sitting at the table and his kid is mimicking him and his wife, Lorraine Gary, is watching. You could have lost that scene from that movie I suppose and told the same story, but it wouldn’t have allowed you to invest in the people as much as you do. And that’s my favorite thing that the great blockbuster type movies have done which is yeah, they have the thrills and the action, but the critical thing is investment in character.”
The Tom Cruise Publicity Machine: Does Abrams think the film is helped or hampered by all the publicity surrounding the film’s star, Tom Cruise? Abrams said, “In terms of Tom’s publicity, I’m sure you can find evidence that any publicity is good publicity and also find evidence equally valid that having him go on Oprah is not a good thing for him. You could probably find anything to support a point of view, but my feeling is that what I control, what I can do is try and make a movie that’s entertaining and hopefully one that you leave the theater feeling better and more empowered than you did when you got there. So I’m hoping that, and I believe that the audiences who will see this film are smart enough to differentiate the two - the actor and the character.
I think that finally that the opening sequence of the movie is very purposefully shocking and terrifying. I want them to see this character as vulnerable and as frightened as he’s ever been. It wasn’t because of any publicity stuff, it was because just simply having Tom Cruise in a movie, he’s such an icon that I want from the very beginning of the movie not to have him playing a cool guy, but rather having him play an absolutely vulnerable, relatable man who we relate to.
I’ve got to tell you, knowing Tom as well as I do, I see every day who this guy is as a real person. He is funny and he is self-deprecating and he’s smart and he’s easygoing and he’s kind, not just to me but to everyone who worked on the crew. He’s a good person. So I wanted to see a little bit less of an icon and a little bit more of us, of the everyman in this character and I think the audiences will see that.”
Page 3: The Difficulties of Filming MI3, the Season Finale of Lost, and an Alias Movie
