Simon Pegg insists Tom Cruise's stunts are not 'reckless'
'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' star Simon Pegg has insisted Tom Cruise is never "reckless" when it comes to his movie stunts - revealing the actor is "never afraid" but he's "calculated" and has "trained really hard".
Simon Pegg has insisted Tom Cruise is never "reckless" when it comes to his movie stunts.
The pair have teamed up onscreen again for their latest action blockbuster 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' which features Cruise carrying out more of his famously death-defying stunts on camera - but Pegg is adamant his pal never pushes himself too far and is "never afraid" but he's "calculated" and has "trained really hard".
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "I’ve never seen him afraid. I’ve seen him nervous, I’ve seen him apprehensive and I’ve seen him in high concentration mode. But I don’t think he gets afraid.
"I don’t think he lets himself get afraid. He’s not reckless. He knows the parameters of what he’s doing. He knows the risks involved. He’s calculated them, and he’s trained really hard. So he gets nervous like you would, but I’ve never seen him afraid."
Pegg went on to insist he believes the eighth film in the 'Mission: Impossible' really does spell the end of their onscreen adventures together.
He added: "I feel like The Final Reckoning is a really satisfying culmination of these films. It feels like an end to me. It wraps up so much of what’s gone before.
"[Director Christopher McQuarrie] McQ expertly went into the past and looked at the preceding movies, and he saw how he could find an origin for the Entity - and how [Cruise's character] Ethan’s refusal to ever sacrifice anything would impact the events that have led to this.
"So that all wraps up in this film, and for me, it does feel like an end."
Pegg has played I.M.F (Impossible Mission Force) technician Benji Dunn in the action franchise since 2006’s ‘Mission: Impossible III’, and he recently admitted it is "strange" to see the franchise be sunsetted with ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’.
Speaking with Collider, Pegg said: "It's strange. It's bittersweet, is the best way I can describe it. "It's been such a ride. It's been such an amazing experience. I feel grateful, and I feel sad, and I'm excited for people to see this movie. I mean, what an incredible wrapping up."
The ‘Hot Fuzz’ star added director Christopher McQuarrie - who has helmed the series from 2015’s ‘Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation’ - "has done such an incredible job" of building on what has come before, and crafting the story of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).
Pegg continued: "[McQuarrie] has done such an incredible job embracing everything that's gone before and pulling it into this movie as a kind of culmination of all Ethan's choices. "I don't think there could be a better way to go out."
Reflecting on his favourite moments from the series, Pegg revealed he never thought he would be involved in so many major action sequences in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise.
He said: "I drove a speedboat up the River Seine, which was so much fun. They basically closed the River Seine for me.
"There's a lot of aqua. In fact, it's all water-related. I drove a water taxi through Venice, and I rescued, or rather retrieved, Sean Harris from a submerged armored car wearing a rebreather, which is different to scuba.
"So, every day on ‘Mission’ is like that. Bombing through Casablanca in a battered BMW, being up there on the mountain watching Tom do that stunt where he jumped off a cliff. I mean, it's one of those jobs."
