Were there any big action sequences or anything else that you filmed but was left on the cutting room floor that just didn’t make into the final cut?
Ooooh. No, for the fight stuff, we kept everything. But there was just a cool shot in Abu Dhabi, at the airport. The outfit was amazing, and there’s just a closeup in the movie. That was a cool outfit. [Costume designer] Jill Taylor, she found some really cool stuff. It’s a shame that you don’t see the full look. They know what they’re doing. It’s all about the story. It’s not about just a cool outfit, so who cares? But I was still like, “Aww, this outfit was cool.” [Laughs]
I have to ask you about the alleyway fight in Venice. That seems to be far and away your highlight of the movie. That’s all you, right? It doesn’t seem like it was filmed in a way that it was a stunt person doubling for you.
Yeah, it was all me in the alleyway fight. At some point, when I get smashed onto the ground, I think they wanted to use the stunt double because [Chris McQuarrie] said, “We don’t want you to do that.” I was like, “I want to do it.” He was like, “No.” So, I think [that] particular thing is the stunt double who did it, but all the rest, all the fight with Tom is with me, of course. But it’s amazing to work with Tom, because you have to be in sync and you have to be listening to each other. So, it’s not just about a fight choreography that you’re following. You have to have the connection and be in the other person’s rhythm as well.
Working with Tom and McQ is so interesting because sometimes in movies when you do action, you just learn a choreography, and just rehearse it, and do it, and perform it. It’s very technical. It’s great too, but for them, it’s all about character, and it’s all about what the audience is going to feel. So, it’s not just about cool moves. It’s about what happens between the characters, and sometimes what is important is when the character walks towards the other character, when the character is on the ground, and then going back up, and ready to fight again, and all the looks between the characters. It’s just beautiful, and that’s why I think the action scenes are so cool in “Mission: Impossible,” because it’s not just about the moves, it’s about character.